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The document examines how Chinese firms in Zimbabwe are coupling mining investments with energy infrastructure to overcome local power shortages and support mineral beneficiation, particularly in the lithium sector. While this model has increased Zimbabwe's lithium revenues from $70 million in 2022 to over $600 million in 2024, it has raised significant concerns regarding environmental degradation, lack of community consultation, and the risk of perpetuating an extractive 'pit-to-port' model where high-value refining remains in China.

The report examines the challenges of Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPs), noting their tendency to prioritize donor agendas and techno-economic frameworks over local social needs. It proposes South-South cooperation (SSC) as a vital complement to address these gaps through peer learning and context-specific solutions. Using South Africa and Colombia as case studies, the document identifies specific areas for collaboration, including mine closure, green industrialization, and the integration of peace-building experiences into transition planning.

The report finds that data centers are the primary driver of near-term electricity demand growth in Wisconsin, which risks increasing reliance on fossil fuels under current policies. By implementing a Clean Electricity Standard and CO2 reduction policies, Wisconsin could generate 83% of its electricity from clean energy by 2050 and reach net-zero CO2 emissions. Such policies would avoid significant health-related costs and mortalities compared to current trajectories. The report recommends reintroducing Integrated Resource Planning and establishing a clean electricity standard to protect ratepayers and the climate.

The report examines how the green transition is reshaping trade, investment, and geopolitics for Africa. It analyzes the impact of the EU and UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanisms (CBAM), the decarbonisation of maritime and aviation sectors, and the potential for Africa to move from raw mineral extraction to EV battery production. It warns that without strategic policy intervention, clean energy exports and critical mineral demand may reproduce extractive economic patterns, while advocating for a unified continental approach to negotiate fairer terms in international climate-trade frameworks.

The report examines country platforms (CPs) as vehicles to integrate climate finance with national development goals in emerging economies. It argues that CPs must be country-led and grounded in macro-fiscal analysis to avoid debt vulnerabilities and ensure social inclusivity. Using the South African Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) as a primary example, the document outlines criteria for effectiveness—including whole-of-government approaches and credible project pipelines—and proposes a four-quadrant analytical framework to guide their design. It also highlights the role of philanthropy in funding early-stage technical work and the necessity of overcoming structural path dependencies to achieve genuine economic diversification.

The document argues that Romania possesses significant untapped geothermal potential, particularly in the Western Plain, but is hindered by outdated data and regulatory barriers. While Romania ranked sixth in the EU for gross geothermal heat production in 2024, it has no geothermal electricity projects. The report suggests leveraging the existing oil and gas workforce and infrastructure to reduce costs and recommends establishing a one-stop-shop permitting mechanism and targeted financial risk-sharing for exploration.

The document reviews Chile's evolution toward a Just Socioecological Transition (JSET), highlighting the shift from energy-focused policies to a multi-dimensional approach. It identifies critical gaps in monitoring, funding, and legislative alignment while suggesting international mechanisms to support the 2025-2035 National Strategy.

The document identifies four primary constraints to South Africa's just transition: a significant finance gap, delivery frictions in project cycles, fragmented skills and employment pathways, and a lack of accountability and legitimacy. It argues that success depends on moving from high-level pledges to 'delivery-grade' finance and coordinated, place-based implementation, particularly in coal-affected regions like Mpumalanga.

In 2025, the EU reached a milestone where wind and solar generated more electricity (30.1%) than all fossil fuel sources (29.0%) for the first time on record. Solar generation grew by 20.1% to reach a record 369 TWh, while coal fell to a historic low of 9.2% of the mix. Despite this, gas generation rose by 8% due to low hydro output, increasing the EU power sector's gas import bill by 16% to €32 billion. The report highlights the role of a growing battery pipeline—exceeding 10 GW of large batteries in 2025—in reducing reliance on expensive gas and mitigating the curtailment of clean power, particularly in Germany.

The 2026 Market Intelligence Report for the Western Cape's sustainable agriculture sector highlights a transition toward resource-efficient, technologically enabled production. It identifies biological crop protection and biostimulants as key regenerative agriculture opportunities, with a total addressable market of R79.3530.3 million and R27.3176.6 million respectively. Additionally, it identifies farm management systems as a critical smart farming opportunity to ensure export compliance and operational efficiency, with a total addressable market of R108135 million per year. The sector faces significant trade pressures, including the expiry of AGOA in September 2025 and evolving EU sustainability regulations under the European Green Deal, prompting a strategic pivot toward market diversification in Asia, particularly China, following a landmark stone fruit trade protocol signed in October 2025.

Benin's NDC 3.0 (2026-2035) aims to reduce cumulative greenhouse gas emissions (excluding the forestry sector) by 32.8% compared to a business-as-usual scenario, a significant increase from the 20.15% target in NDC 2.0. The plan includes 32 mitigation measures implemented through 180 projects, with the energy sector being the most prominent. Adaptation is a central pillar, focusing on eight key sectors, including agriculture, water resources, and health, to address high vulnerability and a low readiness score of 0.342. The total funding requirement for the 2026-2035 period is estimated at 14.488 billion USD, with 9.266 billion USD for conditional actions.

