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The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) requires that commodities and products be produced in accordance with the local laws of the country of production. This briefing argues that the 'legality requirement' must be interpreted broadly, encompassing all laws—including customary and human rights laws—that affect the legal status of the area of production and its surrounding environment. It emphasizes that due diligence cannot rely solely on official government records, especially in jurisdictions with high corruption or weak law enforcement, and must instead incorporate verification from local experts and civil society stakeholders.

The document analyzes the EUDR's legality requirement, arguing that it encompasses all laws affecting the legal status of production areas, including human rights and customary laws. It highlights systemic risks such as land grabbing, corruption, and weak enforcement in Brazil, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Indonesia, and recommends that EU companies move beyond official records to consult local experts and stakeholders to verify compliance.

The document outlines the challenges of verifying legal compliance in global agricultural supply chains under the EUDR. It argues that official documentation and third-party certifications are often insufficient due to systemic corruption, land-grabbing, and informality. Through case studies of Brazil, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Indonesia, it highlights specific risks such as illegal deforestation in the Amazon and Cerrado, child labour in cocoa production, and the widespread lack of mandatory ISPO certification in Indonesia's palm oil sector. It recommends that EU operators consult local experts and civil society to verify the 'reality on the ground'.

The document analyzes climate obstruction in Argentina and Brazil, identifying a shift toward explicit climate denial under President Javier Milei in Argentina and a complex mix of agribusiness-led obstruction and state-driven fossil fuel expansion in Brazil. It highlights how developmentalist ideologies and economic lobbying in both nations hinder the transition to low-carbon economies, despite Brazil's recent efforts to reduce Amazonian deforestation.

The document outlines how Texas municipalities and counties can catalyze the adoption of distributed energy resources (DERs) and virtual power plants (VPPs) to address rising electricity demand and grid instability. It details the types of DERs—generation, storage, and demand-side—and explains how VPPs (referred to in Texas as aggregate distributed energy resources or ADERs) coordinate these assets for grid-level benefits. The briefing identifies drivers for adoption, including the Inflation Reduction Act and extreme weather events like Winter Storm Uri and Hurricane Beryl, and provides a framework for local governments to increase adoption through public education, zoning updates, streamlined permitting, and the enrollment of government-owned assets into VPPs.

The briefing argues that South Africa's economic growth is contingent upon strengthening political institutions, professionalising the public service, and enhancing electoral accountability. It calls for a cohesive foreign policy to restore regional leadership within SADC and the AfCFTA, a decisive plan to combat corruption and gender-based violence, and the effective operationalisation of the Climate Change Act through local government reform and private-public partnerships.

The document identifies five critical areas for improving the success rate of first-of-a-kind (FOAK) industrial heat decarbonization projects: customer relationship management, site evaluation, project scoping, expertise/oversight, and contract drafting. It argues that these projects are prone to a 'snowball effect' of pitfalls—such as inaccurate site evaluations and unclear scopes—that can lead to project cancellation. By implementing strategic partnerships, detailed early-stage engineering, and flexible contracting, the document suggests that FOAK projects can move from 'project to product,' potentially unlocking a 2%–5% overall emissions reduction in the United States.

The document proposes a shift from traditional technology-replacement efficiency to a 'whole-systems' approach. It argues that combining electrification with energy end-use efficiency (reducing the demand for energy services) can reduce overall energy demand by 50-75%. The author provides sector-specific examples: in buildings, through passive design and compact urban development; in mobility, via land-use reforms and smaller, lighter electric vehicles; in freight, through modal shifts to rail and material demand reduction; and in steel, via circularity and material substitution. The brief concludes that achieving the COP28 goal of doubling energy efficiency improvement rates requires engaging a diverse range of stakeholders to trigger social tipping points.

The document advocates for integrating agroecology into the Water–Energy–Food (WEF) nexus to transform African food systems from industrial, extractive models to resilient, equitable ones. It highlights that while agroecology offers a science-based alternative, it is often fragmented and underfunded. The authors propose that philanthropic organisations, due to their risk tolerance and flexibility, can bridge these gaps by funding policy integration, capacity building, and research. The brief outlines the multi-scalar benefits of the WEF nexus—from the farm to the regional level—and provides case studies from Zambia, Kenya, and Uganda to demonstrate the efficacy of integrated resource management, such as solar-powered irrigation, in enhancing climate resilience.

The document advocates for a territorial approach to agroecology in Africa, integrating agricultural practice adaptation, biodiversity conservation, and the development of embedded food systems. It identifies key practices such as agroforestry, integrated landscape management (ILA), and territorial markets, while highlighting systemic hurdles including limited financial resources, loss of indigenous knowledge, and policy silos. The briefing recommends catalytic philanthropic funding for multi-actor governance, local market infrastructure, and participatory research to scale locally-driven solutions.

