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The 2025 Utility Roundtable highlighted the need for African power utilities to move beyond dependency on foreign aid by adopting new financing strategies, addressing structural inefficiencies like commercial losses, and strategically integrating renewable energy into fragile grids through regional collaboration and private sector engagement.

The document contends that the EU's decision to exempt international aviation from the ETS since 2012, largely due to US political and industry pressure, has failed to reduce emissions. It criticizes the ICAO's CORSIA framework as ineffective and calls for the EU to resume pricing international aviation emissions, proposing that the resulting revenue be directed toward global climate finance for vulnerable countries.

Morocco possesses significant reserves of green transition minerals (GTMs), including approximately 72% of global phosphate, positioning it as a strategic partner for the EU and China. While the EU emphasizes regulatory compliance and sustainability standards, China provides rapid industrial scale and technical expertise in refining. The authors argue that Morocco's current bilateral engagements are fragmented and propose a five-step trilateral framework—including a joint task force, dedicated industrial zones, and a sustainability charter—to transform geopolitical competition into coordinated investment and technology transfer.

The author contends that military spending alone cannot ensure European security and that current fiscal rules unfairly prioritize defense over climate and social investments. The text argues that ecological investments provide higher economic multipliers than military spending and warns that diverting resources to armaments drains capacity from renewable energy and electric vehicles. It proposes a new economic model involving a revision of fiscal rules, the issuance of new common debt, and the implementation of a minimum tax on the wealthy to fund long-term resilience.

The briefing identifies the "Pennsylvania Plus" (Penn+) region—covering the Marcellus and Utica basins—as a prime location for a differentiated gas market due to its high supply of low-methane gas and strong infrastructure. It notes that while supply is ample, buyer demand is hindered by lack of awareness, reporting uncertainties, and perceived costs. The author urges corporate buyers to commit to low-leakage gas by 2030 and pilot transactions to catalyze supply-chain mitigation.

The We Mean Business Coalition supports the European Commission's proposed Climate Law amendment, which sets a 90% emissions reduction target for 2040. The Coalition argues that this target provides necessary predictability for businesses and enhances competitiveness, while urging that the Clean Industrial Deal be linked to this goal. It further advocates for the 2040 target to inform a 2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) of at least 72.5% and suggests that high-quality international carbon credits used after 2036 could provide essential finance for developing countries.

The European Commission's proposed net 90% emissions reduction target for 2040 is criticized by Carbon Market Watch for being inadequate and lacking accountability. The analysis highlights risks associated with the potential use of international carbon credits, the absence of separate targets for gross emissions and removals, and the proposed integration of permanent removals into the EU ETS, which may create loopholes for polluters.

The assessment examines the adoption of solar water heaters, rooftop solar PV, efficient cooling/HVAC, and LED lighting across three Caribbean nations. It finds that while there is demand for these technologies, significant economic, institutional, and social barriers—particularly gender-blind policies and limited access to finance—hinder a 'Just Transition'. The report recommends capacity building for government stakeholders, gender-sensitive financial tools, and inclusive engagement strategies to ensure vulnerable populations benefit from the energy transition.

The report analyzes gender inequalities in ten target countries to integrate gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) into the Global Green Bond Initiative (GGBI). It identifies systemic barriers—including gendered divisions of labor, educational gaps, and limited access to finance and property—that reduce women's resilience to climate change. The document outlines a strategy to mainstream gender into green bond issuances through gender-responsive policies, the use of gender-specific KPIs, and the appointment of gender experts to ensure equitable benefit-sharing and increased women's leadership in climate finance.

The report details the expansion of 'Big Oil' companies like Shell and BP into the solar energy sector in Southern Europe. It highlights a pattern of using intermediary shell companies to acquire agricultural land and bypass environmental scrutiny and community participation. The authors argue that this 'extractive' model of the energy transition prioritizes corporate profit over food sovereignty and democratic engagement, while noting that Italy could meet its solar targets using rooftops and degraded land rather than fertile fields.

