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The report finds that Alberta can almost completely decarbonize its electricity generation within the next decade using wind, solar, and gas with carbon capture. While federal Clean Electricity Regulations are a point of political contention, modelling suggests they have little impact on the long-term supply mix compared to the massive projected growth in electricity demand driven by industrial electrification. The transition's success depends on scaling up transmission infrastructure and maintaining policy stability to attract private investment.

The report examines the role of the buildings sector in global GHG emissions, which account for 37% of energy-related emissions. It identifies key technical solutions for decarbonization, including reducing embodied carbon in materials and improving operational efficiency in heating and cooling. The document evaluates various financial instruments—ranging from traditional mortgages to specialized on-bill financing—and policy tools like building codes and green labels. It emphasizes that the transition requires a network of instruments tailored to different building archetypes and regional contexts, providing specific deep dives into the unique challenges and opportunities in Nigeria and Indonesia.

The report argues that greening Aid for Trade (A4T) is essential for supporting developing countries in their transition to a sustainable global economy. It identifies a gap between the reported environmental objectives of A4T and actual project implementation, noting that while many donors use Rio markers, few projects have a clear environmental purpose. The document proposes six complementary pathways to green A4T: mainstreaming environmental considerations, securing additional financing, improving monitoring systems, integrating trade into climate funding, strengthening South-South cooperation, and fostering coherence with wider financial mechanisms like debt relief and climate finance. It emphasizes that developing countries must lead the prioritization of these resources to ensure a just transition that avoids new trade barriers and addresses the 'double exposure' of economic and environmental risks.

The report examines the role of Aid for Trade (A4T) in supporting the transition to a green global economy. It argues that while A4T has historically focused on infrastructure and productive capacity, it must now mainstream environmental considerations to help developing countries, particularly least developed countries (LDCs), adapt to climate change and seize green trade opportunities. The author proposes six complementary pathways to 'green' A4T, emphasizing developing country ownership and the need for additional financing, improved monitoring, and coherence with wider climate finance and debt relief mechanisms.

The document examines how international trade drives biodiversity loss through agricultural commodity expansion and resource extraction, while analyzing the potential for trade policies, multilateral rules, and supply chain initiatives to support nature conservation.

The document identifies several trade policy levers to address climate change, including the liberalization of trade in low-emission goods, the reinstatement of subsidies for greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction, the removal of domestic barriers to clean energy investment, the relaxation of intellectual property rights for green technologies, and the reduction of fossil fuel subsidies. It emphasizes that trade policy must be part of a broader suite of complementary fiscal and regulatory measures and suggests that while the WTO is the primary venue for multilateral action, plurilateral or regional agreements may serve as alternatives.

The document assesses the relationship between international investment agreements (IIAs) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It finds that while IIAs may attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and potentially foster economic growth, these benefits are uncertain and depend on domestic institutional capacity. Conversely, the paper identifies several systemic risks where IIA provisions—specifically those regarding expropriation, national treatment, and prohibitions on capital controls and performance requirements—may conflict with public health, environmental sustainability, and poverty alleviation efforts.

The document analyzes the 'second wave' of regionalism in trade, characterized by a shift toward bilateral agreements and 'deeper integration' involving investment and intellectual property rights. It surveys various agreements (including NAFTA, ASEAN, and EU partnerships) to evaluate how they handle environmental exceptions, capacity building, and investor-state dispute settlement. The paper argues that while regionalism can pioneer new policy approaches, it risks creating a 'spaghetti bowl' of conflicting rules and may undermine the multilateral system by eroding the most-favoured-nation principle and restricting the policy space of developing nations.

The report examines how substandard housing in Indigenous communities in Canada contributes to poor health outcomes and energy poverty. It proposes 'Healthy Energy Homes' as a holistic solution to reduce healthcare costs, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and improve affordability. The authors argue that overcoming current governance and funding barriers requires a national, Indigenous-led approach to housing.

The document argues that while Canada has made progress in decarbonizing power supply, achieving net-zero requires Energy Systems Integration (ESI)—the coordination of energy systems across multiple pathways and scales. It examines five key ESI technologies (electric vehicles, heat pumps, demand response, distributed generation, and hydrogen) and finds that Canadian policy is currently too siloed, relying on voluntary 'soft' incentives rather than systemic market reforms or mandatory legislation. The author highlights significant gaps in information, governance, and implementation, suggesting that a holistic, pan-system approach to modelling and planning is essential to avoid sub-optimal infrastructure lock-in.

The document analyzes how climate change and the transition to a carbon-neutral economy threaten the resilience of Canada's electrical grids. It details risks to power generation, transmission, and distribution, while highlighting the danger of 'cascading effects' where power failures disrupt other essential services. The paper proposes mitigation strategies including infrastructure hardening, increasing grid flexibility through energy storage and decentralized resources, and improving energy efficiency. It also identifies systemic obstacles, such as regulatory frameworks that prioritize short-term reliability over long-term resilience and outdated building codes based on historical rather than future climate data.

The document examines the concept of 'just resilience,' which seeks to ensure that climate adaptation does not create new winners and losers or reinforce existing marginalisation. It identifies three core dimensions of justice—distributive, procedural, and recognition—and argues that adaptation must address structural drivers of vulnerability such as wealth, gender, and ethnicity. The paper highlights maladaptation risks, where technical solutions can inadvertently increase long-term risks or displace vulnerable groups. It reviews policy examples from Australia, South Africa, the EU, and Canada, and discusses emerging trends like the rights of nature and locally led adaptation. Finally, it addresses barriers to implementation, including resource constraints and the need for equitable international climate finance mechanisms.

The document analyzes the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in 13 Latin American countries, focusing on mainstreaming SDGs into national policies, operationalization, and social ownership. While most countries found aligning national priorities with SDGs relatively simple, they face significant hurdles in cross-sectoral coordination, long-term budgetary guarantees, and the inclusion of subnational governments and civil society. The report highlights diverse national strategies, ranging from Colombia's integration of SDGs into its national development plan to Mexico's alignment of over 400 budget indicators with SDG targets.