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The document analyzes Canada's 2020 COVID-19 recovery spending, noting a higher commitment to clean energy (CAD 14.7 billion) than fossil energy (CAD 3.6 billion) according to Energy Policy Tracker data. However, it highlights significant transparency gaps regarding credit support from public finance institutions like EDC and BDC. Compared to France, Germany, and the UK, Canada's per capita investment in electric vehicles is lower, while its investment in building retrofits is relatively high. The brief warns that Canada's hydrogen strategy leans toward 'blue hydrogen' (fossil-based) while European peers prioritize 'green hydrogen'. It recommends applying strict 'green strings' to stimulus, phasing out fossil fuel subsidies, and aligning ambition with international standards.

The United States faces a deficit in public direct current fast-charging (DCFC) infrastructure, with only 17,000 plugs currently installed. The report highlights that current economics limit growth to a few high-traffic locations, potentially creating an inequitable system where lower-income drivers without home charging pay a significant price premium. In contrast, China has scaled its network to over 309,000 public fast-charging plugs by treating charging as a national priority since 2014. China's strategy included stimulating demand through the electrification of taxis and fleets, reforming utility tariffs to allow industrial rates, capping service fees, and providing installation subsidies. These efforts led to significant economies of scale, reducing the cost of a 50 kW DCFC unit to approximately $3,000, compared to $20,000–$35,000 in the United States. The author suggests the U.S. needs national and local goals, redesigned utility rates, and a focus on equitable access to achieve a similar transition.

The IISD reviewed 32 food system visualizations (FSVs) from 1998 to 2020, finding that most are explanatory tools designed to illustrate the complexity of food systems by linking production, external drivers, and outcomes. While most FSVs focus on agricultural production and value chains, policy and governance are typically listed as influencing factors rather than primary subjects. The review found that just under one-fifth of the FSVs cover all four targets of SDG 2 (zero hunger), and only 16% specifically address food system resilience.

The study examines energy poverty in Malawi, finding that unconditional social cash transfers significantly increase the likelihood of ultra-poor households owning improved cookstoves and having a source of lighting.

The report analyzes how rural credit affects Brazilian agribusiness, finding that increased credit supply generally boosts agricultural production and productivity. In the Amazon and Cerrado biomes, credit specifically encourages the conversion of pasture to crop land, which reduces deforestation pressures and increases the area of native forests. The impact varies by biome and product, with grain production showing significantly larger increases in production and productivity compared to other crops.

The QGasSP project seeks to create a standardised, modular, and open-source tool to help national, regional, and local planning authorities quantify how spatial planning decisions affect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The methodology focuses on three primary sectors: building energy use, transportation and infrastructure, and land use change and forestry (LULUCF). To ensure pan-European applicability, the tool will employ a hierarchical data structure, allowing users to start with European averages and refine results with national or local data. The project integrates this quantification process into the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) framework to support evidence-based climate mitigation. The tool's effectiveness will be tested through four pilot case studies in Ireland (County Meath), Northern Ireland (Rathlin Island), Finland (Kymenlaakso region), and Scotland (Edinburgh).

The document outlines best practices for mine closure, emphasizing the necessity of early planning and robust financial assurance to prevent the state from inheriting liabilities from abandoned mines. It specifically examines the comprehensive national laws in Chile and Peru, noting that while both align with international standards for physical and chemical stability, they lack significant emphasis on social transition and post-mining land use. The study details the specific legal milestones, financial instruments, and reporting requirements used in both countries to ensure mine sites are safely reclaimed.

The report examines how Ghana and British Columbia manage mine waste, highlighting the importance of risk-based legal frameworks, corporate accountability, and financial assurances. It identifies strengths in both jurisdictions' planning processes while noting specific areas for improvement, such as Ghana's need for stronger polluter-pays principles and British Columbia's focus on enhancing regulatory auditing following the 2014 Mount Polley dam failure.

The report examines how Ghana and British Columbia manage mine waste, focusing on tailings facilities and waste rock. It outlines a 'plan-do-check-act' model for governance, emphasizing risk-based standards, corporate accountability, and financial guarantees for closure. In Ghana, the focus is on integrating artisanal mining and strengthening corporate accountability. In British Columbia, the framework has evolved following the 2014 Mount Polley dam failure, leading to the creation of a dedicated Mine Audits and Effectiveness Unit and stricter requirements for independent reviews.

The case study analyzes mine waste governance in Ghana and British Columbia, highlighting the importance of risk-based frameworks, financial assurances, and corporate accountability. It details Ghana's efforts to formalize artisanal mining and British Columbia's regulatory evolution following the 2014 Mount Polley tailings dam failure.