The World Resources Institute states that H.R.1. will hinder U.S. clean energy leadership by phasing out wind and solar tax credits and introducing Foreign Entity of Concern (FEOC) restrictions. These measures are expected to increase electricity costs, eliminate jobs, and reduce the power system's ability to meet rising demand from AI, manufacturing, and extreme weather.

The document outlines the need to replace aging diesel-based energy models in the Caribbean with resilient, affordable renewable systems to combat climate impacts and foster economic growth. It provides a toolkit for transition planning, focusing on policy frameworks, investment needs, and specific technology pathways to reach 100% renewable energy.

The Germany-South Africa JET-P is a minilateral climate finance initiative designed to support South Africa's transition from coal to renewable energy and green industrialisation. While it has successfully established an institutional framework and attracted significant funding—with Germany as the largest grant contributor—it faces critical hurdles. These include delays in coal plant decommissioning, concerns over the 'justice' of fund allocation (with a perceived bias toward international partners), and the risk of increasing national debt through a reliance on loans. The document argues that for the JET-P to achieve transformational change, it must move beyond financial pledges to deliver tangible emissions cuts, job creation, and inclusive livelihood improvements, drawing on lessons from Germany's own Ruhr valley transition.

The report examines the systematic violence in Nigeria's North-Central region, specifically Benue and Plateau states, where armed herder militias have targeted farming communities. It attributes the persistence of this violence to state failure, operational deficiencies in security agencies, and a lack of political will to enforce laws like Benue's Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law. The author highlights specific massacres in 2023 and 2025 as evidence of a campaign of forced displacement and killing. To resolve the crisis, the document recommends moving beyond symbolic presidential gestures toward technological surveillance, the establishment of state-level policing, a nationwide disarmament programme, and the prosecution of sponsors behind the attacks.

The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) submitted comments to the Finance Standing Committee regarding the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) Amendment Bill [B26 – 2018]. While supporting the transition to sole state ownership of the bank to align with international norms, the IEJ argues that ownership changes alone will not resolve policy incoherence or achieve sustainable economic growth. The IEJ advocates for a broader review of the SARB Act to expand the bank's mandate toward green structural transformation and increase coordination between monetary and fiscal policy.

The paper proposes the minerals-energy-food (MEF) complex to address failures in existing natural resource governance frameworks, specifically the inability to differentiate between physical resources and traded commodities. It highlights how current resource flows create power asymmetries where extraction occurs in low-income countries while benefits concentrate in wealthy nations, citing the Democratic Republic of Congo's cobalt mining as an example. The authors argue that fragmented governance silos and complex supply chains transmit risks across borders, necessitating an integrated approach to avoid conflict and inequality while supporting climate action.

The European plastic industry is facing a structural decline characterized by falling production and facility closures due to overcapacity and weak demand. While the industry blames EU regulations for a loss of competitiveness, the document argues that reducing production is the most sensible economic approach. It urges the EU to use its leadership role in the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations to advocate for primary plastic production limits and a managed phasedown to sustainable levels, while avoiding new petrochemical buildouts.

The document analyzes various treaty flexibility mechanisms—such as reservations, differentiated timelines, and optional annexes—to recommend an approach for the future plastics treaty that balances broad adoption with environmental effectiveness. It argues against using optional annexes for chemicals of concern, suggesting instead a system of general and specific exemptions similar to those in the Minamata and Stockholm Conventions.

The document argues that both the EU and UK consistently set Total Allowable Catches (TACs) above scientific advice, failing to meet legal deadlines for sustainable fishing. It highlights a systemic failure to prioritise the recovery of depleted stocks, often citing 'choke' risks in mixed fisheries as a justification. The briefing calls for a shift toward ecosystem-based management and a quota allocation system that rewards low-impact fishing practices over historical catch data.

The briefing identifies three primary shortcomings in the ICES scientific advice used by the EU and UK: a lack of focus on rebuilding stocks above sustainable levels (BMSY), insufficient precaution to prevent stocks from falling below biological limits (Blim), and a failure to integrate ecosystem health objectives such as food web integrity. It calls for a formal roadmap to address these flaws and recommends that fishery managers apply additional precaution by setting catch levels below the ICES 'headline' advice until recovery-focused and ecosystem-based advice is available.