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The document serves as an overview for a legal toolkit designed to help law-makers address the complexities of forest conversion laws. It identifies five key areas for legal attention: land allocation, clearing permits, timber rules, environmental protection, and community rights. The toolkit is based on an analysis of legal frameworks in nine tropical countries and focuses primarily on the regulation of large-scale projects to balance economic growth with environmental and social protections.

The document outlines the necessity of detailed, binding environmental legal tools to mitigate the impacts of forest conversion, such as biodiversity loss and climate change. It emphasizes the role of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), the importance of transparency, and the need for laws to be fit for the specific national context. Through case studies from Gabon, Ghana, Brazil, and Liberia, it illustrates how non-binding guidelines, limited agency capacity, and sustainability policies affect forest protection.

The guidance outlines a four-step process for creating local content policies: aligning with national objectives, taking stock of domestic capabilities, crafting specific policy instruments, and establishing monitoring and enforcement mechanisms. It details five types of local content objectives: local procurement, direct employment, horizontal linkages for diversification, downstream beneficiation, and the fostering of national mining firms. The document warns that policies must be context-specific and cautions against 'one-size-fits-all' solutions, noting that automation and international trade laws (such as WTO rules) present significant challenges to traditional local content strategies.

The document argues that tax incentives in the mining sector are often ineffective at attracting investment due to the location-specific nature of mineral resources and can lead to significant revenue losses. It provides a framework for reviewing incentives, identifying high-risk behavioural responses—such as 'high-grading' during tax holidays or abusive transfer pricing in export processing zones—and offers recommendations for better design, including the use of incremental sliding-scale royalties and the avoidance of 'cliff-edge' fiscal changes.

The briefing by WWF and IISD offers policy guidance for COP 14 regarding the mainstreaming of biodiversity into the infrastructure sector, following a decision from COP 13 to address biodiversity in energy, mining, infrastructure, manufacturing, and health. It mentions upcoming discussions by the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) and references two specific case studies: bus fleet electrification in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, and hybrid infrastructure in the Bogotá River basin, Colombia.

The document defines Vertical Integration as the strategic linking of national and sub-national efforts in climate adaptation. It emphasizes that this process ensures adaptation considerations are integrated across all levels of government and society, leveraging local expertise to support vulnerable groups. The text identifies institutional frameworks, information sharing, and capacity development as the three key drivers of this integration. It further explains that while decentralization provides a strong foundation for Vertical Integration by shifting decision-making closer to citizens, countries with less advanced decentralization must find alternative ways to engage sub-national actors.

The document outlines a comprehensive framework for financing National Adaptation Plan (NAP) processes, distinguishing between the lower-cost 'development phase' (planning and coordination) and the high-cost 'implementation phase' (execution of adaptation actions). It identifies four primary funding streams: national public finance (budgets, fiscal instruments, and national climate funds), bilateral providers (grants and technical assistance), multilateral funds (such as the Green Climate Fund and Adaptation Fund), and the private sector (through direct investment and public-private partnerships). The guide emphasizes the necessity of a tailored financing strategy that identifies funding gaps, determines appropriate financial instruments, and establishes operational steps to align national adaptation priorities with available resources.

The document outlines a strategic framework for financing National Adaptation Plan (NAP) processes, distinguishing between the 'elaboration phase' (planning and coordination) and the 'execution phase' (implementation of priority measures). It identifies four primary funding streams: domestic public revenues, bilateral providers, multilateral funds, and the private sector. While elaboration is typically funded by public and bilateral grants, the more costly execution phase requires a diversified mix of public and private capital. The brief recommends that countries develop a dedicated NAP financing strategy that identifies funding gaps, determines appropriate financial instruments, and defines operational steps to improve access to resources.

This report summarizes an information session held by WWF South Africa on October 18, 2017, focused on water saving and stewardship for agricultural producers in the Western Cape. It addresses the critical water scarcity facing the region, the role of producers as stewards of shared water resources, and practical technological and biological methods to improve water use efficiency and mitigate climate risks.

The document outlines how aligning the UNFCCC and Montreal Protocol regimes can help the refrigeration, air conditioning and foam (RAC&F) sector contribute to the Paris Agreement's temperature targets. It highlights that rising demand for cooling, driven by urbanization and population growth, increases CO2 and hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) emissions. The guide emphasizes the importance of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which aims to phase down HFCs to avoid significant temperature increases.

