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The report analyzes the impact of large-scale agricultural investments in developing countries, identifying five key positive outcomes and five primary downsides. It argues that while domestic laws are the best foundation, investment contracts can fill regulatory gaps to ensure responsible conduct. The authors propose a three-stage contracting process—preparation, negotiation, and monitoring—and provide specific legal options to embed social, environmental, and economic safeguards into these agreements to prevent project failure and community conflict.

The report examines why the Direct Planting (PD) system, despite its benefits for farmers and the climate, has seen low adoption rates in Brazil. It identifies social learning—learning from neighbors and peers—as a key driver of diffusion, but notes that soil heterogeneity acts as a barrier because the system must be adapted to specific soil conditions. The study finds that soil diversity most significantly hinders adoption at intermediate levels (18% to 50%), while formal diffusion channels, such as cooperatives and training centers, complement social learning by helping regions reach a critical mass of users. The authors argue that public policy should prioritize temporary, itinerant training in areas with low soil heterogeneity to trigger autonomous social learning.

The report finds that the implementation of the DETER satellite system, which allows for rapid identification of deforestation hotspots, was the primary driver of deforestation deceleration in the Brazilian Amazon during the 2000s. By enabling Ibama to focus law enforcement and monitoring more precisely, these command-and-control policies prevented the loss of approximately 59,500 km² of forest between 2007 and 2011. The analysis indicates that these conservation efforts did not negatively impact local agricultural production and provided significant monetary gains when considering the value of carbon retention.

The report finds that the implementation of the satellite-based DETER system was the primary driver of the deforestation slowdown in the Brazilian Amazon during the 2000s. By enabling the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) to target law enforcement more effectively, these policies prevented the clearing of over 59,500 km² of forest from 2007 to 2011. The analysis indicates that these conservation efforts did not adversely affect agricultural production and provided significant net monetary gains when compared to the costs of monitoring and enforcement.

The report argues that carbon pricing is likely to improve air quality in California because the most feasible GHG abatement strategies—such as energy efficiency and fuel switching—also reduce local air pollutants. Using data from the European Union (EU) Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), the authors find a statistically significant negative relationship between carbon prices and emissions of both GHGs and local air pollutants (sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter). Notably, EU oil refineries showed stronger reductions in local air pollutants than the average industrial facility. While cogeneration is identified as the only strategy that could potentially increase local emissions, the report suggests that existing air quality regulations and new source reviews in California should prevent such outcomes. The authors recommend that California regulators use industrial audits to maximize synergies between GHG and LAP abatement and consider financial incentives for high-benefit projects in poor air quality areas.

The research investigates the role of ICT in environmental sustainability research across four sectors, identifying five common macro-areas of application: observation and monitoring, modelling and simulation, socio-economic analysis, policy analysis and planning, and capacity building and cooperation. The study finds that 'information systems and software' and 'communication technology, networks, distributed systems' are the most used ICT categories across most sectors, though 'electronics and microsystems' predominate in climate change research due to observation and monitoring needs. Respondents consistently ranked the scientific relevance of ICT as the highest priority, followed by political and then economic relevance. The analysis suggests that future ICT requirements are driven by current tool usage and the desire to improve scientific exchange and policy interfaces, particularly for e-governance and public awareness.

The paper analyses 60,463 electricity-related energy efficiency recommendations for U.S. manufacturing SMEs, finding that payback time and investment costs are the primary drivers of implementation. It identifies an 'energy efficiency paradox' where firms are more sensitive to upfront costs than long-term savings, and notes that implementation rates are higher in states with higher greenhouse gas emissions and lower industrial GDP.

The report argues that auctioning emissions allowances in the EU ETS is superior to free allocation because it removes price signal distortions, prevents windfall profits, and generates public revenue for climate action and social compensation. While carbon leakage is a primary concern for a small number of energy-intensive manufacturing sub-sectors, the authors find that leakage in the power sector is unlikely due to limited interconnection capacity and long investment cycles. The report recommends a simple, high-frequency, uniform-price auction design and suggests that leakage be addressed through targeted State Aid or border adjustments rather than broad free allocation. Additionally, it highlights that auction revenues can mitigate the regressive nature of carbon pricing by supporting low-income households.

