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The report identifies a set of 21 cost-effective and technically feasible policies that can enable Mexico to meet its 2030 climate goals. It proposes two scenarios: an unconditional package to reduce GHG emissions by 22% below the baseline and a conditional package for a 36% reduction. The analysis indicates that Mexico can achieve these targets while realizing significant net financial savings and public health benefits through reduced particulate matter pollution. The proposed eight-point action plan prioritizes industrial efficiency, methane capture, and carbon pricing as the most impactful interventions.

The paper argues that effective governance is a primary determinant of poverty reduction in Africa. Using the International Futures (IFs) forecasting system, it demonstrates that improving governance effectiveness (aligned with SDG 16.6) would lift more than 60 million people out of poverty by 2050, outperforming other targeted health and sanitation interventions.

The report analyzes 35 climate and energy policies for China using the Energy Policy Simulator (EPS), comparing a Reference Scenario (RS) with a Low Carbon (LC) and an Accelerated Low Carbon (ALC) scenario. It finds that carbon pricing, renewable energy standards, and enhanced building codes are among the most effective tools for reducing CO2e emissions. While the LC scenario aims to peak CO2 emissions between 2025 and 2030, the ALC scenario focuses on cost-effectiveness to peak CO2 as soon as possible, achieving a peak in 2022. The analysis highlights that regulatory policies generally drive the majority of emissions reductions, though carbon pricing has the highest overall abatement potential. The report recommends a carbon price of at least 60 RMB per ton, increased renewable energy targets beyond 30% by 2030, and the adoption of MOHURD One Star as the minimum building code standard.

The Union of Concerned Scientists analyzed 18 strategic US military installations on the East and Gulf coasts, finding that most face significant risks from rising seas. Under a 'highest' scenario of sea level rise, some bases could lose between 75 and 95 percent of their land area by 2100. The report highlights that tidal flooding frequency will increase steeply, and storm surges will reach further inland and with greater depth. It emphasizes the need for high-resolution mapping and regional collaboration, noting that the vulnerability of surrounding low-income and minority communities can further compromise base operations.

The research finds that phasing out U.S. federal fossil fuel leases could reduce global CO2 emissions by approximately 100 million tonnes per year by 2030. The impact is most immediate for coal, where it could leave 4 billion short tons of coal in the ground by 2040. Oil and gas impacts are more gradual due to longer project lead times, but could eventually leave 7 billion barrels of oil and 30 trillion cubic feet of gas undeveloped by 2040. The study concludes that such supply-side measures are a significant complement to demand-side policies like the Clean Power Plan in meeting Paris Agreement targets.

The report argues that carbon pricing is a critical tool for meeting the Paris Agreement's goal of keeping global temperatures well below 2°C. It introduces 'Carbon Pricing Bands' to categorize price levels by their economic impact—ranging from 'Introductory' (up to $20) to 'Targeted' (above $80)—and presents four potential future trajectories: a 'Success Trajectory' leading to a low-carbon world, and three failure scenarios ('Sailing into the Cliff', 'Stormy Waters', and 'Running Aground') where temperatures rise by 3°C to 4°C due to inadequate or chaotic pricing policies. The update highlights post-COP21 developments, including the commitment of 90 nations to use market mechanisms and specific national actions in China, India, and Canada.

The report analyzes the Eastern Interconnection Planning Collaborative (EIPC) study to demonstrate that aggressive carbon reductions in the U.S. electric sector are achievable with minimal additional cost. By re-evaluating EIPC data, Synapse Energy Economics found that a 'Carbon Reduction' scenario—featuring massive wind build-out and coal retirements—costs approximately the same as a 'Business as Usual' scenario when carbon revenues are recycled. The analysis shows that this path would allow the MISO and PJM regions to significantly over-comply with the Clean Power Plan's emissions targets while maintaining grid reliability.

The report assesses the impact of mining automation on the shared-value paradigm, which relies on local employment and procurement to provide socioeconomic benefits to host communities. Using case studies from a high-income OECD country and a lower-middle-income country, the authors model workforce reductions of 30%, 50%, and 70%. They find that while absolute GDP impacts may be small at a national level, the loss of wages, salaries, and local procurement can significantly reduce the total value a mine contributes to its host economy. The report concludes that developing countries may be more vulnerable due to over-dependence on extractives and lower technical capacity to adapt. It suggests shifting the shared-value focus toward downstream beneficiation, horizontal industry linkages, knowledge transfer, and revised fiscal regimes, such as resource rent taxes or increased government ownership.

The report details a USAID-funded project led by the Stockholm Environment Institute to integrate climate change considerations into Colombian water management. By deploying the WEAP modeling system and a participatory RDS process in the Otún, La Vieja, and Alto Magdalena watersheds, the program built technical capacity within regional environmental authorities (CARs) and academic institutions. Key findings include the critical role of páramo ecosystems in maintaining dry-season baseflows and the potential for hydropower development to disrupt downstream wetland dynamics in the Magdalena-Cauca basin. The project emphasizes moving from 'conscious incompetence' to 'conscious competence' in climate adaptation planning through institutional capacity building and the creation of a professional community of practice.

The document argues that a high-ambition climate agreement, limiting global warming to 2°C, is essential for achieving the SDGs, particularly those related to poverty, inequality, and energy. Using global analysis and case studies from Dominica, Jamaica, Pakistan, and Uganda, the research indicates that a low-ambition agreement would significantly increase poverty levels in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean by 2030.

