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The document asserts that nature loss is a "macro-critical" threat to financial stability, with potential global economic costs of $5 trillion over five years. It details how policy, legal, reputational, and physical risks are already impacting corporate balance sheets, citing examples such as Tesla's Gigafactory delays and significant financial losses from mishandled nature interactions. The briefing identifies five priority themes for investors through 2025: framework alignment (e.g., TNFD), leveraging AI for deforestation data, managing ocean-related impacts in the blue economy, pursuing 'nature alpha' for financial returns, and active policy engagement to reverse biodiversity loss.

The briefing outlines a three-pronged strategy to modernize the US power grid to accommodate increasing electricity demand from data centers, manufacturing, and electric vehicles. It advocates for 'Big Wires' (high-voltage transmission and grid-enhancing technologies), 'Small Wires' (distribution upgrades for diffuse loads like EVs), and 'Non-Wires' solutions (virtual power plants) to ensure a reliable and affordable transition to a fully electrified economy.

The guide describes how spectrometers on satellites detect the infrared signature of methane to identify emissions from oil and gas, coal, waste, and agriculture. It highlights the emergence of NGO-led missions like MethaneSAT and Carbon Mapper, which provide open-source, granular data to drive climate action and pressure emitters to reduce leaks.

The document asserts that international law provides no basis to restrict State climate obligations to present generations. It argues that the rights of future generations are rooted in the UN Charter, various international environmental agreements, and the jurisprudence of the ICJ and other international bodies. The submission emphasizes that the principles of prevention and precaution require States to act now to avoid irreversible climate harm and warns against relying on speculative future technologies to meet mitigation targets. It includes the Maastricht Principles on the Human Rights of Future Generations, which provide a framework for the obligations of States and non-State actors to ensure intergenerational justice.

The briefing argues that conventional neoclassical financial analysis fails to account for long-term non-financial risks and externalities, often leading to underinvestment in sustainable transport. It proposes an 'integrated financial analysis' where positive externalities—such as health benefits and time savings—are monetized and converted into revenue streams. Using a case study of a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in Bandung, Indonesia, the paper demonstrates that while the project is financially unviable based on ticket sales alone, it becomes viable if a small fraction (12% to 19%) of its societal externalities are internalized. The author recommends lowering social discount rates to better incentivize long-term sustainable investments.

The briefing outlines the potential of ocean-based carbon dioxide removal (CDR) to remove billions of tons of CO2 annually, categorizing methods into biological (e.g., seaweed sinking) and abiotic (e.g., alkalinity enhancement) processes. It highlights a funding gap between land-based and ocean-based CDR, noting that while the U.S. government has established strategies through NOAA and the White House, more substantial investment is needed. The document lists current federal initiatives, proposed legislation like the Carbon Dioxide Removal Research and Development Act of 2023, and private sector activity from companies such as Microsoft and Shopify to advocate for a robust scientific foundation for responsible deployment.

The briefing assesses the health and economic co-benefits of a 45% emissions cap on Canada's oil and gas sector. It projects that such a cap would avoid approximately 4,860 premature deaths between 2030 and 2040, resulting in an economic benefit of CAD $45.1 billion. The document highlights the link between oil and gas emissions and pollutants like NO2, PM2.5, and ozone, which contribute to respiratory and cardiac diseases. It also criticizes the federal government for failing to conduct a promised independent health study on communities near the oil sands and calls for a national study on the health costs of oil and gas production, similar to research conducted in the U.S.

The document outlines strategic recommendations for Lebanon's early-stage National Adaptation Plan (NAP) process, drawing on experiences from 12 peer countries. It emphasizes the need for strong institutional leadership, the prioritization of low-cost catalytic actions for implementability, and the blending of public and private finance. Key recommendations include establishing a multistakeholder coordination mechanism, integrating gender equality and social inclusion, and developing a robust monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) system. The analysis highlights specific examples, such as Albania's Inter-Ministerial Working Group and Bosnia and Herzegovina's municipal financing tools, to guide Lebanon in creating a science-based, inclusive, and implementable adaptation strategy.

The briefing asserts that tripling renewables and doubling energy efficiency by 2030 will provide 85% of the required cuts in unabated fossil fuels for that period. By 2035, these two actions alone are projected to reduce total CO2 emissions by more than half. The document emphasizes that while nuclear energy and carbon capture and storage (CCS) play roles, their contributions are significantly smaller due to slow deployment and technology immaturity, making renewables and efficiency the most effective tools for a rapid fossil fuel phaseout.

