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China faces a significant challenge where 66.5% of its coal-fired power plants are located in water-scarce areas, driven by the West-to-East Electricity Transmission Project. To mitigate this, China is investing heavily in solar and wind energy, implementing air-cooling technologies that save nearly 80% of water withdrawal, and enforcing stricter water resource management quotas and caps for the coal sector.

The report finds that kerosene subsidies in Nigeria failed poor women, who paid 2–6 times the official price and faced hardships during shortages. The 2016 subsidy removal further stressed household incomes, leading women in rural areas to rely more on inferior biomass fuels. The report recommends against reinstating kerosene subsidies, suggesting instead that funds be redirected toward social protection programs and the financing of clean-burning cookstoves.

The report argues that flexibility needs in India's electricity system are growing faster than energy demand, particularly under high renewable energy scenarios. It finds that a balanced portfolio of demand-side flexibility, powerplant upgrades, and energy storage can reduce total system costs by 5% to 8% and carbon emissions by 8% to 12% compared to a base case. The analysis highlights regional disparities, noting that states like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu face higher curtailment risks, and emphasizes the need for updated market designs, business models, and infrastructure to unlock these flexibility options.

The document examines the challenges in establishing a WTO prohibition on IUU fishing subsidies, focusing on three key areas: the definition of IUU fishing, the entities authorized to determine such fishing, and the procedural conditions governing those determinations. It highlights the tension between the WTO's trade-focused mandate and the sustainability goals of fisheries management, arguing for a process-based review system to ensure procedural fairness without requiring the WTO to manage fisheries resources directly.

The report finds that federal fossil fuel subsidies in Canada for FY 2019/20 totaled nearly CAD 600 million, though this is a conservative estimate due to missing data on tax-related subsidies and specific projects. It highlights a shift in government support from exploration toward infrastructure and exports, particularly for the natural gas sector. Key examples include a CAD 275 million transfer to LNG Canada and ongoing support for the Trans Mountain pipeline. The document also identifies carbon pricing exemptions as effective subsidies for fossil fuel consumption and notes that provincial subsidies generally outpace federal ones. It recommends that Canada include subsidy reform in its next Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and complete its G20 peer review by 2020.

The document examines the use of gypsum, an industrial by-product from phosphorus fertilizer extraction, to mitigate nutrient pollution in the Baltic Sea. Pilot projects in Finland, including Project SAVE and research in the River Vantaanjoki basin, indicate that gypsum improves soil structure and reduces phosphorus losses to waterways by approximately 50%. While the practice is recommended for coastal drainage areas, researchers caution against its use in lake drainage basins or groundwater recharge areas due to the risk of sulfate loading and subsequent eutrophication. Large-scale application across Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Poland could potentially achieve 10% of the phosphorus reductions targeted by the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan.

The report analyzes Bolivia's quinoa sector through a 'value web' lens, identifying that while the country has high biocapacity and biodiversity, the industry remains heavily reliant on exporting bulk seeds. It highlights the underutilization of quinoa biomass—specifically saponins and residual stems/husks—and identifies critical gaps in public financing and knowledge exchange between industry and research institutions. The authors warn that current policies favoring specific varieties like quinoa real and organic monocultures may threaten biodiversity and climate resilience.

The document argues that South Africa can achieve strategic goals—including preparing for ICAO's CORSIA framework, supporting its tourism sector against 'flight shame', and creating green jobs—by developing a domestic SAF industry. It identifies a wide range of policy tools such as blending mandates, financial incentives, and taxation. The brief proposes a phased roadmap for South Africa: short-term (2020-2025) focus on a 2-3% blending mandate and a long-term (beyond 2030) target to replace 50% of aviation fuel with locally produced SAF by 2050.

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 European Commission's European Green Deal Investment Plan (EGDIP) aims to mobilise over 1 trillion EUR over 10 years to support the EU's transition to climate neutrality. A central part of this is the Just Transition Mechanism (JTM), which intends to mobilise at least 100 billion EUR between 2021 and 2027 to mitigate the social and economic impacts on carbon-intensive sectors. The JTM includes the Just Transition Fund (JTF), which has a projected financing capacity of 30-50 billion EUR and explicitly excludes fossil fuel infrastructure. While the author views these as positive steps, they argue that the JTM is currently insufficient to meet all needs and that funding should be strictly limited to countries supporting the 2050 climate neutrality target.