The report argues that expanding global networks of no-take marine protected areas (MPAs) is economically advisable, with benefits significantly outweighing costs across all analyzed scenarios. Using a cost-benefit analysis for the period 2015-2050, the study finds that expanding coverage to 30% can generate net benefits between US$490 billion and US$920 billion. The highest returns are associated with 'Protect to Preserve' scenarios that target high-biodiversity areas with low human impact. While MPAs enhance biodiversity, fisheries productivity through spillover, and carbon sequestration in mangroves, the report notes significant data gaps regarding the quantification of various ecosystem services and the specific impacts on high-seas and polar regions.

The report evaluates the economic risks posed by the Westway, Imperium, and Grays Harbor Rail Terminal (GHRT) projects. It models three oil spill scenarios (rail derailment and two marine accidents) and analyzes their effects on commercial fisheries, subsistence harvests, traditional plant gathering, and QIN-owned businesses. Findings indicate that a major spill could lead to significant losses in direct jobs, personal income, and business revenue for the QIN and the broader Grays Harbor County economy, while also impairing the cultural and nutritional security provided by Treaty resources.

The policy brief defines carbon lock-in as the process where investments in carbon-intensive technologies and institutions make shifting to low-carbon pathways more difficult and expensive. It introduces a four-step methodology for policy-makers to assess lock-in risk: defining the context, identifying investments inconsistent with climate goals (using 'over-committed emissions' and 'over-production' metrics), assessing the strength of the lock-in (via equipment lifetime and capital intensity), and considering techno-institutional effects. Applying this globally for the period 2015–2030, the brief identifies coal-fired power plants as the highest risk on the demand side, committing 180 Gt CO2 beyond a 2°C pathway. On the supply side, capital-intensive offshore oil and gas platforms are highlighted as significant risks due to high capital and rent intensities. The author recommends that policy-makers move beyond merely promoting low-carbon technologies to actively restricting high-carbon investments through stringent codes, moratoria, and the use of shadow carbon prices.

The report argues that cities can significantly reduce global GHG emissions, potentially decreasing them by 3.7 GtCO2e by 2030 and 8.0 GtCO2e by 2050. The greatest abatement opportunities are found in urban building energy efficiency, followed by transport and waste management. Because city-level actions are often not captured in national pledges, they offer a critical path for countries to deepen their climate ambition.

The report argues that replacing coal with natural gas is insufficient to meet U.S. climate goals due to continued CO2 emissions and methane leakage. It highlights risks including water contamination from fracking, price volatility, and the potential to crowd out renewables. The authors advocate for a transition to a system where renewables and efficiency provide 80% of electricity by 2050.

The report analyzes the intersection of the U.S. electricity sector, water resources, and climate change, arguing that current power generation is vulnerable to water scarcity and high temperatures. Through modeling of four scenarios—Business as Usual, Renewables-and-Efficiency, CCS-and-Nuclear, and a general Carbon Budget—the authors find that a transition toward renewable energy and energy efficiency can drastically reduce both carbon emissions and water withdrawals and consumption. Conversely, low-carbon options like nuclear power and carbon capture and storage (CCS) remain water-intensive. The report provides a set of "water-smart criteria" for decision-makers to enhance the resilience of the U.S. power grid in a warming world.

The report explains the difference between traditional and consumption-based emissions accounting, noting that Sweden's consumption-based emissions are approximately double its national emissions. It introduces REAP, a tool developed by the Stockholm Environment Institute that uses multi-regional input-output (MRIO) models and geodemographic data to calculate the environmental footprint of Swedish consumption at national, regional, and local levels. The document provides case studies from Luleå, Härjedalen, and Lund to demonstrate how REAP's scenario function can model the impact of policy changes in transport, energy, and food waste on greenhouse gas emissions and the ecological footprint.

The Living Planet Report 2012 documents a significant global decline in biodiversity and a growing ecological overshoot, where human demand exceeds the Earth's regenerative capacity. It highlights the disproportionate impact of biodiversity loss in tropical and low-income regions and the role of carbon emissions in driving ecological deficits. The report advocates for a paradigm shift toward managing natural capital within planetary limits through 16 priority actions focused on preserving natural capital, producing better, consuming more wisely, and redirecting financial flows and governance.

The report assesses how the EU can achieve a 30% greenhouse gas reduction by 2020, analyzing the interplay between the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), renewable energy targets, and energy efficiency goals. It finds that full implementation of energy efficiency and renewable targets, combined with post-recession baselines, could lead to a domestic reduction of approximately 30%. The analysis also explores the impact of offsets and LULUCF accounting, noting that these mechanisms could reduce the required domestic effort to between 17% and 22% while still nominally meeting a 30% target. The report concludes that a 25% to 30% domestic reduction is consistent with long-term goals of 80% to 95% reduction by 2050.

The report advocates for Zero Net Deforestation and Forest Degradation (ZNDD) by 2020 to protect biodiversity and mitigate climate change. Using the Living Forests Model developed with IIASA, it analyzes various scenarios, including a 'Do Nothing' baseline and a 'Target' scenario. The findings suggest that while ZNDD is technically possible in the short term, maintaining it beyond 2030 will require unprecedented increases in agricultural productivity and significant shifts in global consumption patterns, particularly regarding animal calories. The document highlights critical trade-offs, such as the risk of shifting environmental pressure to non-forest biomes like grasslands and the potential for increased agricultural pollution due to intensification.