The 2021 Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Index reveals a slowing pace of global improvement and widening disparities in women's status. While developed countries, particularly Nordic nations, lead the index, fragile states and regions like South Asia perform poorly. The report highlights how the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing inequalities, particularly through job losses in female-dominated sectors and increased risks of intimate partner violence. Additionally, new indices for forcibly displaced women and subnational data for Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the United States demonstrate that national averages often conceal severe internal disparities and the compounding disadvantages of displacement.

The report presents findings from 80 semi-structured interviews with Polish and Romanian migrants in Barcelona and Oslo. It explores how these individuals perceive democracy, corruption, and social rights in their host and origin countries, and analyzes the motivations and barriers associated with voting from abroad. Key findings indicate that while migration can broaden perspectives, it rarely fundamentally shifts core political alignments. Voting behaviour is influenced by a mix of national identity, tactical goals, and practical accessibility, with mobilisation occurring primarily through personal networks rather than state-led campaigns.

The report argues that UN IDDRS recommendations—specifically the separation of minors from adult soldiers and the insistence on family reunification—often fail to account for gender and conflict context, potentially causing trauma and socio-economic hardship. Through case studies of FARC-EP in Colombia and the PLA in Nepal, the author finds that many minors joined voluntarily to escape poverty or violence and experienced high levels of gender equality within the armed groups, which contrasted sharply with the traditional, 'machista' or caste-based societies they returned to. The report concludes that minors' agency is frequently neglected by international and state actors, and recommends a more flexible, context-specific approach to DDR that prioritizes the minors' own choices and needs.

The document provides the technical appendices for the 2021 Production Gap report, outlining the data sources and calculations used to determine the discrepancy between planned fossil fuel production and climate-consistent levels. It describes the 'countries’ plans and projections' (CPP) pathway, which aggregates data from 15 major producer countries and scales it globally using IEA STEPS. It also details the selection of 1.5°C and 2°C consistent pathways from the IPCC SR1.5 database, applying specific constraints on carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies. Finally, it compares the 2021 findings with the 2019 assessment, noting that the overall production gap remains largely unchanged despite minor declines in coal and oil projections.

The report identifies 24 deforestation fronts across Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and Oceania, where over 43 million hectares of forest were lost between 2004 and 2017. It argues that while commercial agriculture remains the dominant direct driver, indirect pressures such as population growth, dietary shifts toward meat, and weak governance amplify forest loss. The analysis evaluates a range of responses, from area-based protections and indigenous land rights to commodity-specific certifications and REDD+ frameworks, concluding that no single approach is sufficient and that integrated, context-specific solutions are required to halt deforestation.

The Gas Index finds that methane leakage across the U.S. natural gas supply chain is significantly more extensive than EPA estimates, particularly within city distribution systems and buildings. The report argues that replacing gas heating with electric heat pumps would reduce emissions in every city evaluated, with the greatest benefits occurring where electricity grids are decarbonized.

The Climate Change Performance Index 2021 finds that no country is currently on a path compliant with the Paris Agreement goals. While the EU improved its ranking to 16th place and countries like Sweden, the UK, and Denmark lead, major G20 emitters including the USA, Saudi Arabia, and Russia are rated 'very low'. The report highlights a divide between high-performing smaller nations and developing countries like Morocco, Chile, and India, and the lowest-performing fossil fuel producing nations.

The report evaluates the climate and air quality impacts of residual waste treatment in the UK, comparing landfill and incineration across different scenarios. It finds that while incineration may currently appear more favorable due to energy credits, its relative performance is expected to decline by 2035 as the electricity grid decarbonises and waste composition changes. The study emphasizes that pre-treatment is essential for both technologies to align with net-zero targets and notes that incineration has a more significant negative impact on local air quality than landfill.

The document assesses China's transition toward a comprehensive 'one-permit' governance system for stationary pollution sources, analyzing the legal framework, implementation challenges at the local level, and the role of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE). It highlights gaps in the current system, such as the exclusion of noise and solid waste from the primary permitting regime and a lack of specific legal liabilities for permit violations. The report compares China's approach with the EU's Industrial Emissions Directive (IED), emphasizing the use of Best Available Techniques (BAT) and risk-based inspection strategies to improve environmental quality.

The 2020 Scorecard reveals a growing trend of insurers retreating from coal, with at least 23 companies ending or limiting cover for coal projects. While coal insurance is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive to obtain, the report finds that the industry has largely failed to take comprehensive action on oil and gas. European and Australian insurers are leading the transition, whereas companies in the U.S., Japan, and the Lloyd's market are identified as laggards. The report also highlights a significant increase in coal divestment, with 65 insurers now having policies covering over $12 trillion in assets.