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This guide, published by Natural Justice in May 2014, provides an introduction to the social and environmental safeguards and standards associated with REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation). It is designed for forest-dependent communities and facilitators to help them understand international frameworks, identify their rights and responsibilities, and engage in national safeguard development processes to mitigate risks such as land dispossession and ensure equitable benefit sharing.

This guide by the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) examines the technical, operational, and institutional barriers that prevent disaster risk assessments from effectively informing public policy and investment decisions. Drawing on research from Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as case studies from Ghana, India, and Pakistan, the document provides a framework for improving the 'uptake' of risk information to support the successor to the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA2).

This working paper by the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) explores strategies for scaling out community-based adaptation (CBA) to climate change. It distinguishes 'scaling out'—increasing quality benefits to more people over a wider geographical area—from 'scaling up,' which focuses on mainstreaming pilots into government policy. The document identifies key enabling factors for success, including the holistic development of adaptive capacity, the creation of strategic networks and partnerships, the use of documented evidence to prove value, and the identification of flexible institutional and financial channels, including the private sector.

This policy briefing examines the partnership between China and Angola in constructing satellite towns to address Angola's housing crisis, focusing on the Kilamba Kiaxi project as a case study. It analyzes the 'resources for infrastructure' financing model and identifies challenges regarding local adaptation, affordability, and the provision of public services.

This research paper explores the relationship between adaptive capacity and social protection within agroforestry systems, utilizing case studies from Zambia and Honduras to illustrate how these two elements mutually support one another in mitigating climate risks like drought.

This case study analyzes the 100 MW Rajasthan Sun Technique concentrated solar power (CSP) plant in India, examining how a combination of national policy, foreign public debt, and private risk management enabled the project despite broader failures in India's National Solar Mission (NSM) phase one. While the project demonstrates the viability of linear Fresnel technology and the importance of long-term public financing, it also highlights the 'winner's curse' associated with reverse auctioning schemes that led to underestimated costs and project delays across the sector.

This research paper examines the environmental licensing processes for the oil and gas industry in Mozambique, identifying systemic weaknesses in the quality of assessments, compliance with management plans, and post-licensing transparency. The author argues that these deficiencies stem from a lack of technical capacity within the Ministry for the Co-ordination of Environmental Affairs (MICOA) and proposes three non-legislative mechanisms—peer reviews, expert technical councils, and biodiversity offsets—to improve outcomes for the government, companies, and local communities.

This report, authored by Jessica Robinson of the Asia Sustainable Investment Association (ASrIA) for the 'Greening China's Financial Markets' project, examines how policy and regulatory innovations can incentivize the investment industry to integrate sustainability, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors into their strategies. It identifies systemic barriers such as 'short-termism' and a lack of standardized data, and proposes solutions including the reform of compensation structures, the implementation of carbon pricing, and the use of green investment banks to mobilize private capital for a low-carbon transition.

This briefing note by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and Makerere University (MAK) examines the impacts of climate change on the coffee value chain in Uganda. Based on a 2013 pilot initiative using 'climate dialogue theatres,' the document argues for an integrated approach to climate adaptation that moves beyond the production level to include processing and marketing. It identifies systemic vulnerabilities, including a lack of trust between actors and a critical gap in agricultural financing, and recommends strengthening partnerships, developing flexible financial products, and investing in climate-resilient infrastructure.

This research paper examines the intersection of climate variability and gender in the Sesheke district of Western Zambia, focusing on the livelihoods of people dependent on natural resources and the gender-responsiveness of local policy implementation and funding for adaptation.

This research paper demonstrates the utility of an integrated analytical approach—linking climate, land use, energy, and water (CLEWs) systems—by comparing it to separate assessments in a case study focused on Mauritius.

This research paper examines the potential for fossil-fuel subsidy reform in Emerging and Developing Asia—specifically Southeast Asia, India, and China—to provide fiscal space and revenue for financing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It argues that current subsidies are regressive, inefficient, and detrimental to environmental and health goals, and advocates for their phase-out in favor of targeted social welfare systems and corrective taxation.

This discussion brief by the Stockholm Environment Institute examines the complexities of governing sustainability in tropical agricultural-forest frontiers, using the Brazilian Amazon as a primary case study. It argues that the high diversity of actors—ranging from subsistence smallholders to large-scale commercial farms—requires tailored, actor-specific policy approaches rather than 'one-size-fits-all' models to effectively reduce deforestation and alleviate poverty.

This fact sheet describes a 2010-2014 collaboration between the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Institute (WASHi), funded by Sida, to reduce human vulnerability in Bihar, India. The project implemented ecological sanitation (ecosan) solutions across five pilot sites to address high flood risks and low sanitation access, while establishing the state's only nutrient-testing laboratory to support policy reform and the Millennium Development Goals.

This fact sheet describes a sustainable sanitation pilot project implemented at the Tarumitra Bio-reserve and Ecology Centre in Patna, Bihar, India. The project, funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and implemented by the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Institute (WASHi) and the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), established an ecological sanitation (ecosan) complex to provide an alternative to open defecation and demonstrate the agricultural benefits of reusing human excreta.

This policy brief examines the early implementation of the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) in Cambodia. It identifies that while SAICM has provided a vision for chemicals management and spurred the development of new legislation and coordination mechanisms, significant barriers remain, including a lack of ground-level enforcement capacity and long-term funding. The document also critiques the global monitoring system of SAICM, arguing that its current indicators are insufficient to measure progress toward the '2020 goal' of minimizing adverse impacts on health and the environment.

This policy brief evaluates the implementation of the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) in Tanzania. Based on interviews with 17 stakeholders and a review of government documents, the study finds that while SAICM has positively influenced national chemicals management across its five objectives, significant risks persist in the informal sector and agricultural industry, and national coordination among senior officials remains a challenge.

This 2014 policy report by the Stockholm Environment Institute examines the water-energy nexus, specifically focusing on the sustainability of hydropower and bioenergy. It analyzes the environmental and social trade-offs of these energy sources, provides a detailed case study of Sweden's hydropower experience, and offers strategic recommendations for development assistance organizations supporting private sector bioenergy projects in developing countries.

This briefing note by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) details the evolution of the weADAPT platform (originally wikiADAPT) from 2007 to 2014. It synthesizes lessons learned regarding online knowledge-sharing for climate change adaptation, emphasizing the necessity of trust, face-to-face engagement, and a distributed management model to ensure sustainability and user participation.

A case study detailing the implementation of Mexico's first fuel-efficiency standard for light-duty vehicles in June 2013, developed with support from EMBARQ Mexico and Centro Mario Molina.