The document advocates for a transition from industrialised agriculture to African Indigenous Foodways (AIFs), which are rooted in traditional ecological knowledge and agroecological principles. It emphasises that knowledge co-creation between farmers and researchers is essential to overcome gaps in documentation and the 'epistemicide' of indigenous knowledge systems. The brief highlights the role of networks like the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) and the Seed and Knowledge Initiative (SKI) in promoting seed sovereignty. It identifies significant funding gaps, noting that philanthropic support for agroecological transition is less than 1% of total philanthropic food and agriculture funding. The authors recommend that philanthropy shift toward community-led investment models, long-term trust-based funding, and support for participatory research to enhance climate resilience and biodiversity conservation.

The document argues that Africa's rapid urban growth necessitates immediate investment in food environments to prevent unhealthy path dependencies. It identifies a funding gap of US$100 million over the next five years across four key initiatives: AfriFOODlinks, the Africa Food Environment Research Network (FERN), the Living Off-Grid Food & Infrastructure Collaboration (LOGIC), and the Resilient Municipal Market Fund (ReMark). The brief emphasizes that urban food environments are shaped by physical, economic, social, and infrastructural factors, and suggests aligning these with agroecological principles to improve resilience, equity, and resource efficiency.

The document examines 'territorial markets' in Africa—informal retail spaces where 70–90% of agricultural products are traded. It argues that while these markets are essential for food security, nutrition, and the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and women, they are frequently neglected or criminalized by governments. Through case studies in Benin, Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa, the brief highlights systemic failures in infrastructure and legal protections, advocating for philanthropic and government investment to align these markets with agroecological principles.

The document advocates for Silvopastoral Systems (SPS)—the integration of trees, forage, and livestock—to restore degraded African rangelands and mitigate resource-driven conflicts. It highlights successful models like Herding for Health and Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR), while urging philanthropic investment to overcome barriers such as insecure land tenure, knowledge gaps, and government subsidies for chemical-intensive farming.

The document outlines a legal framework for challenging offshore oil and gas expansion, focusing on rights to information and participation, duties to prevent environmental and human rights harm, and the responsibility of polluters to pay for decommissioning and remediation.

The document outlines how commercial banks, institutional investors, and insurers can use the NPOP framework to shift financial flows toward nature-positive outcomes in the blue economy. It details four primary entry points for financial institutions: exclusions policies, sector policies and due diligence, corporate engagement, and sustainable finance products. The briefing provides real-world case studies from institutions such as ING, BNP Paribas, and Standard Chartered to illustrate the application of the AR3T mitigation hierarchy—Avoid, Reduce, Restore & Regenerate, and Transform—across sectors including shipping, seafood, offshore wind, and coastal tourism.

The document provides a comprehensive overview of Ghana's land law regime, detailing the six major registrable interests in land and various minor rights. It explains the fiduciary duties of those managing collectively owned lands, the mechanisms for benefit sharing and compensation during compulsory acquisition, and the statutory emphasis on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to reduce the burden on the judicial system. It also outlines the roles of the Lands Commission and Customary Land Secretariats in ensuring transparency and access to information.

Kenya faces significant cooling gaps, with millions of people in hot regions at risk due to poverty and lack of electricity. While the country has a high share of renewable energy, the growth of refrigeration and air-conditioning (RAC) threatens to increase emissions, necessitating a transition to sustainable cooling to align with Net Zero 2050 goals.

The briefing outlines a three-part agenda for the next US administration to maintain the momentum of its green industrial strategy. It emphasizes the need to bridge the gap between initial investment and long-term economic stability by streamlining permitting, diversifying supply chains to reduce reliance on China, and ensuring that clean energy benefits reach low-income and legacy industrial communities. The author advocates for a 'private-sector-led, government-enabled' framework supported by strategic governance mechanisms to ensure the US remains a global leader in cleantech innovation and manufacturing.

Namibia is developing a sectoral MEL system for agriculture as a pilot for its broader National Adaptation Plan (NAP) process. The approach involved establishing indicator baselines in 2023, revising indicators for adaptation specificity in 2024, and conducting capacity building for national and regional stakeholders. The system relies on a data flow from regional extension officers to national ministries, with the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) providing oversight and the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform (MAWLR) handling implementation and reporting. Key challenges identified include skills gaps, budgetary constraints, and data fragmentation, while the document emphasizes the necessity of mainstreaming gender-specific indicators to address systemic inequalities.