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The report assesses gender-based vulnerabilities and inequalities in Sri Lanka's agricultural and forestry sectors to inform a climate resilience project in the Knuckles Mountain Range. It identifies that while women are central to home gardens, nursery production, and forest monitoring, they face systemic barriers including limited land rights, lower wages in plantations, and restricted access to technical extension services. The document outlines a gender-sensitive project design that integrates women into decision-making for irrigation and forestry, promotes female-led SMEs, and targets female-headed households for land allocation to improve food security and economic resilience.

The policy brief examines the conflict between the boom in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) and the sustainability of smallholder agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa, specifically Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Burkina Faso. While ASM provides immediate income and employment, it often displaces farmers, contaminates water sources with mercury and cyanide, and draws young labor away from agriculture. The document highlights that ASM is frequently an unsustainable tool for poverty reduction due to the non-renewable nature of minerals and the shift toward capital-intensive operations funded by external investors. It recommends strengthening institutional capacity, implementing rigorous land-use mapping, and dismantling patronage structures to ensure the coexistence of mining and farming.

The report argues that the COVID-19 pandemic acted as an 'X-ray,' exposing deep structural inequalities and the failure of neoliberal policies. It critiques the global fiscal response, noting that while US$ 11 trillion was mobilized, the support was unevenly distributed, favoring high-income countries and corporate interests over the global South and public services. The document proposes an "8 R" agenda for systemic change: re-valuing care, re-empowering public services, re-balancing value chains, reinforcing climate justice, re-distributing economic power, re-regulating global finance, re-inventing multilateral solidarity, and re-defining progress beyond GDP. It specifically highlights the dangers of IMF-mandated austerity in countries like Ecuador and the failure of the Global Health Security Index to predict pandemic outcomes due to its reliance on infrastructure over social determinants of health.

The report uses data from 12,000 interviews in PDET zones to evaluate the implementation of the Colombian Peace Agreement. It finds a divided population, with 38% satisfied and 58% dissatisfied. While the influence of armed groups has decreased from 55% to 30%, significant security challenges remain, including the assassination of social leaders. Trust in state institutions is low, while trust in the Catholic Church remains high. The report highlights the positive perception of illicit crop substitution and the work of transitional justice bodies, but notes a deep lack of trust in former FARC combatants and the FARC political party.

The 6th ASEAN Energy Outlook (AEO6) projects that ASEAN's energy demand will grow significantly by 2040, driven by GDP and population growth. While the region currently relies heavily on fossil fuels, the report models four scenarios—Baseline, AMS Targets (ATS), APAEC Targets (APS), and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)—to evaluate the impact of national and regional policies. The APS is the only scenario that meets the APAEC target of a 23% renewable energy share in total primary energy supply (TPES) by 2025. Key findings highlight the potential for solar PV growth, the necessity of improving air conditioner efficiency, the role of biofuels in transport, and the importance of the ASEAN Power Grid for regional integration. The report also emphasizes the social and environmental costs of continued fossil fuel reliance, noting that ambitious policies could sharply reduce GHG emissions and social costs.

The report details a widespread snaring crisis in Southeast Asia, particularly in Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Viet Nam, where an estimated 12.3 million snares exist in protected areas. These indiscriminate traps threaten over 700 mammal species and disrupt critical ecosystem services like seed dispersal and nutrient cycling. The document links snaring to increased zoonotic disease risk due to the handling of high-risk taxa and highlights the role of urban demand for wildlife meat. It argues that current legal frameworks are insufficient, often lacking clear definitions of snares or penalties for possession, and recommends strengthening legislation, increasing ranger densities, and partnering with indigenous peoples to combat the crisis.

The report advocates for the use of nature-based solutions (NBS) in South African municipalities to address the dual crises of COVID-19 economic devastation and climate vulnerability. It highlights that while national green recovery plans exist, they often require high skills and long lead times. In contrast, NBS—particularly urban tree planting and the removal of invasive alien plants—can provide immediate, low-skill employment for vulnerable populations while mitigating urban heat islands, managing flood risks, and improving public health. The document identifies significant barriers to implementation, including municipal funding shortages, difficulties in quantifying the economic value of natural assets, and rigid public procurement processes.

The report analyzes the rise of an insurgency in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, attributing it to long-term government neglect, high youth unemployment, and social exclusion. It details the group's evolution from targeting security installations to committing atrocities against civilians, while criticizing the government's 'extrajudicial state of emergency' and human rights violations.

The report evaluates South Africa's implementation of SDGs 4, 8, 10, 13, 16, and 17, finding a significant gap between strong policy frameworks and actual delivery. While the National Development Plan aligns well with the 2030 Agenda, the authors highlight systemic failures in education quality, rising unemployment, extreme wealth inequality, inadequate climate action, and high levels of gender-based violence. The document argues that the 'leave no one behind' principle is not being operationalised and calls for greater state accountability and inclusive multi-stakeholder engagement.