The report identifies that while climate change acts as a stressor to existing business risks, it also creates opportunities for Bangladeshi companies to develop new products, access new markets, and achieve cost savings. It highlights specific opportunities in the energy, agriculture, insurance, and banking/finance sectors, such as solar home systems and climate-resilient seeds. To overcome scaling challenges, the report recommends utilizing the Green Climate Fund's Private Sector Facility (PSF) and building strategic partnerships with NGOs, government agencies, and international development partners.

The document outlines strategies for US states to ensure that the Clean Power Plan does not disproportionately burden low-income communities and communities of color. It emphasizes the need for 'high impact' engagement, the conduct of formal Environmental Justice (EJ) analyses, and the avoidance of carbon trading mechanisms that may allow power plants to avoid on-site pollution reductions. The guide also advocates for a 'Just Transition' that provides economic development and job training in communities heavily dependent on fossil fuels.

The document defines key climate terminology used in COP21 negotiations, such as decarbonization, carbon neutrality, and carbon budgets, while explaining how these terms influence the global emissions trajectory. It argues that for long-term goals to be effective, they must be consistent with climate science, limit both long-term and cumulative emissions, and provide clear dates and plausible reduction pathways.

This policy brief outlines how to use investment contracts to ensure large-scale agricultural projects in developing countries are sustainable and beneficial. It identifies five key positive outcomes—employment creation, integration of local farmers, expanded market opportunities, community development programs, and improved food security—and five primary downsides, including land loss, lack of community engagement, weak commercial viability, poor environmental/social management, and insufficient grievance mechanisms. The brief provides a framework for managing these factors across three stages: preparation, contract drafting, and monitoring and enforcement.

This research paper examines the role of investment contracts in promoting responsible large-scale agricultural investments in developing countries. Drawing on empirical evidence from 39 projects in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, it identifies five key positive effects—such as employment creation and outgrower schemes—and five key negative impacts, including land loss and poor environmental management. The document proposes specific legal options and contractual clauses to ensure these investments contribute to sustainable development, emphasizing the importance of feasibility studies, community development agreements, and transparent grievance mechanisms.

The report analyzes the impact of large-scale agricultural investments in developing countries, identifying five key positive outcomes and five primary downsides. It argues that while domestic laws are the best foundation, investment contracts can fill regulatory gaps to ensure responsible conduct. The authors propose a three-stage contracting process—preparation, negotiation, and monitoring—and provide specific legal options to embed social, environmental, and economic safeguards into these agreements to prevent project failure and community conflict.

The report argues that climate change threatens to undermine development and peacebuilding progress in fragile states due to high exposure to risks, reliance on climate-dependent sectors, and existing vulnerabilities like weak governance. It advocates for a dual approach: implementing climate-resilient peacebuilding that accounts for climate risk as a conflict driver, and developing conflict-sensitive climate responses that avoid exacerbating tensions and instead promote peace.

The document outlines the necessity of greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory systems for industrial and commercial facilities in China's low-carbon economic zones. It proposes a collaborative framework between zone authorities and member companies to implement inventory planning, development, and reporting, which serves as the foundation for carbon trading, absolute caps, and performance standards. The brief also addresses typical barriers and gaps encountered during the implementation of these systems.

The report outlines a comprehensive approach for Chinese economic zones to implement GHG inventory management systems, focusing on the cycle of planning, inventory development, and zone management. It emphasizes the need for clear coverage and targets, institutional coordination, and stakeholder engagement to overcome barriers such as limited technical capacity and inadequate data-gathering systems. The document details the technical process of inventory development—including source identification, data collection using emission factors, and quality assurance—and provides a framework for verification and GHG projections to evaluate the effectiveness of mitigation policies.

The report argues that climate change acts as a "threat multiplier" in fragile states, exacerbating existing conflict drivers like poverty and weak governance. It proposes a framework for "climate-resilient peacebuilding" based on six principles, including integrated context analysis and a forward-looking approach to planning. The document identifies specific entry points for integration across five peacebuilding dimensions: basic safety and security, political processes, basic services, government functions, and economic revitalization. It also reviews existing international guidance, noting that while some tools integrate climate risks, many others lack this perspective, suggesting that practitioners should integrate climate resilience into existing resources rather than creating new toolkits.