In 2025, global coal capacity grew by 3.5% while generation fell by 0.6%, a divergence driven primarily by China and India. While new commissioning reached near-record levels of 97.4 GW, coal is increasingly used as 'system insurance' rather than a primary energy source. The global pipeline is narrowing geographically, with only 32 countries proposing or building new plants in 2025, and 95% of all construction concentrated in China and India. Meanwhile, the U.S. and EU saw significant delays in planned retirements, though for different reasons: federal emergency orders in the U.S. and energy security concerns in the EU. Latin America reached 'No New Coal' status in 2025, while South Korea committed to a phaseout by 2040.

The report finds that nature-related financial disclosures among large South African companies are in their infancy, with most firms relying on existing climate governance structures that do not yet substantively address biodiversity. While there is high awareness of the TNFD framework, formal adoption is very low, with only four companies having adopted it by the end of 2025. The analysis highlights significant gaps in board-level accountability, a lack of specific biodiversity metrics, and limited engagement with Indigenous Peoples and local communities. The report recommends that companies leverage their more mature climate reporting systems to fast-track the adoption of TNFD recommendations and integrate nature-based solutions into their value chains.

The report argues that high electricity prices, often inflated by policy-related levies, make heat pumps less cost-competitive than gas boilers despite their superior efficiency. It analyzes various policy levers—such as removing levies, reducing VAT, or implementing innovative tariffs—to lower the electricity-to-gas price ratio, which the European Heat Pump Association suggests should be no higher than 2 for competitiveness. The analysis highlights that the Netherlands, with the lowest price ratio (1.4), has significantly higher heat pump sales than countries like Germany, Poland, or Hungary, where ratios exceed 3.

The report evaluates the climate transition of 594 OECD pension funds using Net Zero Finance Tracker data. While target-setting is improving, significant exposure to expansionist fossil fuel companies remains. The analysis finds that funds with formal climate targets and transition plans hold higher shares of clean energy and that robust regulatory frameworks in countries like the UK, Denmark, and the Netherlands correlate with stronger climate action.

In 2025, electric vehicles (EVs) accounted for over a quarter of global new car sales, driven by a significant shift in emerging markets. While legacy auto markets in the US and Canada have seen a rollback of incentives, countries in Southeast Asia and Latin America are 'leapfrogging' advanced economies. Viet Nam and Singapore have reached EV sales shares exceeding 40%, surpassing the UK and EU. China continues to dominate as the largest market, with its exports increasingly targeting non-OECD markets such as Brazil, Mexico, the UAE, and Indonesia. The report highlights that EVs significantly reduce fossil fuel demand, with battery electric vehicles in Brazil delivering an estimated 90% reduction compared to internal combustion engine vehicles.

The report finds that while India has achieved a non-fossil electricity capacity share exceeding 50% in 2025, public finances remain heavily tied to fossil fuels. In FY 2024, fossil fuel revenues contributed nearly INR 9 lakh crore (USD 108 billion) to the exchequer, and 83% of central state-owned enterprise capital expenditures were directed toward fossils. Although clean energy subsidies grew by 31% year-on-year in FY 2024 and fossil fuel subsidies declined by 12%, the latter was attributed to cyclical price movements rather than structural policy. The study recommends improving the targeting of electricity subsidies, redirecting state-owned enterprise capital toward clean-tech, and diversifying government revenue through carbon pricing and green taxes.

The 2025 report on Brazil's Forest Code implementation reveals a significant increase in CAR registration validation, rising from 3.3% to 9% of the national database, driven largely by automation in states like São Paulo and Paraná. While federal governance of the SICAR system has improved through new intergovernmental coordination and the operationalization of Environmental Reserve Quotas (CRAs), progress remains uneven across regions. The Northern region shows limited progress, while the Southeast is the most advanced. A critical bottleneck remains the lack of verifiable land tenure information, with approximately 30% of registrations in Mato Grosso showing spatial overlaps. Implementation of the PRA remains limited, with a small number of Environmental Compliance Agreements (TCs) relative to the volume of properties requiring restoration.

The Bee-Friendly Retailer Scorecard reveals that while some grocery retailers like Whole Foods and Sprouts are leading in organic sales and pollinator protections, many others are failing to communicate progress or manage pesticide risks. The report emphasizes the need for retailers to expand U.S. organic farming, eliminate nitroguanidine neonicotinoids, and adopt integrated pest management to mitigate significant financial and biodiversity risks.

The World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) and its partners evaluate the draft outcomes of the WSIS+20 process. While acknowledging progress in reaffirming multistakeholder engagement and human rights obligations, the text highlights critical gaps regarding AI governance, private sector due diligence, and the need to replace the current profit-driven digital paradigm with one focused on public interest and justice.