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The document maps the various 'entry points' for environmental policy within the WTO, ranging from formal committees and negotiating groups to newer, member-led plurilateral initiatives. It highlights that while no single environmental agreement exists, the WTO manages this nexus through general exceptions (GATT Article XX), monitoring bodies (TBT and SPS committees), and specific negotiations on fisheries subsidies and environmental goods. The brief also details three recent ministerial statements from December 2021 focusing on environmental sustainability, plastic pollution, and fossil fuel subsidy reform, which aim to foster cooperation ahead of the Thirteenth WTO Ministerial Conference.

The document identifies significant risks in the DRC's emerging lithium sector, including a lack of public environmental impact assessments, the involvement of politically exposed persons (PEPs) in mining concessions, and a lack of transparency regarding contracts and beneficial ownership. It highlights the role of companies like AVZ Minerals, Tantalex Resources, and Critical Resources, and argues that the energy transition must not be underpinned by predatory economic models or environmental harm. The report recommends that companies and the Congolese government adopt OECD due diligence standards and ensure full transparency of payments and ownership to prevent corruption and human rights abuses.

The document argues that while nearly 25% of global deaths are linked to economic decisions affecting the environment, health stakeholders remain largely invisible in global environmental negotiations. It provides a technical roadmap for health professionals to engage with key multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), emphasizing that environmental governance is effectively health governance. The guide details specific opportunities within the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the UNFCCC, chemicals conventions, and the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), advocating for a multi-sectoral health governance model that incorporates Planetary Health and One Health frameworks.

The document argues that while nearly 25% of global deaths are linked to economic decisions affecting the environment, the health community remains largely invisible in global environmental policy negotiations. It analyzes four primary domains—biodiversity, climate change, pollution, and food systems—and examines how health expertise can be integrated into the legal frameworks and decision-making processes of the CBD, UNFCCC, CITES, and other international bodies. The guide emphasizes the need for a 'multisectoral governance of health' and the adoption of holistic frameworks like Planetary Health and One Health to address the 'triple planetary crisis' of biodiversity loss, climate change, and pollution.

The report analyzes the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM), the UN High-Level Expert Group (HLEG), and the 'Race to Zero' alliance, asserting that these bodies are compromised by ties to the fossil fuel industry. It details how board members and advisors have professional links to companies like ExxonMobil, Shell, and BP, or financial institutions that continue to fund fossil fuel expansion. The document argues that these connections allow polluters to use 'net zero' frameworks as a tool for greenwashing and to avoid regulations that would require actual emission reductions at the source.

The report examines the Brazil's Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) as a key entity for risk management and preventive audits in federal land transport infrastructure. It finds that the TCU often becomes the primary body for approving Technical, Economical and Environmental Feasibility Studies (EVTEA), but typically does so too late in the project life cycle, leading to inefficiencies and wasted public resources. Through case studies of the BR-163/230/MT/PA highway, the North-South Railway (FNSTC), the South Integration Highway (RIS), and Ferrogrão, the document illustrates the TCU's role in defining environmental responsibilities and identifying flaws in feasibility studies, while maintaining a boundary that avoids infringing on the Executive Branch's discretionary power.

The report argues that the UN Food Systems Summit has been 'captured' by corporate interests through the use of multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs), which shift governance from state-led multilateralism to a model dominated by transnational corporations and philanthropic foundations. An analysis of 26 MSIs reveals that the private sector holds the most influence, often occupying leadership roles. The document highlights the roles of the World Economic Forum (WEF), the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) in promoting industrial agriculture and 'nature-positive' solutions that the authors claim are 'false solutions' designed to maintain corporate dominance. It specifically criticizes the appointment of AGRA's president as the UN Special Envoy for the Summit as a conflict of interest and details how companies like Nestlé and Shell use nature-based solutions to offset emissions without reducing production.

The report analyzes four federal infrastructure projects in Pará: Ferrogrão, BR-155/158, BR-163/230/MT/PA, and BR-230. Using a 'market access approach', researchers found that these projects collectively risk nearly 7,000 square kilometers of native Amazon vegetation, with 3,800 square kilometers located in Pará. The study highlights significant transparency issues, noting that socio-environmental documents were often unavailable or difficult to access. It argues that the state of Pará should engage in early political coordination with the Federal Government to incorporate deforestation control and land governance measures into project designs, estimating an annual mitigation cost of US$ 43 million for the region.

The document examines how Multistakeholder Initiatives (MSIs) and corporate entities influence the UN Food Systems Summit (UNFSS). It argues that the transition from state-led multilateralism to multistakeholderism allows transnational corporations and private foundations to direct policy and promote 'technofixes' and 'nature-based solutions' that maintain corporate dominance while ignoring structural inequalities and food sovereignty.