The report examines the risks associated with unconventional oil and gas extraction (PGNC), specifically hydraulic fracturing. It details significant health concerns, including adverse birth outcomes, asthma exacerbation, and potential links to childhood leukemia. Environmental risks identified include water contamination, air pollution (specifically benzene and ozone precursors), and induced seismicity. The document highlights the disproportionate impact on Indigenous populations and argues that methane leaks undermine the role of natural gas as a transition fuel, calling for a moratorium on new projects and a strategic phase-out to meet Paris Agreement goals.

The report evaluates the state-level implementation of Brazil's Forest Code, highlighting that while most states have made progress in CAR registration, significant bottlenecks exist in the validation phase and the rollout of the PRA. It argues against amending the federal law without considering state-level efforts and emphasizes the need for technical resources, transparency, and a clearer role for the federal government to support lagging states, particularly in the northeast region.

The Union of Concerned Scientists argues that the Trump administration engaged in unprecedented attacks on science, including censorship and the sidelining of experts. The report proposes a blueprint for the next administration based on three principles: independent science, transparent decisionmaking, and scientific free speech. Key recommendations include codifying scientific integrity policies, reforming the federal advisory committee system, curbing conflicts of interest for political appointees, and expanding whistleblower protections. It also addresses broader democratic threats, such as 'dark money' in politics and voting rights restrictions, as interconnected issues affecting public health and safety.

The report evaluates the DBSA and IDC using the Fair Finance Guide International (FFGI) methodology, finding that both institutions lack strong policy commitments to a low-carbon transition despite their developmental mandates. The DBSA showed strength in nature and power generation policies but failed on climate change targets, while the IDC ranked lowest among six assessed DFIs due to a critical lack of publicly available policies.

The report concludes that the US model of ABS securitisation for PACE loans is not directly applicable to Europe due to regulatory differences, a lack of historical performance data for 'Simple, Transparent and Standardised' (STS) treatment, and diverse national legal frameworks. Instead, it recommends localised solutions such as covered bonds, residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), and aggregation platforms. The document provides a global market analysis of green bonds for low-carbon buildings and outlines standardisation principles for energy efficiency loans to attract institutional capital.

The document assesses the progress of transposing the RED II and Electricity Directives in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Spain as of September 2020. It finds that while most countries have focused on legal definitions, they have largely neglected the 'enabling framework' and the mandatory assessment of barriers and potentials required by EU law. The brief argues that simple 'copy-paste' transposition of EU definitions is insufficient and recommends a holistic approach that includes public consultation, political engagement, and specific support for vulnerable households and local authorities to ensure the success of energy communities.

The report provides a detailed 'radiography' of how Brazilian states are implementing the 2012 Forest Code. It identifies the analysis and validation of the CAR as the primary bottleneck and notes that while some states like Espírito Santo, Mato Grosso, and Pará have made significant progress, others remain severely delayed in regulating and operationalizing the PRA. The document also highlights the role of the Brazilian Forest Service (SFB) in developing technological tools to scale these processes.

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 report argues that the COVID-19 pandemic acted as an 'X-ray,' exposing deep structural inequalities and the failure of neoliberal policies. It critiques the global fiscal response, noting that while US$ 11 trillion was mobilized, the support was unevenly distributed, favoring high-income countries and corporate interests over the global South and public services. The document proposes an "8 R" agenda for systemic change: re-valuing care, re-empowering public services, re-balancing value chains, reinforcing climate justice, re-distributing economic power, re-regulating global finance, re-inventing multilateral solidarity, and re-defining progress beyond GDP. It specifically highlights the dangers of IMF-mandated austerity in countries like Ecuador and the failure of the Global Health Security Index to predict pandemic outcomes due to its reliance on infrastructure over social determinants of health.