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The document examines how regional economic hubs in sub-Saharan Africa facilitate capital flows and how the interplay between de-risking and illicit financial flows (IFFs) undermines this process. It argues that de-risking—the termination of business relationships to avoid AML-CFT risks—often drives users toward unregulated shadow banking and informal channels, which in turn exacerbates IFFs. This creates a vicious cycle that reduces legitimate capital inflows, impairs financial inclusion for SMEs and NGOs, and weakens the overall financial integrity of both hub and spoke countries.

The document examines how credit cooperatives in Brazil serve as critical distribution channels for rural credit, particularly for small and medium-scale producers. It highlights that while total rural credit fell by 14% in real terms between 2013/2014 and 2018/2019, cooperative lending grew by 51.3%, increasing its market share from 11% to 17.5%. The brief attributes this success to the cooperatives' proximity to borrowers, which reduces transaction costs and information asymmetry. It also details the interbank relationship where commercial banks use cooperatives to meet regulatory requirements for rural credit distribution. Geographically, cooperative presence is strongest in the South, Central-west, and Southeast, while remaining scarce in the North and Northeast.

The report contends that the COVID-19 pandemic exposed deep structural faults in South Africa's economy, including extreme inequality and a dependence on fossil fuels. It advocates for a 'Just Recovery' based on five principles: prioritizing health, providing direct economic relief, supporting workers over corporations, creating resilience for future crises, and building international solidarity. The authors propose a transition to 100% renewable energy by 2050, the implementation of a 'purple economy' to value care work, and a shift toward democratic public ownership to replace market-centric neoliberal policies.

The research investigates the hypothesis that African agricultural exporters could substitute for US goods rendered expensive by tariffs. Using trade data from 2017 to 2019, the author finds that while African exports to China grew, the rate of growth declined over time and was significantly lower than that of competitors in Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean. The paper argues that Africa has been unable to fully capitalise on the trade war due to a lack of state incentives, poor manufacturing sectors, and a failure to develop specific industries like pork, despite the potential created by the African swine flu in China.

The document argues that Canada's economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic presents a unique opportunity to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy. It proposes seven 'green conditions' to guide government spending, including requiring companies to have net-zero plans, banning stock buybacks for aid recipients, and ensuring a just transition for workers. The report emphasizes that without deliberate conditions, recovery funds risk perpetuating unsustainable economic structures.

The report argues that coal is no longer the cheapest power source and that a significant portion of the global coal fleet is now uncompetitive compared to new renewables with storage. It proposes a three-part approach—refinancing, reinvesting in clean energy, and providing transition financing—to overcome the barrier of legacy contracts and noncompetitive tariffs. The authors suggest that by 2025, 78% of the global coal fleet will be uncompetitive, creating an opportunity for net financial savings of over $107 billion. The report details specific financial instruments, such as ratepayer-backed securitization and carbon bonuses, and provides regional analyses for the US, EU, China, and India.

The report contends that US ICBM policy is outdated, as submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) now match or exceed ICBM capabilities while remaining invulnerable at sea. It argues that the continued deployment of ICBMs on high alert creates a dangerous risk of mistaken launch due to compressed decision timelines. The authors assert that the retention of the ICBM force is driven by non-security factors, including the economic interests of the 'ICBM Coalition' of senators and lobbying by defense contractors like Northrop Grumman. The report recommends retiring the ICBM force, eliminating 'launch-on-warning' options, and extending the life of existing Minuteman III missiles instead of spending $100 billion on the new Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) system.

The document argues that the massive fiscal stimulus required for COVID-19 recovery presents a unique opportunity to transition to a low-carbon economy. It suggests that climate-aligned investments offer higher returns than traditional spending, citing benefit-cost ratios for adaptation between 2:1 and 10:1. The author proposes seven action areas: managing corporate bailouts with emissions targets, investing in climate-smart infrastructure (such as renewable energy and nature-based solutions), promoting regulatory reform, reforming tax and subsidy policies (including cutting fossil fuel subsidies), integrating climate risks into financial regulations, enhancing the role of development finance institutions, and sponsoring R&D for new technologies. The text emphasizes that green investments can create more jobs than fossil fuel investments, noting that in the US, $1 million spent on renewable energy creates 7.5 FTE jobs compared to 2.7 in fossil fuels.

The briefing argues that Covid-19 response policies for the fisheries sector should not merely provide financial relief but should be used to 'build back better' by integrating environmental and social goals. It introduces ten principles—including concurrent crisis response, efficiency, and conditionality—to evaluate support measures. The author advocates for income support over vessel-cost subsidies to avoid overcapacity and suggests that any support for fixed costs be conditional on environmental improvements, such as adopting low-impact gear. The document also warns against deregulation, such as increasing interannual quota flexibility, and calls for a long-term shift toward industry cost recovery for fisheries management.

