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The Tandem framework addresses the 'usability gap' in climate services by shifting from provider-led to collaborative, transdisciplinary co-design. It outlines a seven-step iterative process—ranging from identifying adaptation challenges to maintaining the service—supported by cross-cutting components like sustainable financing and capacity building. The framework is illustrated through an urban water security case study in Lusaka, Zambia, where co-produced hydrological models helped stakeholders assess water demand against climate scenarios.

The Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) proposes the 'Village propre–Village productif' framework to address the lack of integrated risk and resource management in rural sanitation. The framework uses a dual-axis certification system: a 'clean' axis focused on health and hygiene (e.g., eliminating open defecation and managing greywater) and a 'productive' axis focused on the safe recovery of nutrients and energy from waste (e.g., human excreta, animal waste, and ash). By linking sanitation to agricultural productivity and economic benefits, the framework aims to overcome the sustainability and scaling challenges of previous approaches like Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS). It is particularly targeted at smallholder farmers in developing regions, such as sub-Saharan Africa, to support multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The briefing examines the risks associated with China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Southeast Asia, particularly regarding carbon-intensive energy projects and hydropower dams. It argues that current investment patterns may lead to carbon lock-in and ecological damage. To mitigate these risks, the authors propose a decision-making framework based on transparency, stakeholder participation, and adherence to international sustainable finance standards.

The document outlines a framework for climate risk management (CRM) within agricultural value chains, specifically drawing on research regarding the rice sector in Uganda. It emphasizes the necessity of identifying core CRM functions and the role of service providers—such as domestic seed companies providing climate-resilient varieties and financial institutions like Centenary Bank—in protecting investments and enhancing the resilience of actors throughout the value chain against climate hazards.

The briefing argues that for agricultural value chain investments to be sustainable, climate resilience must be a priority, requiring all actors to perform three core CRM functions: climate risk assessment, adaptive management, and responding to shocks. Using the Ugandan rice sector as an example, it demonstrates that while all actors are exposed to climate hazards like droughts and floods, smallholder farmers are the most vulnerable due to limited assets. The document emphasizes the critical role of service providers—offering climate information, financial services, market data, and resilient infrastructure—in enabling these CRM functions. It concludes by recommending that development agencies integrate CRM into training, strengthen service provider capacities, generate economic evidence for the business case of CRM, and align agricultural policies with systemic risk management.

The report assesses the early progress of the New York Declaration on Forests (NYDF), noting that while new initiatives and commitments have emerged, overall progress remains slow. It highlights a lack of coordinated tracking for non-agricultural deforestation drivers and significant gaps in meeting restoration targets. Key achievements include the inclusion of a deforestation target in the Sustainable Development Goals and increased finance for clean cookstoves and REDD+ payments, though the latter's disbursements lag behind commitments.

The report argues that achieving sustainable groundwater management in California requires the establishment of clear, quantitative measurable objectives to avoid 'undesirable results' such as land subsidence and seawater intrusion. It advocates for an adaptive management approach involving clear baselines, quantitative thresholds, and protective triggers. The authors propose a six-step preliminary framework for setting thresholds and recommend that the state develop a common framework to ensure consistency in data, assumptions, and metrics across different groundwater sustainability agencies.

The document identifies six clusters of trade-related commitments in the post-2015 agenda, ranging from subsidy reform to the strengthening of the multilateral trading system. It argues that because trade's contribution to sustainable development is diffuse, a coordinated review process is necessary to ensure policy coherence. The authors propose a three-tier review architecture consisting of national self-assessments, regional peer reviews, and global thematic assessments. A central role is assigned to the World Trade Organization's Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM) and the High-level Political Forum (HLPF). To manage the complexity of data and reporting, the paper recommends the creation of an inter-agency task force to synthesize trade-related reports and provide analytical oversight of trade-offs between goals.

The report argues for integrating a 'capabilities approach'—derived from the work of Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum—into global climate policy, specifically the 2015 international climate agreement. It suggests that climate policies, such as renewable energy and carbon pricing, should be designed to strengthen the basic capabilities of the least well-off rather than diminish them. The document recommends that the UNFCCC incorporate capabilities into the evaluation of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) and across all core agreement elements, including finance and technology, to achieve equitable climate action.

The research paper outlines a strategy for 'climate compatible development' in African cities, which integrates climate change adaptation and mitigation with urban development. It emphasizes the need to work with informality and inequality, as a large portion of African urban growth occurs in slums. The authors propose a vision for 'adaptive African cities' and provide a practical eight-step model for community-based development, ranging from visioning and vulnerability mapping to the prioritisation of adaptation options and the tracking of outcomes.

