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The document argues that Indonesia must shift from carbon-intensive 'grey' infrastructure to sustainable solutions to meet its low-carbon development goals and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. It identifies key barriers to this transition, including a lack of bankable project pipelines, inadequate valuation methods that ignore ESG risks, and a mismatch between infrastructure and budget planning. The author recommends adopting integrated planning, utilizing the Sustainable Asset Valuation (SAVi) methodology to quantify externalities, and establishing project preparation facilities to attract private investment. The brief also highlights international examples from Malaysia, the Netherlands, Saint Lucia, and South Africa to illustrate successful sustainable infrastructure strategies.

China's engagement in Iraq and Syria is primarily driven by economic logic and the Belt and Road Initiative, though it increasingly faces security risks from terrorism and political instability. In Iraq, China has become a top trading partner with a heavy focus on oil, while in Syria, it provides political cover for the Assad regime and explores limited reconstruction opportunities. The document argues that China lacks a unified regional strategy, instead employing a cautious, pragmatic, and piecemeal approach that balances economic opportunism with a traditional policy of non-interference, though the need to protect assets may eventually push Beijing toward more active counter-terrorism efforts.

The report argues that disarmament is often an elite bargain where symbolic gestures are more critical for peace than the technical collection of all weapons. It highlights that exclusionary processes often marginalize women and other armed groups, and that external actors can either facilitate peace or hinder it by imposing generic templates that ignore local contexts.

The document analyzes the crisis facing Eskom, South Africa's state-owned energy monopoly, attributing it to a combination of historical reliance on the 'minerals-energy complex', financial mismanagement, and costly, corruption-mired power station projects. It evaluates the proposal to 'unbundle' the utility into generation, transmission, and distribution entities, drawing on cautionary examples from Kenya and Uganda. The paper argues for a 'Just Transition' that protects workers and communities while transitioning to renewables, suggesting the use of international climate finance or public pension funds to alleviate Eskom's unsustainable debt.

The report analyzes climate accountability frameworks—systems that break long-term greenhouse gas targets into interim milestones—using case studies from jurisdictions like the UK, Aotearoa/New Zealand, British Columbia, and Manitoba. It identifies six common elements and associated best practices, such as legislating targets, ensuring independent expert advice, and using cumulative carbon budgets. For Canada, the authors recommend a national framework with legally binding milestones set only at the national level to avoid regional burden-sharing conflicts, while encouraging subnational governments to implement their own complementary frameworks. The report emphasizes a collaborative approach where the federal government provides policy backstops and financial incentives to ensure a resilient, multi-jurisdictional response to climate change.

The report analyzes national dialogues in Sudan, South Sudan, and Kenya, identifying key success and failure factors such as inclusivity, convener credibility, and implementation mechanisms. It argues that Ethiopia's current political transition, marked by ethnic tensions and the deferral of the 2020 election, could benefit from a similar process to resolve constitutional deadlocks and foster national reconciliation.

The report investigates the potential for a new on-tax financing model (EuroPACE) to drive deep energy efficiency retrofits in European residential buildings. It identifies significant market failures, such as long payback periods and knowledge gaps, that hinder private investment. Through analysis of four target countries and three successful case studies (Energiesprong, Oktave, and KfW), the document highlights that success depends on low-cost, long-term financing and the ability to aggregate demand. It projects a total lending potential for EuroPACE of nearly €4bn over ten years across the four primary countries, provided that penetration and renovation rates increase.

The document examines the water-energy nexus (WEN) in Los Angeles and Beijing, finding that Los Angeles employs more explicit integration mechanisms—largely driven by state-level climate legislation—while Beijing relies on implicit mechanisms and sector-specific targets. It argues that common evaluation criteria, such as greenhouse gas emissions, and explicit incentives are essential for improving policy coherence and avoiding cross-sectoral conflicts.

The report argues that traditional quasi-judicial regulatory processes are inadequate for the scale of current electricity system transformations and proposes a four-stage framework—initiation, vision communication, conduction, and delivery of outcomes—to achieve more successful reforms.

The paper argues that a SACU development fund could transition the union from a simple revenue-sharing mechanism to an active agent of regional economic integration. By analyzing the EU's ESI Funds and the CARICOM Development Fund (CDF), the author suggests that such a fund could address critical trade barriers—such as infrastructure deficits in energy and water, and lack of standards harmonization—while providing a more accountable alternative to direct budget transfers to member states. Key recommendations include adopting a clear, measurable mandate, implementing a nuanced classification of member states' development levels for equitable resource allocation, and incorporating private-sector representation in governance.

