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This executive summary details a civil society event held on September 22, 2014, in New York, which brought together global health leaders to discuss the intersection of climate change and public health. The event focused on how health-centric decision-making can drive mitigation efforts across the agriculture, transportation, and energy sectors to improve human well-being and sustainable development.

This research paper by the Institute for Security Studies examines the radicalisation and recruitment processes of al-Shabaab in Somalia. Based on interviews with 88 former fighters and seven off-the-record sources, the study identifies a complex interplay of religious identity, socio-economic hardship, and political instability as primary drivers for recruitment, while highlighting the critical role of peer influence and the organisation's sophisticated intelligence capabilities.

This report summarizes research and capacity-building activities conducted by the Africa Climate Change Resilience Alliance (ACCRA) between 2010 and 2011 across three sites in Ethiopia. The work focuses on the intersection of climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and development planning to improve the adaptive capacity of rural livelihoods.

This briefing by the World Resources Institute provides five sets of recommendations ('do's and don'ts') for the Board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) as they finalize the Fund's operational design in Songdo, Korea. The document emphasizes that the GCF's operationalization is a critical step toward unlocking climate finance progress for the global climate agreement planned for COP 21 in 2015.

This report details the findings and recommendations from a two-day workshop conducted by the Electricity Innovation Lab (e-Lab) and Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest (NAVFAC Southwest) in April 2013. The document examines the technical, economic, and regulatory challenges of implementing microgrids on U.S. Navy bases to improve energy security and integrate renewable energy.

This policy brief by the International Institute for Sustainable Development argues that fossil-fuel subsidy reform is a ready-to-deploy measure that can help UNFCCC Parties increase pre-2020 mitigation ambition to limit global temperature rise to 2°C. It provides specific recommendations for Parties to integrate subsidy reform into UNFCCC workstreams, national actions, and reporting mechanisms.

This report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) analyzes the legal principles and methods used to determine compensation for the expropriation of foreign investments. It examines the tension between customary international law and Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs), highlighting how vague treaty language often leaves the calculation of compensation to the discretion of arbitral tribunals and accounting firms. The document provides recommendations for States to draft more precise BIT clauses to protect public funds and maintain regulatory space for public interest legislation.

The 2013 SAIIA Young Leaders Declaration is a statement of recommendations for the Post-2015 Development Agenda, formulated by South African youth during the 2nd Annual South African Institute of International Affairs Young Leaders Conference in Johannesburg. The document outlines priorities across three thematic areas: addressing inequalities, managing conflict, violence and disasters, and ensuring environmental sustainability.

This report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) provides a set of policy options and principles to inform the African preparatory process for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20). It argues that the current international environmental governance (IEG) regime is fragmented and fails Africa, which suffers acutely from environmental degradation. The document proposes reforms focused on implementation, accountability, and the transformation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) into a more powerful international institution.

This policy brief defines 'climate compatible development' as an integrated approach that minimizes climate-related harm while maximizing human development opportunities through low-emissions and resilient growth. It argues that policy makers must move beyond the traditional separation of adaptation, mitigation, and development to achieve 'triple win' strategies that simultaneously promote development, build resilience, and reduce emissions.

This report by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), prepared for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, documents a regional trend of violence and human rights abuses against environmental defenders in Mexico and Central America within the industrial mining sector. It highlights the severe social and environmental impacts of mining and argues that state failure to regulate the industry and protect defenders leads to high levels of impunity.

This research paper, authored by Carolina Zambrano-Barragán, proposes a framework for public officials—particularly in low-income and tropical developing countries—to make strategic decisions under climate change uncertainty. The author argues that adaptation should be treated as a continuous, learning-based process rather than a set of static decisions, integrating climate resilience into national and local development plans.

This research paper by Mike Muller provides guiding principles for development agencies to support national-level decision-making in developing countries facing climate change. Muller argues that adaptation should be integrated into existing national development goals and governance processes rather than treated as a separate, sectoral, or externally driven priority.

This fact sheet from the World Resources Institute outlines the interdependence of water and energy in Tennessee, highlighting the high volume of freshwater used for thermoelectric power and proposing policy priorities to improve efficiency and resource management.

This policy brief by the Stockholm Environment Institute outlines recommendations to improve the use of climate science for 'anticipatory adaptation' in Africa. It emphasizes the need to bridge the gap between climate scientists and decision-makers, enhance local technical capacity for downscaling climate models, and leverage existing regional networks and platforms to manage climate change risks.

The Port Innovation Workshop Final Report details a two-day event convened by the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma, in collaboration with the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency and Rocky Mountain Institute, to identify strategies for improving the sustainability and energy efficiency of cargo container operations. The workshop produced 44 ideas categorized as Port Leadership, Partnership, or Blue Sky opportunities, focusing on electrification, logistics optimization, and radical redesigns of port infrastructure to reduce emissions and operational waste.

This research paper by Oli Brown for the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) examines the evolving relationship between environmental degradation, natural resource management, and global security. It traces the discourse from the Cold War era to the post-Cold War rise in intra-state conflicts, outlining four primary theoretical approaches to environmental security and proposing practical policy interventions to mitigate conflict driven by both resource scarcity and abundance.

This report documents the recommendations and proceedings of the 'Design for Health: Summit for Massachusetts Health Care Decision Makers,' held on September 28–29, 2004. Organized by the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) and Health Care Without Harm (HCWH), the summit aimed to promote the adoption of sustainable, high-performance design in healthcare facilities to improve patient outcomes, staff performance, environmental health, and financial security.

The document outlines a panel's recommendations for enhancing African agriculture through science, technology, institutional development, and policy reform to improve food security and income.

This report details the outcomes of a three-day workshop on 'Supporting Protected Areas in Times of Violent Conflict' held during the 5th IUCN World Parks Congress in Durban, South Africa, in September 2003. Co-organized by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) under a UNDP-supported initiative, the workshop focused on the bidirectional relationship between protected areas and violent conflict, identifying best practices for management during crises and the role of conservation in peace-building and post-conflict reconstruction.