The Center for International Environmental Law argues that the oil, gas, and plastic industries are in a state of systemic decline that predates the COVID-19 pandemic, and that government bailouts or regulatory rollbacks will not reverse this trend.

The briefing outlines a strategy for the U.S. to 'build back better' after COVID-19 by investing in public transit, 'Complete Streets', electric vehicle infrastructure, and low-carbon concrete. It highlights a critical budget shortfall for transit agencies and a significant maintenance backlog, arguing that prioritizing repairs over expansion creates more jobs and reduces emissions.

The report argues that carbon pricing in wholesale electricity markets can reduce CO2 emissions at the lowest cost and improve economic efficiency. It focuses on the role of Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs) in pricing emissions directly within energy market operations and outlines the legal and economic frameworks necessary for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, states, and RTOs to implement such rules.

The document advocates for the integration of advanced nuclear energy into a diversified zero-carbon energy portfolio to mitigate the risks and costs associated with relying solely on variable renewables. It highlights nuclear's advantages in power density, dispatchability, and its ability to produce carbon-free hydrogen for hard-to-electrify sectors. While acknowledging challenges such as high costs, waste disposal, and public perception, the author suggests that standardized construction, advanced reactor designs, and supportive federal policies—specifically the Nuclear Energy Leadership Act (NELA)—can make nuclear a scalable and cost-effective tool for climate mitigation.

The report analyzes the services sector's role in African development and the implications of the AfCFTA. It identifies Egypt, Morocco, South Africa, Ghana, and Nigeria as the continent's largest services exporters. The study highlights a significant gap in comprehensive services trade data, particularly for Mode 3 (commercial presence), and recommends implementing the 2010 Manual on Statistics of International Trade in Services. For South Africa, the report finds that services value added in gross exports is more than double the share of services exports, emphasizing the sector's role as an input for manufacturing. It argues for a developmental trade strategy that integrates services with industrial policy and warns against premature deindustrialization.

The report highlights that achieving NDC targets in China could prevent between 225,000 and 368,000 premature deaths by 2050, with health co-benefits exceeding the cost of climate policy implementation. It notes that fossil fuel subsidies remain a significant challenge, costing USD 1.79 trillion in externalities and representing a substantial portion of the budgets otherwise allocated to health and environmental protection.

The report concludes that the Batang Toru hydroelectric project is an unnecessary endeavor that threatens the Tapanuli orangutan with extinction. It finds that North Sumatra already has a power surplus and that planned gas, geothermal, and other hydroelectric projects render Batang Toru's peak and baseload power redundant. Furthermore, the report argues that the project's claims regarding CO2 emission reductions and balance of payments relief are significantly inflated or incorrect, while highlighting the operational risks associated with the contractor, Sinohydro.

The document argues that while there are signs of a transition to green economies—such as accelerating renewable energy deployment in China and India and the adoption of wellbeing budgets in New Zealand—the 'brown economy' still dominates. It highlights that fossil fuel subsidies (US$ 5.2 trillion) nearly equal the investment needed for Sustainable Development Goals (US$ 5-7 trillion). The report calls for a systemic shift from extraction to restoration and from GDP-centric measures to wellbeing and natural capital accounting, providing specific recommendations for governments, businesses, and civil society to accelerate a just transition.

The 2020 Global Green Economy Barometer evaluates the shift toward sustainable and equitable economic systems. While it notes accelerating energy transitions, a rise in green bonds, and the emergence of wellbeing budgets in countries like New Zealand, it argues that the 'brown economy' still dominates. The report highlights that fossil fuel subsidies reached US$ 5.2 trillion in 2017 and that global energy intensity is declining at only 0.4% per year, far below the 4-10% needed for mid-century decarbonization. It calls for systemic reforms to move beyond GDP, value natural capital, and ensure a just transition for marginalized populations.

The executive summary highlights that current WTO disciplines fail to significantly limit the agricultural subsidies of major providers like the US and EU, nor do they adequately address the growing support from emerging economies like China and India. It suggests that reforming these rules is essential for achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger) and ensuring global food system stability, especially amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors propose simplifying rules by introducing a minimum level of trade-distorting support based on a percentage of production value, implementing stricter transparency requirements, and establishing new, gradually decreasing global limits on internal support to correct international inequalities.

The report advocates for a paradigm shift in sanitation and wastewater management, moving from a focus on waste disposal to one of resource recovery. It details how recovering water, nutrients, and energy from waste streams can improve public health, food security, and climate mitigation while creating economic opportunities. The document provides technical guidance on system design, risk management for human and environmental health, and the institutional and financial frameworks necessary to implement sustainable, context-specific sanitation systems.