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Earthjustice reports on its efforts to secure and defend health protections against pollution and toxic chemicals. The organization highlights the use of 'citizen suits' under the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act to hold polluters accountable, such as litigation against Suncor Energy and the County of Hawai‘i. The report emphasizes a strategic shift toward state and local legal avenues—including constitutional 'right to a healthy environment' claims in Hawai’i and New York—to mitigate the impact of federal rollbacks by the Trump administration. Key achievements include pushing for bans on PFAS in menstrual products in New York, reducing flame retardants in Washington state, and implementing zero-emissions truck rules in California. The document also details the projected life-saving impacts of federal rules secured in 2024, such as the Air Toxics Rule and the Mercury and Air Toxics Rule Update.

The report assesses the nascent green bond market in Africa, which has raised approximately USD 9.6 billion through 76 issuances since 2013. While the market is growing, it remains a niche segment constrained by high issuance costs—up to 5% of total deal value compared to 0.9% in Europe—and macroeconomic instability. The analysis finds that green bonds provide financial additionality for issuers through faster capital raising and access to diverse investors, but primarily fund mitigation projects, with only 7% of proceeds going to pure adaptation. Social inclusion and gender considerations are generally absent from design but occur as indirect co-benefits, such as job creation. The report recommends the development of an African Sustainable Finance Taxonomy, the mandatory inclusion of 'Do no harm' and gender provisions, and the use of project preparation facilities to make adaptation projects more bankable.

The IEU report for May-August 2024 outlines the completion of evaluations on whistleblower protection, the GCF Investment Framework, and the energy sector portfolio. It details ongoing evaluations in Latin America and the Caribbean, health and food security, and Indigenous Peoples' approaches. The report also highlights the LORTA impact evaluation programme, evidence reviews on just transition and market-based approaches, and the progress of a Management Action Report on the Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme, where the Secretariat agreed to all 15 recommendations with varying levels of implementation progress.

The project assesses how conservation policies, specifically payments for environmental services and protected areas, impact tropical dry forest deforestation in Costa Rica and Brazil. It highlights that conventional evaluations often overestimate the success of protected areas by failing to control for biophysical and socioeconomic factors, such as slope and proximity to roads. Findings indicate that the location of protected areas is critical, with higher deforestation prevention occurring near urban centers and national roads compared to remote or steep areas.

An evaluation of the ABC Recuperação credit line in the Cerrado biome finds that the program has had modest effects on pasture recovery and marginal impacts on land use. The analysis reveals that credit provision did not significantly improve pasture quality, and some areas were converted from native vegetation to agricultural use before credit was obtained. However, the use of technical assistance was linked to a significant reduction in degraded pasture area. The report recommends strengthening monitoring, improving pre-credit evaluations to prevent funding recently deforested areas, and combining credit with technical assistance and risk mitigation tools.

The study finds that the ABC Recuperação credit line has had modest effects on pasture recovery, with most areas remaining unchanged and severely degraded pastures showing little improvement. While some pasture was converted to agriculture, the program's contribution to the Plano ABC goal of recovering 15 million hectares by 2020 was estimated at a maximum of 2.5%. Technical assistance was identified as a critical factor for success, particularly for severely degraded areas. The report also notes that some areas were deforested immediately prior to receiving credit, suggesting a need for better ex-ante monitoring and the integration of risk management tools.

The executive summary evaluates the ABC Recuperação credit program in the Cerrado, finding that it has had very modest impacts on pasture quality and land use. The study highlights that the credit line contributed to at most 2.5% of the 2020 recovery goal and notes a concerning trend where some areas were converted from native vegetation to pasture before receiving credit. It recommends strengthening post-credit monitoring, improving pre-credit evaluations, and integrating technical assistance to enhance environmental outcomes.

The document examines the role of voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) in reducing poverty among smallholder farmers, using a multidimensional framework of access to resources, opportunities, and power. While VSS can improve crop prices and natural resource conservation, their overall impact on poverty reduction is context-dependent and often limited by high certification costs and poor market access. The brief recommends that VSS integrate living income criteria, gender equality, and climate adaptation, while governments should support these efforts by facilitating direct market links and providing financial resources.

The Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) 2022 Annual Results Report details the organization's progress across three impact areas: reducing climate risk, promoting sustainable resource use and resilient ecosystems, and improving health and well-being. Key achievements include contributing to the COP27 decision to establish a loss and damage fund, developing the Global Environmental Impacts of Consumption (GEIC) indicator adopted at COP15, and implementing water management master plans in Bolivia. The report highlights the use of digital tools like LEAP, WEAP, and Trase to inform policy in various regions, including Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Organizationally, SEI reports an increase in scientific publications, a diversification of funding sources, and the implementation of a global monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) procedure.

The study finds that while training alone is effective for larger ranchers (above 100 hectares), small ranchers require the addition of technical assistance to implement sustainable practices. This is attributed to constraints in education, credit access, and investment capacity among smaller producers. The authors recommend a cost-effective policy of providing universal training while targeting expensive technical assistance specifically to smallholders.

The document analyzes the ABC Cerrado project, finding that while training alone is effective for large-scale producers (over 100 hectares), small-scale producers require the addition of technical assistance to implement sustainable practices. It suggests a cost-effective policy approach of providing universal training while focalizing expensive technical assistance on small producers to maximize pasture restoration and reduce deforestation pressures.

The study finds that BNDES credit for agricultural equipment increases land productivity and stimulates crop production without increasing deforestation. The effects are most pronounced in labor-intensive municipalities and when financing is directed toward labor-saving equipment, such as tractors and harvesters, which often leads to the replacement of pasture areas with more productive cropland.

The study finds that BNDES credit for agricultural machinery increases productivity and promotes the intensification of agriculture—specifically by replacing pasture with cropland—without increasing deforestation pressures. These effects are most pronounced in municipalities with high labor intensity and when financing 'labor-saving' equipment.

The report analyzes the relationship between transport infrastructure and employment in Brazil from 1990 to 2019. Using a 'market access' methodology, it finds that increased connectivity positively impacts employment, particularly in poorer and more isolated regions, thereby potentially reducing regional inequality. The study highlights that tradable sectors, such as agriculture and manufacturing, benefit most from these improvements.

The Ethiopia Industrial Parks Jobs Protection Facility provided US$ 4,645,607 in wage and innovation incentives to 24 factories in Ethiopia's industrial parks, benefiting 31,511 workers. The facility successfully enabled 92% of participating factories to retain at least 80% of their pre-Facility workforce and helped 76% avoid revenue declines during the pandemic. Beyond job retention, the facility spurred innovation in PPE production and human capital development, while creating unintended positive outcomes such as improved financial inclusion for workers through the formalization of payroll via bank accounts and streamlined internal cash reconciliation processes for factories.

The document details an external review of WRI's 2018-2022 Strategic Plan, evaluating its seven global challenges and core functions. It employs a mixed-methods approach, including 'Outcome Harvesting' and a 'Traffic Light System' to measure progress. Preliminary findings indicate that the Forests program is the strongest performer (95.9% achievement), while the Governance Center is partially on track (44% achievement). The review also assesses WRI's growth, the impact of COVID-19, and the integration of gender and social equity across its global operations, including specific assessments of its offices in Africa, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and the United States.

A campaign in Western Kenya promoting the use of rockbeds in cooking fires achieved a 67% awareness rate among surveyed households, with 85% of those aware adopting the technology. The intervention is highly cost-effective, costing approximately USD 0.06 per ton of CO2e over five years, with each adopter reducing annual emissions by about 480 kg of carbon dioxide-equivalent.

The study examines energy poverty in Malawi, finding that unconditional social cash transfers significantly increase the likelihood of ultra-poor households owning improved cookstoves and having a source of lighting.

The report analyzes how rural credit affects Brazilian agribusiness, finding that increased credit supply generally boosts agricultural production and productivity. In the Amazon and Cerrado biomes, credit specifically encourages the conversion of pasture to crop land, which reduces deforestation pressures and increases the area of native forests. The impact varies by biome and product, with grain production showing significantly larger increases in production and productivity compared to other crops.

The Chinese domestic labeled green bond market grew to nearly USD 120 billion between 2016 and 2019, becoming the second largest globally. While it has funded significant projects in clean transportation and energy, the market is characterized by high credit rating skew, limited international investor participation, and a lack of standardized project-level reporting. The report recommends consolidating regulatory frameworks, easing credit rules to diversify issuers, and establishing a centralized data depository to improve transparency.