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The case of La Rose v. Her Majesty the Queen involved a claim by fifteen Canadian youths asserting that Canada's greenhouse gas emissions and support for fossil fuel industries were incompatible with a stable climate and violated their rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the public trust doctrine. The Federal Court of Canada dismissed the claim, ruling that the Charter-based arguments were not justiciable because they sought judicial intervention in overall government policy and that the public trust doctrine was not supported in Canadian law.

The document examines the evolution of disaster risk reduction (DRR) from a reactive emergency response model to a proactive strategy focused on reducing vulnerability and exposure. It highlights the disproportionate impact of disasters in countries with poor infrastructure, such as Haiti compared to Chile, and emphasizes the economic benefits of proactive investment, citing Bangladesh as an example. The brief traces the international policy trajectory from the 1960s through the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, noting a growing integration between DRR and climate change adaptation. It specifically advocates for the protection of wetlands as natural buffers against water-related disasters and calls for a 'whole-of-society' approach combining top-down institutional changes with bottom-up community actions to build resilience in a climate where extreme events are becoming the 'new normal'.

The Galveston Bay Foundation has utilized millions of dollars in grants from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and NOAA to restore wetlands in the Dollar Bay and Moses Lake regions. These efforts, including the construction of breakwaters and marsh terraces, aim to mitigate the effects of sea level rise—which has risen over 27 inches in the area over 120 years—and protect communities from storm surges. The project also demonstrates how federal investment can catalyze private land conservation, though the requirement for local matching funds remains a barrier for some underserved communities.

The document argues that structured finance contracts often insulate fossil fuel assets from market forces, creating a barrier to clean energy transition. Using the Red Hills Power Plant in Mississippi as a case study, it proposes a restructuring model that provides financial benefits to electricity customers, bondholders, the coal supplier, and workers while accelerating the plant's retirement.

The study analyzes EPA congressional testimonies from 1983 to 2015 to examine the relationship between governmental experts and political pressure. It finds that while the frequency of climate-related advocacy statements increased over time and fluctuated based on the political context, EPA experts consistently maintained the scientific basis of climate change and advocated for action, even under administrations that denied the science.

The document highlights the stagnation of energy access at Kenyan government health facilities, which grew only 1% between 2016 and 2021. It details the failures of absorption technology refrigerators relying on LPG, which are described as environmentally damaging and prone to vaccine freezing. To address this, the Kenyan Ministry of Health aims to equip all facilities with 'optimal CCE' by 2026, utilizing technology that meets WHO and Gavi standards for freeze protection, holdover time, and fossil-fuel-free operation.

Australia has become a global leader in decarbonizing high-end commercial buildings through 'ambition loops'—positive feedback cycles where government regulation, industry collaboration, and market demand reinforce each other. Early leadership from the Victoria state government and the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council (ASBEC) helped overcome initial knowledge gaps and lack of demand. The implementation of mandatory efficiency codes and transparency tools, such as the Commercial Building Disclosure Program and the National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS), created a competitive environment where sustainable buildings attract more corporate tenants and investors. This model has since influenced residential and construction sectors in Australia and exported rating systems to New Zealand and the UK.

The document argues that disarmament negotiations are highly masculinized, leading to the routine exclusion of women despite their roles as combatants or leaders of anti-weapon campaigns. It identifies three primary barriers to inclusion: conceptual beliefs that women are irrelevant to war issues, technical portrayals of women as lacking military expertise, and political barriers related to the lack of women in leadership. Using case studies from five countries, the brief demonstrates a continuum of inclusion from total exclusion (Nepal, South Sudan, Sri Lanka) to meaningful inclusion (Philippines, Colombia). It recommends that third parties push for compulsory quotas and capacity-building to ensure diverse, horizontal, and vertical inclusion of women in all stages of peace processes.

The briefing argues that nature-based solutions (NbS) are often framed as apolitical, leading to the neglect of social equity and justice. It proposes five core principles: ensuring inclusive and transparent processes, tackling root causes of marginalization, limiting the unjust redistribution of risks and costs, prioritizing at-risk communities, and using valuation tools that assess social and political change. These principles are illustrated through a case study in Kaptembwa, Nakuru, Kenya, where participatory planning is used to address flooding and lack of green space in a semi-informal settlement.

The document argues that the current linear economy, driven by a culture of consumption and planned obsolescence, is unsustainable. It proposes a circular economy based on a systemic approach to maintain resource flows through regeneration and value retention. The authors emphasize that 100% circularity is physically impossible due to thermodynamics, but an optimum can be reached through a design mindset focused on extended life cycles and 'R' activities like remanufacturing and repair. Key barriers identified include outdated waste legislation, intellectual property laws, and consumer norms favoring ownership over access. The paper advocates for the use of public procurement as a lever to create markets for circular business models, such as functional sales where users pay for performance rather than product ownership.

