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The New Development Bank (NDB) has expanded its mandate to support climate action and sustainable development but faces challenges including aligning financing with local currency and non-sovereign lending.

The document synthesizes two primary negotiating texts for a future global plastics treaty, highlighting critical gaps in the Chair's third Non-Paper compared to the Compilation draft. It details proposed articles on the full lifecycle of plastics, including primary polymer production, chemicals of concern, product design, waste management, and a just transition for waste pickers. The synthesis includes various options for mandatory and voluntary obligations, financial mechanisms, and the establishment of a governing body and subsidiary organs to end plastic pollution by 2040.

The International Platform on Sustainable Finance (IPSF) updated the Common Ground Taxonomy (CGT) in November 2024, expanding the analysis to include 96 activities across five environmental objectives. The CGT serves as a voluntary technical tool to enhance the interoperability of sustainable finance standards between the EU and China, potentially lowering trans-boundary costs for green investments. The report details a scenario-based methodology for mapping activities using the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) as a neutral code. While it identifies 76 climate mitigation activities and 20 non-climate activities with shared ground, it explicitly excludes 'Do No Significant Harm' (DNSH) criteria, minimum social safeguards, and climate change adaptation due to technical complexity and divergent regulatory approaches.

The report finds that while the EU and UK have made progress in aligning TACs with scientific advice since 2015, they missed the 2020 legal deadline to end overfishing. In 2024, nearly 24% of analyzed TACs still exceeded scientific advice. The analysis reveals a systemic lack of ambition for data-limited stocks subject to precautionary advice and for bycatch stocks, which are more frequently overfished than target stocks. The report also highlights significant transparency failures in the TAC-setting process and calls for an ecosystem-based approach that sets limits well below single-stock advice to ensure stock recovery and resilience against climate change.

The report finds a substantial divergence in ambition between the EU ETS and CORSIA. While the EU ETS is moving toward 100% auctioning of allowances by 2026 and high carbon prices, CORSIA relies on offsetting emissions above a baseline, resulting in significantly lower emissions coverage and a much weaker price signal. The EU may expand the EU ETS to extra-EEA flights by 2027 if CORSIA is deemed insufficient to meet climate goals.

The November 2024 update reveals a three-year stagnation in global warming projections, with current policies setting the world on a path toward 2.7°C of warming by 2100. While renewable energy and electric vehicle deployment have seen record growth, these gains are offset by all-time high fossil fuel subsidies and increased funding for fossil fuel projects. The report warns that without a substantial increase in the ambition of 2030 and 2035 targets, the 1.5°C limit will likely be breached in the early 2030s, leading to a multidecadal overshoot.

The document examines the transition of South Africa to a national coalition government following the May 2024 elections, where the ANC lost its majority. It contrasts the 2024 GNU—born of political necessity—with the 1994 GNU, which was mandatory for reconciliation. The authors analyze the instability of local-level coalitions in South Africa and review coalition models in Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, and Western Europe. The brief concludes that South Africa should adopt formal, written coalition agreements to prioritize governmental accountability and service delivery over the retention of political power.

The report updates a 2021 map of advanced nuclear projects, noting an increase from over 30 to nearly 80 demonstrations globally. While North America has seen significant commercial deals and licensing milestones, China and Russia lead in actual construction and operation. The authors argue that the U.S. must accelerate federal support for fuel supply and licensing to avoid falling further behind in a geopolitical and clean energy race.

The document examines industrialisation trends in Africa, identifying South Africa, Morocco, and Egypt as leaders while highlighting the challenges of commodity dependence and premature deindustrialisation. It analyzes specific success stories in Ethiopia's textiles, Rwanda's ICT, and Ghana's automotive sectors, and argues for structuralist policies and increased EU support for green industries and climate finance to accelerate the transition.

A review of 20 national climate commitments reveals that while some high-emitting countries are integrating behavior change policies, there are significant gaps in the adoption of high-impact practices and the variety of behavioral tools used.

The report examines the gap between high-integrity net zero standards—such as those from the UN High-Level Expert Group (HLEG)—and the actual practices of corporations and financial institutions (FIs). It identifies significant shortcomings in target coverage, fossil fuel phase-out policies, and the credibility of transition plans. The authors argue that voluntary commitments are often unrealistic without government intervention and propose a 'road to regulation' consisting of an 'accountability lane' for oversight and an 'ambition lane' to translate voluntary pledges into economy-wide policy mandates.

