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The 'Enhancing Women’s Land Tenure through Shea Tree Mapping' project uses geo-tagging to record shea trees and link them to women producers in Ghana, Togo, and Benin. This digital visibility addresses the lack of formal proof of assets, which has historically hindered women's access to financial services for productive equipment like motorised tricycles. By mapping over 16,000 trees and 3,500 producers, the initiative aims to transition informal women's co-operatives into recognized enterprises and protect shea parklands.

While India has established technical standards and initial commercial production for Limestone Calcined Clay Cement (LC3), which can reduce emissions by up to 40%, widespread adoption is hindered by a lack of standardized concrete mix designs, inconsistent supply chains, and the absence of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). The document argues that scaling requires a regional strategy to compete with other supplementary cementitious materials, the identification of low-risk 'first-use segments' like non-structural elements, and demand aggregation to stabilize supply.

The document examines how Spain's rapid expansion of wind and solar power has decoupled its electricity prices from volatile fossil fuel markets, particularly during the 2026 conflict in Iran. While Spain has achieved lower electricity costs and increased industrial competitiveness compared to other major EU economies, the author notes a critical shortfall in grid infrastructure investment. The text advocates for a reform of the EU's marginal pricing system and a shift toward domestic clean energy generation to ensure broader European energy security.

This case study by the Stockholm Environment Institute examines the risks posed by LKAB's proposed Per Geijer mining project to the Gabna sameby. The study introduces a new human rights impact assessment (HRIA) methodology specifically adapted for Sami reindeer husbandry to evaluate how industrial projects affect indigenous rights to land and culture.

The policy brief advocates for system-wide transmission planning over the customer-by-customer load interconnection process to manage rapid electric load growth. It highlights that system-wide planning, which evaluates needs over 5 to 20 years, leads to more efficient grid design and higher benefit-to-cost ratios. To manage the risk of anticipated load not materializing, the document recommends scenario planning to identify "least-regrets" projects and phased, modular investment strategies with built-in triggers, illustrated through case studies from the Southwest Power Pool, ERCOT in Texas, and NV Energy in Nevada.

The document advocates for the substitution of problematic shrink sleeve materials (PET, PETG, and PVC) with floatable polyolefins, such as polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), to enhance the recyclability of PET bottles. It highlights that problematic sleeves cause recycling facilities to reject bottles, leading to landfill waste and pollution. The transition, supported by the SA Plastics Pact and early adopters like Woolworths and SPUR Corporation, is part of the broader 'Plastic Reboot – South Africa' project aimed at implementing upstream circular interventions in the food and beverage sector.

The document examines the impact of geothermal energy expansion in Indonesia, specifically projects funded by the World Bank and Asian Development Bank. It details environmental degradation, including water depletion and pollution, and social harms such as health crises, economic losses for farmers, and the criminalization of dissent. The author advocates for a 'Feminist Just Transition' framework to ensure community consent and equity in the energy transition.

The document demonstrates how banks can move beyond high-level corporate ambition assessments by using bottom-up, asset-level data to project emissions trajectories. Using ArcelorMittal as a case study, it shows that comparing these projections against company targets and global/regional transition pathways reveals 'execution gaps' and exposure to transition risks. This 'transition intelligence' allows sustainability, risk, and front-office teams to identify specific technology lock-in risks and structure tailored transition-finance products.

The SUNCASA project has implemented nature-based solutions (NbS) across three Sub-Saharan African cities, planting 2.4 million trees and shrubs and restoring over 3,500 hectares of land within its first two years. In Dire Dawa, the project focuses on afforestation and agroforestry to combat soil erosion and improve food security. In Kigali, efforts center on riparian buffer zones and agroforestry to reduce flood risks. Johannesburg's primary focus is the removal of alien invasive species to protect water quality and biodiversity. The project integrates gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) to ensure marginalized groups participate in climate adaptation. Cost-benefit analyses indicate significant future savings in flood-related infrastructure and health expenses across all three cities.

Ghana faces a critical juncture where economic recovery is threatened by a fragile, high-carbon energy sector and widespread illegal mining. The energy sector is characterized by high debt, a heavy reliance on thermal generation, and a lack of renewable energy investment. Simultaneously, illegal mining (galamsey) causes severe deforestation and water pollution, threatening food security and the viability of hydropower. The document proposes a transition toward sustainable growth through competitive solar auctions, the establishment of a green investment facility, the formalization of artisanal mining via the Ghana Gold Board, and large-scale ecosystem restoration.