The document evaluates SEI's use of stakeholder engagement, distinguishing between the mere use of participatory methods and a comprehensive participatory approach. Through case studies in East Africa, Vietnam, and the UK, it argues that effective engagement requires careful planning, cultural sensitivity, and a clear purpose to avoid 'extractive' research. The authors recommend that SEI adopt institute-wide guiding principles, invest in facilitation training, and create internal mechanisms for sharing expertise to move from being a practitioner of participation to a theoretical contributor in the field.

The report analyzes innovation within Costa Rica's agro-industry sector using a survey of 42 firms. It identifies that while most firms innovate in products and processes to improve quality and market share, they face barriers such as a lack of trained workers and difficulty accessing funding. Regarding environmental protection, most firms invest in water treatment and remediation, but few adopt pollution prevention or eco-friendly product development, primarily due to the non-existence of suitable technologies in international and local markets.

The research finds that increased trade openness is associated with better economic rights for women and a lower incidence of forced labor, both in global and developing country samples. In contrast, the level of foreign direct investment (FDI) penetration generally shows no statistically significant impact on these specific labor rights.

The study analyzes policy learning in Sweden's climate and nuclear sectors, finding that institutional rules, capacities, and incentives are more critical for learning than the specific types of assessments used. While climate policy showed fundamental learning, nuclear policy remained intractable, with learning primarily occurring in agencies and committees rather than at the ministerial or political levels.

The document reports that engine crankcase emissions are the primary source of PM2.5 mass in conventional school bus cabins, while the tailpipe is the main source of ultrafine particles, black carbon, and particulate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Research across four US cities indicates that while diesel particulate filters (DPFs) and ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) reduce ultrafines and black carbon to ambient levels, they do not significantly reduce PM2.5. The installation of a closed-crankcase filtration device, specifically the Donaldson Spiracle™, was found to be critical and necessary to reduce cabin PM2.5 levels to near ambient levels across all tested bus and fuel combinations.

The report analyzes 716 Argentine manufacturing firms to determine what drives the adoption and quality of environmental management activities (EMAs). It finds that larger firms and those with higher spending on technology acquisition are more likely to implement higher-quality EMAs. While environmental regulatory pressure stimulates innovative behavior, it tends to induce 'end-of-pipe' management rather than 'clean production' strategies. Foreign firms are more prone to undertake EMAs than domestic firms, but foreign ownership is associated with lower EMA quality. However, positive environmental spill-overs from foreign firms occur in domestic firms that possess high absorption capabilities, leading them toward 'simple clean production' management.

A study commissioned by the Clean Air Task Force and conducted by Carbon Limits finds that finding and fixing natural gas leaks is a cost-effective strategy for reducing methane pollution. Based on data from over 4,000 inspections, the analysis shows that repairing most leaks is profitable for companies because the value of the conserved gas outweighs the repair costs. Quarterly LDAR surveys are estimated to abate methane at a net cost of less than $280 per metric ton, while monthly inspections at well sites and gas plants cost between $800 and $900 per metric ton—both figures remaining below the EPA's estimated societal damage cost of $970 per metric ton of methane. The document argues that current US federal regulations are insufficient, as only gas processing plants built since 1984 are required to perform leak inspections, and advocates for more robust federal rules based on the empirical evidence of low abatement costs.

The study examines the link between civil war exposure and authoritarianism using survey data from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Croatia. It finds that while direct personal loss does not consistently increase authoritarianism, symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are strongly associated with a more authoritarian value orientation across all three countries. The author argues that the individual's ability to cope with trauma, rather than violence itself, is the primary driver of these values, which may hinder democratic consolidation in the region.