The document evaluates three industry-proposed methods for reducing carbon emissions from gas plants: hydrogen cofiring, carbon capture and storage (CCS), and biomethane. It concludes that these approaches often fail to achieve targeted emissions reductions when full life cycle impacts—such as upstream methane leakage, energy penalties, and production emissions—are considered. Furthermore, the brief argues that these technologies perpetuate environmental and social inequities by maintaining the operation of gas plants. In contrast, the report finds that transitioning to renewable energy sources like wind and solar provides superior reductions in carbon, air, and water pollution while offering lower costs and fewer land-use impacts.

The Net Zero Stocktake 2024 finds that while net zero target-setting is increasing among companies, cities, and subnational governments, very few (5% or less) meet all minimum integrity criteria. The report highlights a significant rise in target-setting by Asian companies and notes that while national targets often act as an ambition 'ceiling', some subnational governments in countries like Australia, Germany, and India have set more ambitious targets than their national governments.

The GovernAgua project aims to transition water governance in Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay from reactive to anticipatory models. By analyzing six river basins, the project seeks to develop a system of collective intelligence and experimental governance to enhance ecosystem services and human well-being. Initial findings highlight a shift from hierarchical to integrated governance models following national constitutional reforms, though progress varies by country, with Argentina showing less developed participatory legislation compared to Brazil and Uruguay.

The document advocates for a progressive tax agenda to address extreme poverty and wealth concentration, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. It proposes several instruments: Financial Transaction Taxes (FTTs) to curb speculation and raise billions annually; net wealth taxes to target the super-rich; property taxes to leverage immobile assets; and Resource Rent Taxes (RTT) for the extractives sector. Using South Africa as a case study, the brief demonstrates that a combination of these taxes could generate substantial revenue to fund social protection, healthcare, and a Universal Basic Income Guarantee, potentially increasing GDP growth.

The report finds that providing a better life for future generations remains the top motivation for U.S. voters to reduce global warming across all political groups. Since 2017, there has been a significant increase in voters citing the prevention of extreme weather and global poverty/starvation as primary motivators, while support for economic arguments (green jobs) and energy independence (foreign oil) has declined.

The report finds that while providing a better life for future generations remains the top reason for U.S. voters to reduce global warming, there has been a significant shift toward present-day concerns, specifically preventing extreme weather and global poverty. Conversely, motivations based on energy independence, religious creation, and economic growth have declined across most political groups.

The Net Zero Stocktake 2024 reveals a consolidation of net zero targets across countries, cities, and companies, but highlights a critical gap in integrity. While national targets now cover 87% of global GHG emissions, fewer than 5% of non-state entities meet all minimum procedural and substantive integrity criteria. The report emphasizes that national targets often act as a 'ceiling' for subnational ambition, though some regions in countries like Australia and Japan have historically pushed national goals forward. It also notes that members of the Race to Zero campaign generally outperform non-members on integrity measures, although absolute performance remains low.

The report analyzes eight nature-based solutions (NbS) case studies across the EU and China, focusing on land, water, urban, and financing ecosystems. It evaluates these projects against the UNEA-5 definition and IUCN Global Standard, highlighting successes in large-scale landscape restoration and the role of research programs like Horizon 2020. Key findings emphasize that while NbS are increasingly mainstreamed, challenges remain in inclusive governance and private sector financing. The document recommends enhanced bilateral lesson-sharing, the development of a global costs-benefits database, and the use of standardized assessment tools to prevent greenwashing.

Carbon Market Watch (CMW) evaluated four market-based measure (MBM) proposals for the IMO's GHG strategy. The 'Pacifics' proposal (Belize et al.) was ranked highest (82/100) due to its high levy of $150/tCO2e and strong support for climate-vulnerable nations. The EU/Japan proposal scored 62/100, while the Bahamas et al. and Canada proposals both received a 'C' grade (49/100 and 46/100 respectively) for lacking specificity in funding and contribution levels. A proposal by Angola et al. was excluded from the scoring as it was deemed a technical fuel standard rather than a market-based economic measure.