Search Climate Insights Directory

The briefing highlights the negative environmental and social impacts of critical mineral extraction in Argentina, Indonesia, and Guinea, arguing that the UN Secretary-General's Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals must center the voices of affected communities to avoid 'green extractivism'. It documents issues such as the violation of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) in lithium mining, pollution and labor abuses in nickel downstreaming, and the loss of agricultural land in bauxite mining. The document concludes with recommendations for governments and companies to protect indigenous rights, ensure transparency in GHG emissions, and end the criminalization of environmental defenders.

The report details how various animal 'guilds'—including predators, browsers, seed dispersers, and pollinators—provide essential services such as carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling, and disease prevention. It emphasizes that abundance is as critical as existence for these functions to operate and highlights the risks of 'empty forests' and degraded biomes. Through case studies of specific animals and global biomes, the document argues for a shift from simple conservation to active species recovery to secure the natural systems supporting human society.

The document advocates for a holistic 'biodiversity lens' in agriculture, emphasizing the role of soil health, indigenous plant restoration, and regenerative farming in the Western Cape's Fynbos Biome. It details the differences between rehabilitation and restoration, provides plant palettes for various farm areas, and presents case studies on using livestock for soil health, creating wildlife corridors, and managing riverine buffers to mitigate flood damage.

The WWF-Nedbank partnership Phase 3 (2019–2024), supported by a R25 million investment from Nedbank, implemented landscape-level conservation and sustainable agriculture projects across South Africa, with a primary focus on the Eastern Cape. Key achievements include the protection of 44 natural springs in the uMzimvubu Catchment, the securing of 15,850 hectares under Conservation Agreements for rangeland management, and the promotion of water-efficient irrigation in the dairy sector. The partnership also advanced agroecology to improve food security for smallholders and collaborated on sustainable finance frameworks, including the launch of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) in South Africa.

Stora Enso, a Finnish company, shifted its business model from paper production to renewable materials in response to declining demand for newsprint. The company focuses on packaging, building solutions, and biomaterials, utilizing strategic partnerships and innovation programs to drive system-wide change in the food and construction sectors. Key initiatives include the 4evergreen Alliance and a partnership with Tetra Pak to expand carton recycling capacity, starting with a facility in Poland in June 2023. Despite these strategic pivots, the company has recently faced financial challenges leading to layoffs and leadership changes.

The report analyzes the state of fossil fuel subsidies in Latin America and the Caribbean, highlighting their regressive nature and economic inefficiency. It provides a framework for a just transition, recommending transparent measurement, participatory planning, and the use of saved funds for social protection and renewable energy.

The document analyzes how climate change impacts public health in Senegal through heatwaves, floods, and droughts, while highlighting a community-led resilience project in Widou Thiéngoly.

The document argues that a cost-effective clean energy transition requires a paradigm shift in transmission planning, moving away from historical reactive models toward holistic planning that accounts for evolving energy systems and climate change uncertainties.

The report argues that climate adaptation is now a business imperative due to increasing physical risks and economic losses. It identifies three 'entry points' for private finance: 'Protect' (safeguarding existing assets and supply chains), 'Grow' (investing in early-stage and mature companies developing resilience technologies), and 'Participate' (co-investing in public sector infrastructure projects). The analysis highlights that adaptation investments can yield high benefit-to-cost ratios, particularly in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs), and that valuation multiples for resilience solution providers are promising, with a median of 9 times revenue.

The NAP Global Network's 'Envisioning Resilience' initiative uses photography and storytelling training to empower underrepresented women to document their lived experiences with climate change. By presenting these visual stories to decision-makers, the project aims to shift policy dialogue from simple consultation to meaningful engagement, highlighting the intersection of gender, social exclusion, and non-climatic vulnerabilities.

The Stockholm Environment Institute and the FAO have developed a WEAP PlugIn that allows for the calculation of water stress at the sub-basin level rather than just on a country-wide basis. By disaggregating data, water resource managers can better visualize spatial variations in water stress and test the impact of different management strategies, such as reducing canal losses or accounting for population growth. The tool uses the Flow Duration Curve (FDC) Shift method to incorporate environmental flow requirements into its calculations. The briefing demonstrates the tool's application using the Senegal River basin and lists recommendations for its implementation in other basins.