The report provides a comprehensive assessment of Namibia's governance, highlighting systemic challenges such as executive dominance over the legislature, persistent poverty and inequality, and a lack of transparency. It offers specific policy recommendations across 13 key areas, including corruption, youth unemployment, education, healthcare, gender-based violence, land reform, and environmental sustainability, to support the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) process.

The report analyzes the shift in irregular migration patterns in North Africa, where countries previously serving as transit zones have become points of departure. It argues that economic decline and structural inequality are driving young Maghrebi citizens to migrate, which in turn complicates diplomatic relations and security partnerships between Maghreb states and European nations.

The report analyzes Mpumalanga's spatial status, identifying a resource-rich province dominated by coal mining and agriculture but facing severe environmental degradation and infrastructure backlogs. Key findings highlight that while the province is a national energy hub, it suffers from poor air quality in the Highveld, critical water scarcity, and significant housing shortages. The analysis emphasizes the need for urban restructuring, agrarian transformation in rural areas, and the protection of strategic water source areas and biodiversity corridors against mining encroachment.

The report examines Ethiopia's shift toward the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF), which aims to move from camp-based assistance to socio-economic integration. Key initiatives include providing work permits, expanding the Out of Camp Policy, and creating jobs in industrial parks. However, the report identifies significant hurdles, including low national wages, ethnic tensions in regions like Gambella, and insufficient consultation with host communities.

The report examines the responses of Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, and Niger to the Boko Haram insurgency. It highlights the role of the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) in coordinating military action and the use of national strategies like Nigeria's Operation Lafiya Dole and Cameroon's RMIA4. The authors argue that while military cooperation has improved, non-military responses remain ad-hoc. Security restrictions, such as curfews and trade bans, have negatively impacted local livelihoods, potentially alienating civilians. The report also discusses the challenges of reintegrating ex-militants and the politicization of reconstruction efforts in Borno state ahead of the 2019 elections.

The report analyzes the necessity of transitioning Poland's coal-dependent energy system to meet global climate goals. It compares a 'baseline' business-as-usual scenario with a '<2°C-consistent' scenario, the latter requiring a 67% reduction in per capita CO2 emissions by 2050. The analysis highlights that while the power sector must shift toward renewables and nuclear energy, the transition's social viability depends on managing the decline of the mining sector—particularly in the Śląskie region—through natural attrition, retraining, and conditional financial support to avoid the social exclusion seen in previous regional closures.

The Senegal Green Economy Barometer 2018 examines the country's shift toward a green economy, highlighting the tension between steady GDP growth (over 6.5% since 2015) and rising absolute poverty. It identifies key sectors for greening—specifically agriculture, energy, and SMEs—and evaluates the government's efforts to integrate environmental norms into the Emerging Senegal Plan (PSE) 2035. The report emphasizes that for the transition to be successful, it must address social inequalities and provide financial incentives for the private sector to adopt sustainable practices.

The review finds that the IWUL was issued based on inadequate specialist studies that failed to identify all potential impacts, particularly regarding groundwater-wetland interlinkages and post-closure mine water decant. It argues that the license conditions are too general and fail to incorporate specific mitigation measures. Additionally, the document assesses the socio-economic landscape of the project area, highlighting the vulnerability of farm tenants and the need for comprehensive skills development and resettlement plans to mitigate negative social impacts.

The text examines the developmental gap between Poland's major metropolises and its smaller urban centers. It criticizes the 'polarization-diffusion' strategy of the 2000s, which favored large cities, and discusses the subsequent 'Strategy for Responsible Development' (SOR) under the PiS government. While noting issues like 'facade modernization' and local political stagnation, the author provides examples of small towns—such as Ostrów Wielkopolski and Słupsk—that have successfully implemented innovative housing, social integration, and revitalization projects by leveraging local potential rather than imitating Western models.

This document contains the legal and technical submissions made by a coalition of eight appellants (including Earthlife Africa Johannesburg and BirdLife South Africa) on August 14, 2017, appealing an environmental authorisation (EA) granted to Atha-Africa Ventures (Pty) Ltd for the Yzermyn underground coal mine in Mpumalanga, South Africa.

The Czech Republic has seen a significant decline in coal production and employment since 1990, with the share of coal in primary energy production falling from 89% to 58% by 2014. The transition has been characterized by the privatization of mines, the imposition of ecological territorial limits in the North Bohemian Brown Coal Basin, and state-funded environmental remediation. While the broader economic transformation is viewed as successful, specific mining regions have faced social isolation and economic distress. Future energy policy aims to further reduce coal's share in electricity and heat, favoring nuclear power and renewables.