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This technical explainer by RMI analyzes the use of voluntary carbon markets (VCM) to finance the plugging of orphaned oil and gas wells in the United States and Canada. It evaluates the methodologies used to generate carbon credits, the associated quality risks—particularly regarding emissions quantification and permanence—and the systemic regulatory failures that lead to the proliferation of orphaned wells.

This technical guide by RMI analyzes the market, quality risks, and methodological evolution of clean and improved cookstove carbon credits. It details the transition from legacy methodologies, which faced allegations of over-crediting, to newer, more rigorous standards like VM0050 and the forthcoming CLEAR methodology. The document provides a detailed risk assessment, highlighting monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) as a high-concern area due to behavioral complexities such as stove stacking and the Hawthorne effect.

The report examines the limitations of financed emissions as the primary metric for financial institutions (FIs) to align capital with a net-zero economy by 2050, suggesting a hybrid approach that combines portfolio-level tracking with actionable indicators and corporate transition assessments.

This briefing by Zero Carbon Analytics examines the systemic underestimation of methane emissions in the oil and gas industry. It argues that the industry's reliance on 'component-by-component' estimation methods, often based on industry-led guidance like the API Compendium, fails to account for 'super-emitter' events and significantly diverges from independent measurements obtained via satellites and remote sensors.

This research paper examines the role of knowledge co-production between scientists and stakeholders in climate change risk assessments, using six case studies from Northern and Central Europe to refine methods for creating actionable climate services.

This research paper by the Stockholm Environment Institute discusses the difficulties in tracking and demonstrating progress toward the global goal on adaptation within the UNFCCC global stocktake, highlighting a lack of rigour in reporting and evaluation.

This policy brief by Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) examines the use of end-user subsidies to bridge the affordability gap for electricity access, specifically focusing on solar home systems (SHSs). It analyzes methodologies for calculating affordability gaps, outlines key design attributes for subsidy programs, and compares case studies from Ghana, Uganda, and Togo to identify best practices and data requirements for improving energy access in high-impact countries.

This report by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) outlines an analysis of urban climate adaptation finance, focusing on the challenges of tracking financial flows and the objective of identifying gaps to mobilize resilience solutions in global urban areas by 2030.

This report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) examines the lack of transparency in reporting tax subsidies for fossil fuels in Canada. It argues that current reporting is incomplete and advocates for the adoption of international best practices, specifically the WTO definition of subsidies and the UN's SDG methodology, to accurately quantify foregone government revenue.

This report chapter from Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) analyzes development finance for energy projects with gender equality objectives between 2008 and 2018. It highlights a significant gap between general development finance and energy-specific finance targeting gender equality, identifies methodological failures in current tracking systems, and proposes a new framework for reporting and measuring gender-focused energy outcomes.

This document summarizes a practitioners' workshop held on December 6, 2019, in Madrid during COP25. The event, organized by the EU REDD Facility, Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), and UNDP, focused on the tools, methodologies, and challenges associated with mapping and tracking domestic climate finance to support national climate strategies and Paris Agreement objectives.

This research paper examines the potential for combining Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) with geo-spatial landscape models to better understand the interactions between energy, economy, and land use in regions heavily dependent on woodfuels, specifically focusing on a case study in Kenya.

This report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) examines the limitations and uncertainties of life-cycle assessment (LCA) tools used to compare the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of concrete, steel, and wood in the built environment. It argues that current LCAs often lack transparency and omit critical data—particularly regarding biogenic carbon in wood—which can lead to misleading conclusions about the relative performance of building materials. The report concludes that prioritizing energy efficiency and building longevity offers greater mitigation potential than focusing on material substitution alone.

This case study examines human vulnerability to climate change, arguing that vulnerability is determined by both exogenous hazards and the endogenous characteristics of human systems. It advocates for an evolutionary perspective to understand adaptive capacity and emphasizes the necessity of qualitative research to uncover structural and historical root causes of vulnerability.

This research paper outlines methods and options for assessing the ambition of mitigation commitments, specifically focusing on Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) and their integration into the UNFCCC process.

This research paper examines the application of shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs) and their combination with representative concentration pathways (RCPs) within climate change impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability (IAV) research. It identifies limitations in previous social-environmental scenarios and proposes an expanded set of indicators for SSPs to increase their utility for future research.

This research paper argues for the implementation of systematic approaches to understand the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus across various scales and sectors to achieve sustainable development goals. It presents a continuum of assessment tools, ranging from qualitative methods like index building to quantitative data-driven modelling, to support cooperative governance and resource management.

This briefing by the Stockholm Environment Institute explores extraction-based emissions accounting as a method to track greenhouse gas emissions associated with the supply of fossil fuels, contrasting it with traditional territorial and consumption-based frameworks to better assess economic risks and producer responsibility.

This policy brief by the Stockholm Environment Institute examines the methodologies used to measure and verify emission reductions in improved cookstove projects to ensure their environmental integrity and attract carbon finance. It identifies technical challenges in calculating biomass fuel savings, monitoring stove usage, and determining the fraction of non-renewable biomass, while noting that current methodologies often overlook significant non-CO2 climate benefits like black carbon reduction.

This viewpoint article examines the methods local governments use to measure community-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, highlighting the lack of a universal standard and the challenges of accounting for imported and exported goods.