Search Climate Insights Directory

The report examines the necessity of a 'just transition' in Bangladesh, focusing on the energy, agriculture, and ready-made garment (RMG) sectors. It highlights that while Bangladesh has various climate policies, they often lack a focus on the social impacts on marginalized populations. The document identifies specific vulnerabilities in the RMG sector (water pollution and labor rights), the energy sector (dependence on fossil fuels and air pollution), and agriculture (climate-induced crop loss and land insecurity). It recommends integrating social justice, inclusive education, and targeted financial support into climate strategies to prevent further marginalization of women, youth, and poor workers during the green transition.

The document outlines a framework for transitioning Ghana's transport sector—which accounts for approximately 22.6% of the country's greenhouse gas emissions—to a low-carbon model while ensuring social equity. It emphasizes the need for participatory planning, awareness-raising, and the development of a socially inclusive vision to protect vulnerable workers, particularly those in the informal sector. The toolkit proposes a transition timeline from 2022 to 2070, aiming for all road and rail mobility to be electricity and hydrogen-fuelled by 2070. It also identifies significant financing gaps, noting that an estimated USD 22.6 billion is needed for 31 climate actions, and recommends inter-ministerial coordination and public-private partnerships to secure funding for both technical infrastructure and social support measures.

The document outlines a framework for a Just Transition (TJ) in Colombia, emphasizing the need to manage the shift toward a low-carbon economy without exacerbating existing social inequalities. It identifies the mining and fossil fuel sectors as the most vulnerable due to their significant contribution to exports and employment. The guide recommends strengthening governance through a dedicated TJ Committee, improving social dialogue, reforming the labor market to address high informality, and diversifying regional economies. It also highlights the necessity of mobilizing financial resources to close the funding gap for Colombia's Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC).

The report argues that while Bangladesh must transition to a low-carbon economy to combat extreme climate vulnerability, this process must be 'just' to avoid marginalizing vulnerable workers and communities. It examines three key sectors: the ready-made garments (RMG) sector, which contributes 12% of GDP but faces severe environmental and labor issues; the energy sector, which is heavily dependent on gas (60%) and oil (30%) but aims for 30% renewable energy; and the agricultural sector, where 48.4% of the population is employed and faces significant losses from cyclones and sea-level rise. The document emphasizes that a just transition requires cross-ministerial coordination, reskilling programs, inclusive education, and expanded climate finance to support those displaced by green reforms.

The document explores the 'anti-green backlash' and the practical dilemmas of the energy transition, focusing on social inequality, territorial disputes over renewables and mining, and the geopolitical implications of critical raw material sourcing. It argues that a just transition requires rebuilding the welfare state, increasing democratic participation, and addressing historical ecological debts to avoid 'eco-apartheid' and political polarisation.

The document examines how a lack of international diplomatic activity since the 2017 Crans Montana talks has allowed 'faits accomplis' to emerge in north Cyprus, specifically through a massive construction boom and demographic shifts. It argues that these changes make the island's division increasingly irreversible and recommends a pragmatic, incremental strategy to jumpstart negotiations.

The document examines the challenges and opportunities for establishing green jobs in Latin America and the Caribbean, particularly in rural areas affected by COVID-19. It highlights a significant gap between 'environmental jobs' and 'green jobs' due to high informality and the lack of decent work standards. Through case studies in Colombia (bioeconomy and nature tourism in Guaviare) and Chile (agroecology in La Serena), the brief argues for a territorial approach that combines public policy with community-led initiatives to foster resilience and a just transition. It concludes with recommendations for governments to institutionalize green job definitions, improve statistical tracking, and provide targeted financial and technical support to vulnerable populations, including women and youth.

The document examines the potential for creating approximately 15 million green jobs in Latin America and the Caribbean by 2030, particularly in the energy, forestry, transport, and ecosystem restoration sectors. It highlights the challenge of high labor informality, which hinders the establishment of 'decent' green employment. Through case studies in Colombia (Amazonian bioeconomy and tourism) and Chile (agroecology in Coquimbo), the brief argues for the need to institutionalize green job definitions, improve statistical data, and provide targeted financial and technical support to rural organizations and women entrepreneurs to ensure a just transition.

The document examines how a universal basic income guarantee (UBIG) can address structural gender inequalities and social instability in South Africa. It argues that by decoupling income from waged labour, a UBIG empowers women who are disproportionately affected by unemployment and unpaid care work. The text cites international evidence to suggest that unconditional cash transfers reduce intimate partner violence, increase school attendance for girls, and lower crime rates. It emphasizes that universality is essential to avoid social stigma and ensure women's agency.