Following a 2022 debt crisis and subsequent restructuring of approximately 93% of eligible public debt by December 2024, Ghana established an Independent Fiscal Council in early 2026. Supported by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and IMANI Africa, the council is designed to provide independent, evidence-based analysis of government budgets and projections. Its core mandate focuses on communicating the long-term debt implications of fiscal actions to the executive, Parliament, the public, and investors to build trust and ensure debt sustainability. This institutional reform complements 2025 amendments to the Public Financial Management Act, which introduced a public debt-to-GDP target of 45% by 2034 and a minimum annual primary surplus of 1.5% of GDP.

The Climate Litigation Lab report summarizes discussions from a 2025 event in Magaliesburg, South Africa, focusing on Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) and the legal challenges facing environmental defenders in Africa.

The document argues that traditional carbon offsetting is inherently deceptive because carbon credits cannot reliably counterbalance emissions on climate-relevant timescales. It advocates for the 'beyond value chain mitigation' (BVCM) approach, where credits are treated as contributions to global climate action rather than offsets. The guide outlines principles for credible communication, including the prioritisation of internal decarbonisation and the use of transparent, non-ambiguous language. It also provides case studies of misleading claims from entities like Climate Impact Partners, Audi, and Apple, and offers recommendations for policymakers to ban offsetting claims and for consumers to identify 'red flags' in corporate communications.

The document argues that while the European Commission's impact assessments are detailed, the resulting policies are opaque and rely on optimistic, potentially unfeasible projections for carbon dioxide removals (CDR). It identifies critical risks, including the overestimation of Direct Air Carbon Capture and Storage (DACCS) capacity, the potential for Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) to undermine land sinks, and a lack of transparent financing roadmaps. The report further criticises the introduction of international carbon credits in final proposals without prior impact assessments, which may reduce domestic ambition.

The French government's strategy for climate neutrality relies on a combination of vulnerable land sinks and industrial carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies. While France has binding gross-emission-reduction targets, its land sink has declined by more than 20 Mt CO2eq over the last decade due to a forestry crisis. To compensate, the Draft Third National Low Carbon Strategy (SNBC3) increases reliance on industrial removals, including Direct Air Capture and Carbon Storage (DACCS) and Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS). However, the report finds that projections for these technologies are inconsistent and lack foundational assessments regarding energy demand, land-use impacts, and domestic CO2 storage capacity. Furthermore, France plans to increase wood harvesting to 60 million m3 by 2030, which may further erode the forest carbon sink.

The document examines Ireland's climate strategy, highlighting a systemic over-reliance on carbon dioxide removals (CDR) and afforestation to bridge gaps in emission reductions. It identifies significant delivery risks for industrial removals like BECCS, which may not be operational until the mid-2030s, and notes that afforestation targets are consistently missed. The report criticizes the lack of transparency regarding residual emissions and the potential for 'temperature neutrality' goals to lower overall climate ambition.

The report finds that Italy's long-term climate strategy prioritises carbon removals and capture technologies over structural emission reductions, creating a risk of mitigation deterrence. While Italy aims for carbon neutrality by 2050, it lacks national legislation to enforce this goal and relies on EU-level targets. The study highlights significant transparency gaps, noting that industrial carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies like BECCS and DACCS are often conflated with carbon capture and storage (CCS). Furthermore, the report warns that planned increases in forest harvesting to 40-45% by 2030 could shrink or eliminate the land sink, despite government goals to restore it to a historic maximum of 45 Mt CO2eq by 2050.

The document argues that Norway's climate strategy relies on uncertain land-sink removals and international offsets rather than feasible domestic emission reductions. It identifies systemic deficiencies in impact assessments, a lack of separate LULUCF targets beyond 2030, and a conflict of interest where geological storage sites are evaluated based on their potential to interfere with future petroleum activity. While some industrial removal projections are cautious, the report notes a lack of binding limits on international credits and significant gaps in biomass sustainability evaluations.

The report analyzes the first round of Article 6.2 reviews, finding that every reviewed Initial Report contained inconsistencies with reporting requirements. It argues that the Technical Expert Review Team (TERT) lacks the mandate to judge credit quality or enforce compliance, rendering the process a 'box-ticking exercise'. Case studies on Switzerland, Ghana, Guyana, and Vanuatu illustrate how high-risk or non-compliant credits can be traded despite transparency gaps. The author recommends extending the TERT mandate to include quality assessments and prohibiting the trade of credits until reviews are finalized.

The report analyzes how high debt-service obligations and fossil fuel reliance create a structural trap for Global South nations, where fiscal pressures force governments to prioritize short-term liquidity and fossil fuel extraction over long-term renewable energy transitions. Through case studies of Colombia, Egypt, Guyana, Jordan, and Sri Lanka, it demonstrates that this nexus is systemic, often reinforced by the conditionalities of International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and the interests of multinational corporations. The document advocates for comprehensive debt cancellation, the end of fossil fuel finance, and a global transition framework based on 'extraction equity' to dismantle these structural barriers.