Search Climate Insights Directory

The 2022 Forest Declaration Assessment executive summary evaluates global progress toward the 2030 goals of halting deforestation and restoring 350 million hectares of degraded land. It concludes that no single global indicator is currently on track to meet these targets, highlighting critical gaps in finance, corporate action, and governance.

The 'Landscape of Climate Finance in Africa' report by the Climate Policy Initiative provides a baseline assessment of climate finance flows into and within African countries for 2019 and 2020. It highlights a massive gap between the annual USD 277 billion required to implement Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and the actual annual flows of USD 29.5 billion. The report analyzes the sources, instruments, and sectoral allocations of this finance, noting a heavy reliance on international public funding and a significant under-investment in adaptation and the agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU) sectors compared to their needs.

This report by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), commissioned by FSD Africa, provides a comprehensive baseline of climate finance flows in Africa for 2019 and 2020. It highlights a massive financing gap, noting that annual flows of USD 29.5 billion meet only about 11% of the USD 277 billion needed annually to implement Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by 2030. The analysis details the sources, instruments, and sectoral allocations of these funds, emphasizing the dominance of international public finance and the need for increased private sector engagement and better data tracking.

This policy brief by the Stockholm Environment Institute examines the potential impacts of Sweden's goal to reach net-zero emissions by 2045 on individual consumption in the transport and food sectors. The authors identify significant gaps in current policy visions, particularly regarding the needs of rural populations in the transport transition and the lack of specific consumption targets in the food sector.

This report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), on behalf of the 'Electrifying Canada' private sector task force, outlines the requirements and obstacles for scaling up clean electricity production in Canada to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. It argues that current utility planning is insufficient to meet the projected demand and proposes five catalysts—specifically focusing on regulatory mandates, proactive planning, and private investment—to accelerate the transition.

This policy brief examines the role of the World Customs Organization's (WCO) Harmonized System (HS) in tracking international trade across the life cycle of plastics. It argues that current HS classifications lack the granularity needed for evidence-based policymaking to tackle plastic pollution and proposes specific amendments for the 2022–2027 cycle to improve transparency in trade flows of feedstocks, primary plastics, manufactured products, and waste.

This report assesses progress toward Goal 5 of the New York Declaration on Forests (NYDF), which aims to restore and maintain 350 million hectares of landscapes and forestlands by 2030. It highlights a significant gap between political commitments and actual implementation, noting that previous targets were not met and that monitoring remains technically challenging.

This report synthesizes the results of a scoping workshop held in August 2021 by the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI), the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), and the Belmont Forum. The workshop gathered over 150 researchers and government officials from 35 countries to identify research, capacity building, and partnership priorities at the nexus of climate, environment, and health (CEH) in Latin America and the Caribbean to inform the CEH2 Collaborative Research Action (CRA) call.

This report by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) identifies perceived knowledge gaps and barriers hindering the adoption of 'gridless' (decentralized) water, sanitation, and energy services. Based on workshops with 48 global stakeholders, the report argues that project failures often stem from socio-technical and systemic issues—such as regulatory mismatches, lack of user-centric design, and unsustainable business models—rather than technical performance.

The Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) has introduced the Framework for Sustainable Finance Integrity to establish universal sustainability guardrails for the global financial system. The Framework aims to address the lack of a standardized system for tracking the integrity of net-zero commitments and coordinating action between public and private financial actors to meet the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals.

The 2021 Production Gap Report finds that global government plans for fossil fuel production in 2030 remain largely unchanged from previous assessments and are inconsistent with the Paris Agreement temperature limits, particularly regarding gas production and recent funding allocations.

The 2021 State of Cities Climate Finance report provides a comprehensive estimate of global urban climate finance, identifying a significant gap between current annual investments of USD 384 billion and estimated needs of USD 4.5 to 5.4 trillion. It analyzes the enabling conditions required to mobilize finance and offers recommendations for city, national, and international officials to accelerate low-carbon, climate-resilient urban development.

This policy brief by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI/PUC-Rio) analyzes the socio-environmental components of feasibility and impact studies for federal highway and railroad concessions in the Legal Amazon. The researchers found significant gaps in the coverage of biotic environments, a lack of coordination between Technical, Economic and Environmental Feasibility Studies (EVTEA) and Environmental Assessment Studies (EIA), and a general failure to comply with both international guidelines and national sectoral manuals.

This policy brief by Climate Policy Initiative/Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (CPI/PUC-Rio) analyzes the socio-environmental components of Technical, Economic and Environmental Feasibility Studies (EVTEA) and Environmental Assessment Studies (EIA) for federal land infrastructure concessions in the Legal Amazon. The analysis reveals significant gaps in the coverage of biotic environments, a lack of coordination between the two types of studies, and inconsistent compliance with sectoral manuals and terms of reference (TRs).

This report by the Climate Policy Initiative and Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) proposes a standardized Cooling Investment Tracking Framework to address significant data gaps in global cooling finance. The authors argue that current datasets focus too narrowly on equipment sales and lack the transaction-level granularity needed for governments and investors to align capital with sustainable cooling needs.

This 2021 report by WWF South Africa evaluates the management effectiveness of the South African marine protected area (MPA) network using the Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool (METT-SA 3). Based on a 2018 assessment of 27 sites, the report identifies systemic deficiencies in funding, staffing, and law enforcement, while proposing a phased approach to move MPAs from priority or basic management levels to optimal effectiveness.

The 2020 Special Report on the Production Gap by the International Institute for Sustainable Development analyzes the discrepancy between planned fossil fuel production and the levels required to meet the Paris Agreement temperature goals of 1.5°C or 2°C.

This report evaluates Panama's readiness to implement the Mining Policy Framework (MPM) of the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF). The assessment, conducted between December 2019 and April 2020, identifies a sector in a developmental phase with a significant large-scale operation (Cobre Panamá) and a smaller non-metallic sector. While Panama has strengths in environmental awareness and indigenous rights recognition, it faces critical gaps in its outdated legal framework, lack of a cohesive national mining policy, weak fiscal oversight, and a near-total absence of specific regulations for mine closure and artisanal mining.

The 2019 Energizing Finance report by Climate Policy Initiative and Sustainable Energy for All analyzes finance commitments for electrification and clean cooking in 20 high-impact countries (HICs). It finds that current investment levels are severely insufficient to meet Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) by 2030, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, and highlights a critical funding gap for clean cooking and a continued, though slightly declining, reliance on fossil fuel investments.

The executive summary of the 'Energizing Finance: Understanding the Landscape 2019' report analyzes sustainable energy finance from 2013 to 2017, highlighting significant funding gaps for electricity and clean cooking access, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, and the continued investment in fossil fuels.