The document analyzes the cassava value web in Colombia, identifying its current uses in food, animal feed, and industrial materials, while highlighting potential for expansion into bioplastics and bioethanol. It maps commercial, financial, and knowledge linkages across four main production nuclei: Cauca, the Atlantic Coast, Orinoquía, and Amazonía. The paper argues that while Colombia is the third largest producer in Latin America, low productivity and limited technification hinder its competitiveness. It recommends developing inclusive supply chains, promoting sustainable agricultural practices to protect biodiversity, and increasing incentives for private sector innovation to transition toward a sustainable bioeconomy.

The document examines the challenges of transitioning away from thermal coal in Colombia's Caribbean region, highlighting the tension between national decarbonization goals and regional economic dependence. It identifies diverse visions of a 'just transition'—ranging from narrow workforce support to broad socio-ecological transformation—and analyzes the economic, environmental, and sociocultural barriers that hinder progress. Using the case of Prodeco's mine closures in Cesar, the paper illustrates the risks of unplanned transitions and the influence of political-economic elites in maintaining extractive models.

The document presents case studies on mangrove restoration in Grenada and biological corridors in Costa Rica to demonstrate how nature-based solutions (NbS) can enhance climate resilience while protecting biodiversity. It argues that to achieve 'multiple wins' for biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, projects must be designed from the outset to provide measurable benefits for ecosystem health.

This case study by the International Institute for Sustainable Development examines the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and its role in a Paris-aligned energy transition, focusing on the risks and opportunities for international investors as the company increases its reliance on global equity, bond, and lending markets.

The document defines carbon-neutral demonstration zones as tools for exploring transition models and best practices for China's carbon-neutral transformation. It argues that these zones should be driven by a new economic path that promotes zero-carbon industrial innovation and reduces CO2 emissions per unit of GDP, with the goal of scaling green transformation beyond the zone's boundaries. The report uses the Meishan Carbon-Neutral Demonstration Zone as a case study to provide reference practices for other development zones.

The Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) collaborated with the Estonian government to create the country's first unified carbon footprint calculation methodology and emissions factor database. This tool allows public and private sector organizations to assess their environmental impact on a consistent basis, helping to avoid greenwashing and support EU environmental policy. Initial implementation in the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Interior has led to measurable reductions in carbon emissions, waste, and water consumption, with the Estonian government aiming to expand these assessments across all ministries.

The briefing analyzes the failure of the NuScale-UAMPS Carbon Free Power Project, attributing its cancellation to the inherent risks of first-of-a-kind (FOAK) projects, a lack of modularity in the VOYAGR design, and the selection of a customer (UAMPS) ill-equipped for nuclear risk. Despite the project's end, the author notes that NuScale achieved significant regulatory milestones, including the first SMR design certification and reductions in staffing and security requirements. The document argues that FOAK SMRs should be treated as demonstrations rather than commercial endeavors, suggesting that governments provide streamlined prototype sites and cost-overrun insurance, while targeting non-utility customers like data centers and heavy industry who have a higher demand for 24/7 carbon-free power.

The report analyzes forest compensation in the MATOPIBA region (Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí, and Bahia), where agricultural expansion has led to significant deforestation. It evaluates three existing modalities—reforestation by the debtor, forest compensation credits, and cash payments—finding that current implementation often lacks technical oversight, transparency, and environmental effectiveness. To address these gaps, the authors propose four innovative mechanisms: the adoption of computerized management platforms, the use of payment for environmental services (PES), outsourcing fund management to specialized third parties, and utilizing blended finance and match funding to scale restoration projects.

The document analyzes how New York and California are reforming their permitting processes to overcome delays in clean energy deployment, highlighting the use of 'one-stop shops', legal deadlines, and community benefit agreements. While these reforms aim to improve financial viability and public support, the study identifies risks such as imprecise legal language, potential infringement on Indigenous rights, and persistent bottlenecks in grid interconnection that require federal intervention.