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A statement from Manish Bapna of the World Resources Institute analyzing China's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), noting that while it confirms key climate pledges and sets specific energy targets, it lacks detailed implementation paths for achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.

This research paper examines the struggle of Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states to meet the 2001 Abuja Declaration's pledge to allocate 15% of national budgets to healthcare. It argues that the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted critical systemic gaps and provides an impetus for innovative financing strategies to overcome economic decline and aid dependency.

This working paper by the Stockholm Environment Institute, in partnership with Energy Unlocked and the Overseas Development Institute, examines how collaboration between national and city governments can accelerate the decarbonisation of the energy sector while maintaining affordable energy access.

This briefing by the South African Institute of International Affairs argues that Zimbabwe is well-positioned to lead the e-mobility transition in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. The document highlights how shifting to electric vehicles (EVs) could address critical economic challenges, including a high import bill for fossil fuels and an inefficient public transport system, while leveraging the country's automotive history and mineral resources like nickel.

This briefing by RMI examines how several US states are using securitization—a financing tool that replaces high-cost utility capital with low-interest ratepayer-backed bonds—to facilitate the equitable retirement of coal-fired power plants. The document details how this mechanism can lower electricity rates for consumers, enable utility investment in clean energy, and provide funding for displaced workers and affected communities.

The Budget Justice Coalition (BJC) argues that the 2021 fiscal framework implements austerity, which reduces government services for the poor, under-served, and disproportionately women, and questions if this logic aligns with the constitutional mandate to maximize resources for human rights and environmental sustainability.

This policy brief by ICLEI South Asia examines the necessity of integrating local government actions into national planning to enhance urban resilience in Bangladesh. It highlights the gap between national policies and on-the-ground realities, recommending improved vertical integration, increased climate finance for municipalities, and technical capacity building for local officials to meet national and international climate commitments.

This policy brief examines the implementation of gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) in Nepal, highlighting the gap between national mandates and local execution. It argues that integrating gender-responsive budgeting with climate budget codes is essential to enhance the adaptive capacity of women, particularly in the agrarian sector, and recommends capacity building for local leaders and improved monitoring of expenditure impacts.

This briefing by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI/PUC-Rio) analyzes Bill (PL) No. 510/2021, which proposes modifications to Law No. 11.952/2009 regarding the land regularization of federal public lands. The document argues that the bill repeats setbacks from the expired Provisional Measure (MP) No. 910/2019 and introduces new provisions that benefit medium and large landholders and speculators, potentially incentivizing illegal deforestation and land grabbing (grilagem).

This policy brief by the Climate Policy Initiative examines how National Development Banks (NDBs) can be leveraged to increase financing for climate-smart urban infrastructure. It identifies significant gaps in current NDB mandates and proposes a 12-dimension maturity model to help NDBs optimize their strategic, financial, business, and operational capacities to better support municipalities in implementing low-carbon and climate-resilient projects.

This policy brief by the Climate Policy Initiative examines the role of National Development Banks (NDBs) in financing climate-smart urban infrastructure. It identifies significant gaps in current NDB mandates and capacities, proposing a 'maturity model' with twelve dimensions across strategic, financial, business, and operational parameters to help NDBs better support local governments in implementing low-carbon and climate-resilient projects.

This briefing analyzes the potential impacts of the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework's global digital tax reforms on resource-rich countries, specifically within the mining sector. While framed as a digital tax, the two-pillar approach has broad implications for how mining multinationals are taxed and how revenue is allocated between producer countries and market jurisdictions.

This briefing note examines the potential impacts of the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework's two-pillar digital tax reform on the mining sector and resource-rich countries. While labeled as digital tax reform, the initiative has broad implications for the taxation of non-renewable resources and the ability of developing nations to collect revenues from multinational mining enterprises.

This policy brief argues that the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the critical link between human health and environmental degradation, advocating for a 'planetary health' approach to green recovery. It calls for the integration of health and environmental policies, financing, and data metrics to prevent future zoonotic outbreaks and address systemic inequalities.

This policy brief examines the role of international development finance institutions (DFIs) and multilateral development banks (MDBs) in addressing South Africa's infrastructure deficit. It analyzes the shift from a historical reluctance to seek external aid toward a current necessity driven by rising public debt and the economic impact of COVID-19. The document details the government's Infrastructure Build Programme, the establishment of the Investment and Infrastructure Office (IIO), and the creation of a ZAR100 billion Infrastructure Fund, while highlighting critical gaps in project preparation skills and procurement coordination.

This policy brief by the South African Institute of International Affairs examines the role of agriculture in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) of Southern African countries. It argues that while agriculture is often mentioned, NDCs frequently lack quantifiable commitments, detailed financing plans, and the active inclusion of farmers. The document provides recommendations for strengthening these climate policies to better support farmers' interests and enhance the agency of national farmers' organisations (NFOs).

Natural Justice (NJ), a non-profit organization, submitted comments on the draft Expropriation Bill, 2020, to the South African Department of Public Works. While welcoming the Bill's goal to replace the Expropriation Act of 1975 and allow for expropriation without compensation to redress historical land imbalances, NJ argues the draft is too state-centric, lacks climate change considerations, and fails to provide sufficient mechanisms for public oversight and the protection of vulnerable land rights holders.

This research paper examines on-bill financing programs as a tool to increase energy equity and clean energy adoption in rural, low-income, and under-resourced communities. It highlights how these programs remove barriers to entry by eliminating upfront costs and replacing traditional credit checks with utility bill payment history. Through case studies of the Hawaii GEM$ and OPALCO Switch It Up! programs, the paper demonstrates how tying financing to the utility meter rather than the individual allows renters and low-income homeowners to access solar PV and beneficial electrification projects while achieving net monthly energy savings.

This briefing by RMI examines the financial barriers to electric vehicle (EV) adoption in India, identifying risk as the primary driver of higher interest rates and down payments. It estimates the cumulative capital investment needed for India's EV transition and proposes a toolkit of financial instruments to lower the cost of capital and increase accessibility.

This policy brief examines the critical role of peri-urban ecosystems in India, highlighting how rapid urbanisation and ambiguous administrative boundaries lead to the neglect of these areas. It argues that preserving peri-urban ecosystems is essential for city resilience, food security, and climate adaptation, and recommends integrated, participatory planning to bridge the rural-urban divide.