The document examines the dimensions of a just energy transition, moving beyond the focus on fossil fuel workers to address the impacts of clean energy deployment. It identifies five types of energy justice—distributive, procedural, recognition, restorative, and cosmopolitan—and emphasizes the necessity of respecting human rights across the entire clean energy supply chain. The briefing highlights risks associated with critical mineral extraction and land use, providing case studies from Colombia and Scandinavia. It concludes that international cooperation and robust regulatory frameworks are essential to ensure that the benefits and costs of the transition are shared equitably without exacerbating existing inequalities.

The document examines the limitations of GDP as a measure of progress, noting that the pursuit of material gain leads to social inequity and environmental degradation. It identifies systemic roadblocks to redefining prosperity—including national reliance on GDP for revenue, cultural associations of success with consumption, and business models based on consumerism. The authors propose a suite of actions, such as the adoption of complementary well-being indicators, the potential introduction of wealth taxes to decouple growth from resource use, and a shift in corporate marketing to reshape societal values. Case studies from countries like Bhutan, Australia, and the UK illustrate various ways beyond-GDP indicators have been implemented.

The document examines the intersection of corruption, land tenure, and Community Forest Management (CFM) in the Peruvian Amazon. It argues that systemic corruption in regional governments—manifesting as the prioritization of individual land titles over communal ones and the 'active inaction' of monitoring bodies—facilitates land grabbing and illegal logging. These factors undermine the sustainability of CFM initiatives, expose Indigenous leaders to violence, and leave communities vulnerable to economic scams and legal penalties. The authors recommend prioritizing community land titling, updating land registries with georeferenced maps, and strengthening the autonomy and funding of environmental enforcement agencies.

The document argues that while FTZs and SEZs are not the sole cause of illegal wildlife trade (IWT), their inherent characteristics—such as simplified customs, limited oversight, and legal opaqueness—act as facilitators for both IWT and corruption. Through case studies of the Golden Triangle SEZ (Laos), Suifenhe FTZ (China), and Las Palmas FTZ (Spain), the author demonstrates that corruption in these zones often mirrors national patterns but is amplified by the zones' complexity. Key drivers include social and cultural norms, such as the desire to 'lose face' or the acceptance of corruption as a business norm. The report also highlights the risk of 'displacement,' where strict regulations in one country push illicit activities to less regulated jurisdictions. It concludes with recommendations for governments and multilateral organizations to implement clearer oversight, regional coordination, and certification schemes to mitigate these risks.

The document profiles Nasreen Al-Amin and her non-profit, Surge Africa, focusing on the Jeji Restoration project in Kumbo, Kano State. This initiative employs nature-based solutions, specifically tree plantation, to restore degraded land and provide sustainable livelihoods for marginalised communities, including those affected by war and environmental conflicts. The project emphasizes community ownership, the use of local languages for training, and the integration of income generation with environmental restoration.

The document examines why Uganda has struggled to institutionalize industrial energy efficiency despite government initiatives since the mid-2000s and the economic incentive of high electricity costs. Using institutional theory and a political economy approach, it argues that a robust regulatory framework and a broader consensus on the trade-offs and benefits of energy efficiency are necessary for progress.

The Deliver Electric Delhi pilot, involving 35 industry players, investigated barriers to electric vehicle (EV) adoption for final-mile delivery to support the Delhi EV policy. The report analyzes the economic case for electrification, comparing EV costs and performance against fossil fuel vehicles, and identifies the roles of policy, charging infrastructure, and finance in scaling adoption. If 100 percent sales penetration of electric final-mile delivery vehicles is achieved by 2030, it could result in 750,000 vehicles on the road, avoiding 14.2 million tons of CO2, 46,900 tons of NOx, and 530 tons of PM emissions over their lifetime.

The document details the historical and ongoing marginalisation of Indigenous Tharu communities in Nepal, focusing on the Bardiya National Park. It argues that conservation policies have deprived these communities of land and resources, leading to forced evictions and economic exploitation. Despite legal frameworks like ILO Convention No 169 and UNDRIP, the Tharu face significant barriers to reclaiming land or receiving compensation, as the government requires formal land ownership certificates that many Indigenous people lack due to historical systemic abuses.

The city of Pune is an early adopter of electric buses in India, with PMPML operating 220 e-buses and planning for an additional 430. This progress puts the city on track to achieve the Maharashtra state government's target of 25 percent public transport electrification by 2025, three years ahead of schedule.

Holy Cross Energy's Power+ program provides residential customers in Colorado with distributed battery storage through a tariff-based on-bill financing model. By leveraging USDA loan capital, the program eliminates upfront costs for participants and allows the utility to manage peak demand and integrate more renewable energy. The program aims to support the utility's goals of 100 percent renewable energy by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2035, while providing homeowners with backup power during climate-driven outages.