The report introduces the Energy Access Dividend (EAD) framework to help policymakers quantify the benefits of rapid electrification. By analyzing Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Kenya, it demonstrates that decentralized renewable energy can provide faster access than centralized grids, leading to significant household savings, increased study time for children, and reduced carbon and black carbon emissions. The model links these dividends to the achievement of multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), arguing that delays in energy access result in lost investments in human and economic development.

The paper argues that elephant survival depends on incentivising local communities to value living elephants over ivory through effective CBNRM. It examines the evolution of these policies in Southern Africa, comparing models in Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa, while highlighting governance challenges such as elite capture and the need for diversified, non-consumptive livelihood strategies.

The report examines 13 watershed investment programs in the U.S., focusing on how natural infrastructure—specifically forests—can be used to protect drinking water quality and quantity. It provides a framework for program development across three phases: building momentum, designing the program, and implementing the action plan. Key findings emphasize the importance of collaborative partnerships, scientifically informed planning, and diverse financing mechanisms, such as municipal bonds and water rate surcharges, to overcome barriers like insufficient funding and lack of outcome data.

The report examines how migration into the Harenna Forest in southeast Ethiopia accelerates deforestation and biodiversity loss. By comparing Harenna Buluk, which saw significant migration driven by local political elites, with Delo Mena, which had minimal migration, the study finds that migrants introduce intensive farming practices that are adopted by locals, leading to the conversion of forest glades into agricultural land. The report recommends regulating informal land markets, strengthening participatory forest management bylaws, and developing alternative livelihoods like tourism to protect the ecosystem's unique biodiversity and hydrological functions.

The paper examines the impact of Chinese resources-for-infrastructure (R4I) swaps on the 'resource curse' in Africa, specifically analyzing mechanisms like price volatility, Dutch disease, rent-seeking, and political conflict. Through case studies of countries such as Angola, the DRC, and Ghana, the author finds that R4I swaps are neither inherently harmful nor a panacea; their developmental impact depends on the capacity of host government institutions to manage risks and opportunities.

The paper examines the slow progress of sanitation coverage in Sub-Saharan Africa, specifically in Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, and Burundi. It identifies a critical disconnect between macro-level policies and micro-level household implementation, driven by institutional inertia and path dependency. The authors argue that sustainable progress requires moving beyond supply-driven subsidies toward demand-driven strategies, private sector involvement, and a better understanding of informal norms and multi-level actor interactions.

The document argues that internal armed conflict acts as 'development in reverse,' creating a 'conflict trap' where low development leads to war, which further degrades socio-economic conditions. Research by PRIO indicates that conflict detrimentally affects most MDG indicators, including GDP per capita, infant mortality, and access to potable water. Notably, the indirect effects of conflict—such as the destruction of health infrastructure and diversion of resources to military spending—can be as severe as direct battlefield casualties. The authors advocate for the UN General Assembly to make conflict reduction an explicit goal in the post-2015 development agenda to break this cycle.

The report examines how China can transition from relying on electricity surcharges to using environmental taxes and carbon pricing to fund renewable energy. By analyzing eight international case studies, it argues that EFR measures can be pro-growth if revenues are recycled effectively and that earmarking revenues increases transparency and investor confidence. The document suggests that China should consider a carbon tax and natural resource taxes to provide stable, long-term funding for its renewable energy targets, while implementing governance structures to ensure accountability and avoid the 'stop and go' investment cycles seen in some other jurisdictions.

The research paper investigates whether the South African Customs Union (SACU) is ready to transition from a Common Monetary Area (CMA) to a full monetary union. Using Southern African Development Community (SADC) convergence criteria, the authors find that while there is strong convergence in inflation, national debt, and reserve holdings, significant volatility and lack of discipline in fiscal deficits—particularly in Lesotho and Swaziland—remain a primary hurdle. The study suggests that a monetary union would be beneficial and that the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) could continue to lead monetary policy, provided fiscal coordination is improved.

The report examines the causes and consequences of water scarcity in Bangladesh, focusing on the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) basin. It analyzes bilateral water treaties between India and its neighbors (Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh) and evaluates the effectiveness of multilateral organizations like the Nile Basin Initiative and the Mekong River Commission to identify best practices for regional cooperation. Primary research indicates a long-term decline in the dry-season flow of the Padma River, potentially exacerbated by the Farakka Barrage, while rainfall patterns remain largely stable. Stakeholder mapping reveals significant communication gaps between policymakers and affected populations, and the report suggests that water scarcity can act as a trigger for localized conflict, particularly in the Padma basin.