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The document analyzes methane abatement through improved flaring practices in nine African and Latin American countries. It identifies removing unlit flaring as a priority low-cost action and notes that while most measures fall below a low-cost threshold of 596 USD/tCH4, costs vary by country based on flaring volumes per site. Key barriers include regulatory focuses on flaring volumes rather than efficiency and high operation and maintenance requirements.

The document evaluates the replacement of methane-bleeding pneumatic devices in the oil and gas sector with electric or instrument air systems. It finds that while adoption is already medium-to-high in several assessed countries, the remaining abatement potential is cost-effective, with instrument air systems often falling below a low-cost threshold of 596 USD/tCH4. Key barriers to further deployment include technical constraints at aging facilities and weak economic incentives where gas has low commercial value.

The report finds that the UK lacks a robust system for publicly identifying the ultimate beneficial ownership of commercial fishing vessels, with UBO easily identifiable in only 24% of sampled vessels. It argues that current vessel registration and licensing processes do not require UBO disclosure, and the Companies House 'People with Significant Control' (PSC) register is often insufficient due to high ownership thresholds and the use of foreign corporate structures. To combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, the report recommends reducing the UBO disclosure threshold to 10% or less, mandating UBO collection during registration and licensing, and establishing a centralised, publicly accessible UBO register for commercial fishing vessels.

The report argues that rising geopolitical instability and the military occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant have exposed gaps in nuclear safety norms. It suggests that the Pelindaba Treaty may be insufficient for contemporary armed conflicts and recommends strengthening international regulations, expanding the IAEA's mandate, and protecting nuclear personnel and infrastructure to safeguard nuclear energy in Africa and globally.

The Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP) testified in support of Illinois bills S.B. 3118 and H.B. 4728, arguing that private equity ownership of intellectual or developmental disability (IDD) services prioritizes short-term profits over patient care. PESP highlights risks such as 'dividend recapitalization'—where firms like Centerbridge Partners and Vistria Group extracted over $737 million from providers Sevita and Help at Home—and the case of Bain Capital's Broadstep Behavioral Health, whose license to operate group homes in Illinois was revoked in July 2024 due to repeat quality standard violations.

The policy brief examines the potential of small modular reactors (SMRs) to provide firm, low-carbon energy and industrial heat within the EU. It identifies significant structural barriers to deployment, including fragmented national licensing processes, uncertain state aid timelines, and a lack of standardised financing models. The author argues that to avoid a series of isolated, high-cost projects, the EU must move toward serial production and regulatory alignment, focusing early efforts on a limited number of mature designs to build supply chain and workforce capacity.

The report examines the role of social media platforms in spreading climate disinformation, highlighting how algorithmic systems and revenue-sharing models incentivise misleading content. It specifically assesses the compliance of Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) with the EU Digital Services Act (DSA), concluding that most have failed to identify or mitigate climate disinformation as a systemic risk.

The document details how illegal gold mining in the Brazilian Amazon is sustained by a complex network of corrupt politicians, logistics providers, and international smuggling routes for mercury and aviation fuel. It highlights a systemic failure of Brazilian regulatory agencies to coordinate efforts, leading to significant gold exports lacking proper documentation. The report also establishes strong links between illegal mining and other serious crimes, including drug trafficking by organizations like the First Capital Command (PCC), forced labor, and sexual exploitation. Geographically, the illicit activity extends across borders into Guyana, French Guiana, and Venezuela, with specific hotspots identified in Roraima, Rondônia, Pará, and Amapá states.

The report argues that legal gold garimpo in the Amazon has evolved from an artisanal practice into an industrial-scale business, yet it remains subject to anachronistic regulations that lack necessary socio-environmental safeguards. Analysis of National Mining Agency (ANM) data shows a significant increase in authorized areas between 2016 and 2023, with cooperatives dominating the landscape. The authors highlight critical gaps, such as the lack of a 'prior discovery' requirement for garimpo and the undue simplification of environmental licensing in Pará, which delegates authority to municipalities despite the high-impact nature of the activity. The document recommends extending industrial mining requirements to cooperatives, shelving lenient legislative bills in Congress, and implementing a rigorous three-stage licensing process with mandatory Environmental Impact Studies (EIA/RIMA) in Pará.

The briefing analyzes Resolution CMN No. 5,193/2024, noting progress in banning credit for projects involving native vegetation suppression and illegal deforestation. However, it highlights significant risks, including the expansion of credit access for irregular occupations in public forests and a lack of robust monitoring and sanctions to ensure environmental compliance.

The document outlines the impact of Covid-19 on the African insurance sector and the subsequent regulatory responses in sub-Saharan Africa. It highlights a trade-off between providing regulatory relief to insurers and monitoring market vulnerabilities. While the pandemic hindered operations like premium collection and claims processing, it also created opportunities for digitalization and the adoption of regtech and suptech. The current research seeks to evaluate these responses to guide future stability and crisis management.

The Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP) urges the Indiana State Senate to pass H.B. 1666, arguing that stronger oversight of private equity acquisitions in healthcare is necessary to protect patient safety and financial stability. PESP highlights systemic risks, including high bankruptcy rates among private equity-owned healthcare firms and specific failures in Indiana's intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) services sector. The testimony details quality-of-care deficiencies at Sevita and a fatal case of neglect at Help at Home, both of which are private equity-owned providers operating in Indiana.

The report outlines the necessity of a Europe-wide CO2 transport network, estimating a need for 15,000 to 19,000 km of infrastructure by 2050 to move 250 million tonnes of CO2 annually. It argues that because CO2 networks often function as 'natural monopolies', EU-level regulation is required to prevent monopoly pricing and ensure non-discriminatory third-party access. The document recommends inter-temporal cost allocation mechanisms—similar to those used for hydrogen—to avoid 'first mover disadvantage' where early users bear disproportionate costs for oversized infrastructure. It also addresses 'cross-chain' financial risks and the need for harmonised CO2 purity standards to ensure network interoperability and safety.

The report argues that legal gold mining in the Amazon, particularly when conducted by cooperatives, has evolved from an artisanal activity into an industrial-scale enterprise, yet remains subject to an anachronistic and lenient regulatory regime. It highlights a significant increase in legal mining areas between 2016 and 2023, with 82% of Brazil's approved gold mining areas located in the Legal Amazon. The authors identify critical gaps, such as the lack of mandatory prior mineral research for 'garimpo' and the use of simplified, municipalized environmental licensing in Pará, which contradicts the activity's classification as high-impact. The document recommends extending prior research requirements to cooperatives, rejecting legislative proposals that further ease mining restrictions without adding safeguards, and restoring rigorous trifasic licensing and EIA/Rima requirements in Pará.

The document argues that current online safety regulations, such as the EU's Digital Services Act and the UK's Online Safety Act, often prioritise larger platforms based on user numbers, leaving a gap where illegal harms are concentrated on smaller, high-risk services. It highlights the adaptive nature of terrorist networks that migrate between platforms to evade detection and notes that regulators often lack the real-time primary data needed for effective enforcement. The brief recommends a shift toward ecosystem-level interventions, improved data-sharing with non-governmental organisations, and the creation of risk-based prioritisation frameworks that do not rely solely on user thresholds.

The AfCFTA Protocol on Digital Trade, adopted in February 2024, aims to create a comprehensive regulatory framework to facilitate digital commerce across Africa. It covers 52 articles across 11 sections, addressing market access, data governance, and digital inclusion. While it mirrors advanced global models like the CPTPP, it includes specific provisions for digital inclusion and capacity building to support Least Developed Countries. However, its success depends on overcoming significant infrastructure gaps, regulatory fragmentation, and the completion of eight pending annexes.

The document examines the current state of circular economy trade measures notified to the WTO, noting a heavy bias toward end-of-life waste management over upstream resource efficiency. It proposes that the WTO facilitate a 'dynamic alignment system' using mutual recognition agreements, ISO 59000 standards, and cross-border extended producer responsibility schemes to support a global transition to a circular economy, particularly for developing nations.

The report finds a significant gap between the climate commitments of French life insurers and their actual investment practices. While most have pledged to stop funding new coal projects in their 'fonds euro', many continue to invest in oil and gas expansion. A critical 'blind spot' exists in 'unités de compte' (UC), where 63% of analyzed funds contain fossil fuel developers, including in products labeled as 'responsible' or 'ESG'. The report calls for regulators to mandate an 'eco-score' and extend ISR labeling to 'fonds euro' to protect savers from greenwashing.

The report finds a substantial gap between the world's largest public and private companies regarding net zero commitments. While 70% of the largest public companies have set net zero targets, only 40% of the largest private companies have done so. Furthermore, private companies show a critical lack of integrity in their pledges; only 20% of those with net zero targets have published plans to achieve them, compared to 80% of public companies. The analysis highlights that high-emitting private sectors, particularly fossil fuels, are largely avoiding targets. The report argues that emerging regulations, such as the EU's CSRD and CSDDD, as well as California's SB 253 and SB 261, are essential to compel private companies to disclose emissions and adopt mandatory transition plans to mitigate transition risks.

Ember's submission to the NSW Parliament inquiry into Net Zero highlights that the coal mining sector is the biggest potential risk to the state's emission goals. The document argues that existing federal mechanisms, such as the Safeguard Mechanism and the Coal Mine Waste Gas method, are insufficient to drive material onsite reductions. Using Tahmoor Colliery as a case study, Ember demonstrates that Ventilation Air Methane (VAM) mitigation via Regenerative Thermal Oxidiser (RTO) technology is technically and commercially feasible but underutilised due to a lack of state-led regulatory pressure and the availability of carbon offsets. The submission calls for a pause on new coal mine expansions and a dedicated report from the Net Zero Commission by June 2025 to assess sectoral risks and develop a coal-specific emissions target.