This synthesis report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development proposes a commodity-by-commodity framework to assess sustainability risks and vulnerabilities for importers, specifically focusing on China's global resource needs. The report argues that China's reliance on inward supply chains exposes it to systemic risks—including natural hazards, local conflict, and resource nationalism—which are currently managed in a tactical rather than strategic manner.

The authors argue that the lack of integration in resource assessments and policy-making results in inconsistent strategies and inefficient resource use. To remedy this, they introduce the CLEWs (climate, land-use, energy and water strategies) framework, which integrates the assessment of climate, land use, energy, and water strategies, noting that these resources both contribute to and are vulnerable to climate change.

The document argues that the long-term nature of PPPs often makes it difficult for governments to adapt contracts to evolving sustainability priorities. It proposes a 'health check' framework based on a triple bottom line—economic, environmental, and social sustainability—to guide the review and renegotiation of existing agreements. Using the UK's transition from PFI to PF2 as a context, it suggests mechanisms like 'invest to save' and gain-share provisions to enhance value-for-money and environmental performance. It also highlights the importance of life-cycle assessments (LCA) and ethical labor standards in ensuring the long-term viability and social acceptance of infrastructure projects.

The Orinoco River Basin in Colombia is experiencing rapid transformation due to increased public and private investment in oil extraction, industrial agriculture, and infrastructure. This development has led to significant ecosystem loss, including 32% of flooded savannahs over the last 20 years. To address these challenges, the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and the Alexander von Humboldt Institute (IavH) are proposing a "nexus" approach that analyzes the interdependencies between water, energy, food, and habitat security. This framework aims to replace fragmented planning with integrated decision-making to protect biodiversity and human systems. The proposed research will utilize participatory methods and software tools like LEAP and WEAP to inform national climate adaptation and biodiversity strategies.

The policy brief argues that current systems for tracking climate finance are fragmented and insufficient, calling for a robust MRV framework within the UNFCCC to build trust between donors and recipients. It highlights the political nature of defining 'climate finance' and 'new and additional' funds, while warning against double-counting and the risk of narrow definitions hindering broader development goals.

The document argues that achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) requires rural development strategies that enhance the livelihoods of the poor while sustaining ecosystem services and increasing resilience to climate change. It emphasizes that success depends on local organizations and proposes a five-element action framework for scaling up local ecosystem-based initiatives: creating an enabling policy environment, building local capacity, ensuring equitable access to finance, facilitating knowledge sharing, and adopting a programmatic approach to scaling.

The Greenhouse Development Rights (GDR) framework proposes a climate regime that defines national obligations based on responsibility and capacity, using a 'development threshold' to protect the welfare of individuals in developing nations while pursuing ambitious global emission reductions.

The author argues that climate change adaptation should be treated as a continuous, learning-based process rather than a set of static decisions. The proposed framework rests on four pillars: establishing flexible socio-institutional frameworks, managing knowledge and information, maintaining a portfolio of diverse adaptation options, and implementing continuous monitoring and evaluation. The paper emphasizes the deep interconnection between adaptation and development, suggesting that policies addressing poverty and inequality simultaneously build adaptive capacity. It highlights the need for 'bottom-up' participatory processes and the creation of enabling environments that allow citizens to adapt autonomously. Using Quito, Ecuador, as an example, the text illustrates the importance of bridging the gap between scientific research and policy through dedicated bodies like the Quito's Climate Change Panel.

The document assesses the institutional and financial failures of technology transfer from industrialized to developing countries under the UNFCCC. It contrasts the G77 + China proposal for a centralized Executive Body and Multilateral Climate Technology Fund with the European Union's preference for bilateral Technology Oriented Agreements and carbon market financing. To resolve these divergences, the author suggests a three-themed evaluation framework based on legal principles, actions across the technology chain (R&D, demonstration, deployment, and diffusion), and institutional mandates. Additionally, the document details the Climate Action Network's (CAN) call for a dedicated Technology Cooperation Mechanism and a Technology Fund to ensure measurable, reportable, and verifiable (MRV) delivery of climate-friendly technologies, specifically addressing intellectual property barriers through a proposed International Declaration on Climate Technologies and IPRs.

The document proposes a four-pillar framework for a Convention on Plastic Pollution: Monitoring and Reporting, Plastic Pollution Prevention, Coordination, and Technical and Financial Support. It details specific measures for each pillar, including the establishment of national inventories for virgin and recycled plastics, the implementation of national action plans to reduce discharges, coordination with existing international treaties like the Basel and Stockholm Conventions, and the provision of financial and technical assistance to developing countries.