The authors examine the deployment of AI, robotics, and sensor technology in agriculture, forestry, and marine resource extraction, noting that while these technologies are increasingly used for climate and environmental monitoring, systemic risks remain under-explored. The paper identifies four primary categories of systemic risk: algorithmic bias, unequal access, cascading failures, and trade-offs between efficiency and resilience.

The document evaluates the EITI, a global transparency standard for extractive industries, noting its success in improving investment climates and contract disclosure while highlighting failures in preventing corruption and ensuring civil society participation.

The 2021 state of global environmental governance was characterized by a shift toward voluntary pledges and a struggle to maintain multilateral progress during the COVID-19 pandemic. While some major meetings, such as the Glasgow COP, returned to in-person formats, many other processes remained in a 'maintenance mode' with only procedural outcomes. The report highlights a growing gap between environmental promises and action, exacerbated by systemic inequalities and vaccine disparity, which hinder the collective ability of states to address climate, nature, and pollution crises.

The document outlines the framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which aims to conserve biodiversity, ensure sustainable use of its components, and facilitate fair benefit-sharing of genetic resources. It details the roles of the Nagoya and Cartagena Protocols in managing access to genetic resources and the biosafety of living modified organisms. The brief highlights the failure to meet the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and discusses the impact of emerging technologies, such as synthetic biology and digital sequence information, on global biodiversity governance. It concludes by emphasizing the need for a post-2020 global biodiversity framework to reverse the extinction risk facing up to one million species.

The Ferrogrão (EF-170) project is a proposed 930 km railroad designed to lower soy export costs from Mato Grosso by routing cargo through the Amazon rainforest to the Miritituba terminal. While intended to reduce carbon emissions, the project faces significant socio-environmental challenges, including a 2017 proposal to withdraw public access from BR-163/MT/PA that would have impacted nearly one million hectares of forests in conservation units. Despite legal challenges to environmental studies and public consultations between 2017 and 2018, the project's concession model was approved in July 2020. The analysis highlights a tension between the Brazilian government's push for infrastructure-led economic recovery and a global trend toward more rigid, sustainable socio-environmental investment standards, which are increasingly viewed by investors as a means to reduce financial risk.

The Climate Policy Initiative (CPI/PUC-Rio) analyzed the Ferrogrão railway project, finding significant gaps in its economic planning, socio-environmental governance, and risk assessment. The project, intended to lower soy export costs from Mato Grosso, faces risks of inducing 2,043 km² of deforestation. The analysis highlights a lack of transparency and a failure to align the project's technical studies with international socio-environmental standards.

The document examines how COVID-19 disrupted African extractive industries through reduced global demand, supply chain failures, and operational shutdowns. It highlights the vulnerability of oil-dependent economies like Nigeria and the specific challenges facing South Africa's mining sector. Conversely, it identifies a 'silver lining' in the increased demand for gold due to its role in rapid antibody tests. The report argues that the crisis provides a governance opportunity for African nations to diversify their economies, reduce reliance on Chinese demand, and implement structural reforms to protect property rights and broaden tax bases.

The author contends that nationalistic responses to Covid-19 are insufficient and that the G20, chaired by Saudi Arabia, should convene to coordinate fiscal, monetary, and scientific efforts. The text emphasizes the vulnerability of Africa's public health systems and calls for the establishment of a global medical stockpiles reserve to address long-term health inequality and supply chain failures.

The report analyzes the shift of global environmental governance to virtual formats during the 2020 pandemic, noting that while operational decisions (like budgets) were achieved via the 'silence procedure', substantive negotiations on climate and biodiversity were largely delayed. It highlights that pandemic-related emission drops were temporary and structural, and warns that the crisis exacerbated social inequalities and hindered scientific reporting, such as the IPCC's sixth assessment report. The document concludes by advocating for a 'green and inclusive recovery' and a stronger link between biodiversity protection and pandemic prevention.

The report details the systemic corruption in South Africa known as 'state capture,' focusing on the influence of the Gupta family over the administration of former President Jacob Zuma. It describes the manipulation of cabinet appointments, the hollowing out of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and the use of political connections to secure lucrative state contracts. The document assesses the role of the Zondo Commission and the Public Protector in uncovering these activities and emphasizes the necessity of prosecutions to restore public trust in democratic institutions.

The document finds that while some countries have improved their legal frameworks to combat deforestation, implementation remains weak due to corruption, lack of resources, and a failure to recognize the land rights of indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs). It highlights a strong correlation between high corruption and forest loss, and notes that illegal conversion for commercial agriculture—specifically palm oil, soy, paper/timber, and cattle—drives much tropical deforestation. While demand-side measures for timber are increasing in the EU, US, and Asia, similar measures for other commodities remain largely voluntary. The report also emphasizes the critical role of IPLCs in carbon storage, noting they manage 17% of total carbon in 64 assessed countries, yet face increasing violence and land grabbing due to insecure tenure.