The briefing identifies four critical areas for COP28 success: adopting a transformational response to the Global Stocktake, accelerating systems transformation in energy, food, and cities, responding to severe climate impacts through the Loss and Damage Fund and adaptation frameworks, and delivering scaled climate finance to vulnerable nations.

The document defends the European Commission's proposed Soil Monitoring Law (SML), asserting that EU-level action is necessary because approximately 60-70% of EU soils are unhealthy and national frameworks are insufficient. It argues that the proposal respects the principle of subsidiarity as the objectives cannot be achieved by Member States alone, and the principle of proportionality by using a Directive format that allows for national flexibility.

The document emphasizes that developing countries cannot meet climate ambitions without integrating citizens into policy-making. It asserts that public engagement is essential for building the social mandate and long-term support necessary to implement adaptation actions prioritized within National Adaptation Plan (NAP) processes.

The briefing advocates for four key minimum guarantees to make the IED compensation right effective: support for collective actions to represent vulnerable individuals, accountability for authorities when their breaches cause individual damage, court-led disclosure tools to address information asymmetry, and the use of rebuttable presumptions to balance evidence requirements. It also rejects any limitations on the use of scientific data as evidence in court.

The briefing finds that the global steel industry is not on track for net zero by 2050, as only a third of the top 50 producers have set 2050 targets. It highlights a critical gap in transparency regarding emission scopes and a concerning trend where planned capacity for coal-based blast furnaces significantly outweighs that of low-emissions projects.

The document argues that tax incentives are often ineffective at attracting investment and may be rendered redundant by the 15% global minimum tax (GloBE rules) starting in January 2024. It recommends shifting from profit-based incentives to cost-based incentives and improving governance through transparency and inter-agency coordination.

The document examines the role of fiscal incentives in driving plastic production and proposes that the future plastics treaty adopt the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM Agreement) definition of subsidies to ensure legal coherence and workability. It distinguishes between direct subsidies (e.g., grants for plants) and indirect subsidies (e.g., cheap fossil fuel feedstocks), recommending a form-based prohibition for the former and an effects-based prohibition for the latter. The brief emphasizes the need for transparency, binding elimination targets, and special and differential treatment for developing countries to facilitate a just transition.

The briefing details the FY2024 budget requests for U.S. biodefense, highlighting significant increases in pandemic preparedness funding for HHS and the launch of new initiatives like the Public Health Emergency Fund. It notes a mixed trend in the Department of Defense, where some biosecurity research programs are ending while others receive increases. The document also examines international biosecurity efforts through the State Department and DTRA, while noting budget cuts to the Biological Threat Reduction Program.

The document argues that greenhouse gas emissions constitute pollution under UNCLOS, thereby obligating State Parties to reduce emissions in line with the Paris Agreement's temperature goals. It examines the request for an advisory opinion by the Commission of Small Island States (COSIS) to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), asserting that the duty of due diligence must be informed by the best available science to prevent ocean warming, acidification, and sea level rise.

The briefing highlights that material efficiency and recirculation can contribute nearly 20% of the GHG emissions reductions needed by 2050 for the steel and aluminum sectors. It distinguishes between pre-consumer, post-consumer, and internal scrap, noting that only post-consumer scrap provides significant emissions benefits by replacing primary aluminum production, which averages 16 tons of CO2e per ton. To align with 1.5°C trajectories, the aluminum industry must increase the share of post-consumer scrap from 21% in 2020 to 46% by 2050, while reducing pre-consumer scrap from 13% to 9%. The author contends that current reporting, which often only lists 'total recycled content,' obscures these distinctions, and advocates for separate disclosure of post-consumer content to drive market demand and sectoral decarbonization.

The IAI's STeP Fellowship program, designed to train early-career scientists in the science-policy interface, has seen significant growth with 64 total fellows from 13 countries. In November 2022, 30 fellows participated in a Science Diplomacy Leadership Workshop in Uruguay, resulting in a leadership declaration. This declaration commits the fellows to transdisciplinary approaches, inclusive decision-making, and the pursuit of transformative change to address urgent challenges in the Americas.