The Plan Director de la Cuenca Alta del Rio La Paz provides a comprehensive diagnostic and strategic roadmap for managing water resources in a 1,725 km² area. It identifies critical vulnerabilities, including severe water pollution in urban rivers, glacier retreat, and inadequate sanitation in rural areas. The plan proposes 11 strategic lines (LE) focusing on climate resilience, water governance, technological innovation in irrigation, and the construction of wastewater treatment plants (PTAR), with a total estimated investment of 1,555,183,480 BOB.

The document analyzes the collapse of Sri Lanka in 2022, attributing the crisis to the corruption of the Rajapaksa family, a massive international debt burden, and failed neoliberal policies. It details how the ban on chemical fertilizers caused food insecurity, how dependence on fossil fuels led to energy poverty, and how 'debt-for-nature' swaps are viewed as false solutions. The text highlights a severe humanitarian crisis where millions require immediate assistance and calls for a systemic change, debt cancellation, and a just energy transition.

The document identifies fuel subsidies as the most significant form of government support for India's marine fisheries, accounting for an estimated 32% of total support in FY 2019. These subsidies, provided exclusively by state governments, primarily benefit larger-scale operations and risk increasing fishing efforts beyond sustainable levels. The brief highlights regional variations among focus states—Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu—and suggests that India's experience with broader fossil fuel subsidy reforms, such as phased price hikes and providing clean alternatives, can inform the transition toward more sustainable support for small-scale fishers.

The document analyzes fuel subsidies for Indonesia's marine fisheries, noting they are the most consistent form of central government support. It highlights risks of overfishing and inefficient distribution, suggesting that lessons from broader fossil fuel subsidy reforms could improve targeting and sustainability.

Algeria has significantly reduced income poverty and improved its Human Development Index deficit between 1990 and 2015. While universal social services and subsidies have lessened inequality, poor targeting has created new disparities, including a 28% consumption gap between the rich and poor. Poverty is heavily concentrated in the south, with rates twice as high in the Sahara and three times the national average in the Steppe region. Current estimates indicate approximately 2% of the population lives on less than US$3.20 per day, while the 2019 Multidimensional Poverty Index estimated 2.1% of Algerians as multidimensionally poor, with education being the primary driver of deprivation.

The document introduces a study on the development prospects of the Horn of Africa (Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, and South Sudan) up to 2040. It highlights the region's challenges, including high poverty, poor state capacity, and a heavy reliance on rain-fed agriculture in an area where 70% of the land is arid or semi-arid. The report aims to establish a 'Current Path' forecast and develop scenarios for a sustainable and peaceful development trajectory.

The document examines the impact of AI in Africa, highlighting risks such as predatory data use in South Africa, surveillance in Uganda, and the exploitation of 'click work' in Kenyan refugee camps. It reviews national AI strategies in Egypt, Mauritius, and Rwanda, and the SMARTAfrica Blueprint, while cautioning against the uncritical transfer of EU regulatory models like the GDPR. The author recommends that African governments focus on building sustainable local AI ecosystems, enhancing digital skills for women, and establishing regional cooperation to regulate multinational tech monopolies.

The report assesses the 50-year legacy of the 1972 Stockholm Conference, concluding that while scientific knowledge and goals have increased, an 'action gap' persists, with only about one-tenth of global environmental targets achieved. It argues that the world faces entwined planetary and human crises, where the richest 10% of the population emitted more than half of total carbon emissions from 1990-2015, while the poorest suffer the most. To unlock a better future, the authors propose three systemic shifts: redefining the human-nature relationship from extraction to care, rethinking prosperity beyond GDP to ensure it lasts for all, and redirecting financial flows toward sustainable innovation. The report emphasizes the need to move from 'technology transfer' to 'technology co-development' and to implement 'Rights of Nature' and biophilic urban design. It also calls for improving conditions for change by tackling policy incoherence, renewing multilateralism to manage chronic risks, and establishing a culture of accountable promises for both state and non-state actors.

The paper examines the dissonance between quality of life and environmental sustainability, highlighting how developed economies' high-consumption lifestyles drive global ecological overshoot. It critiques the current capitalistic model that equates purchasing power with freedom and argues that developing nations are unfairly burdened by historical emissions and resource depletion. To address this, the authors propose replacing GDP with a 'Green GDP' that integrates ESG norms and establishing a 'Conference of Parties on Utilization of Resources' (CoP-UR) to manage a global resource budget and hold polluting nations accountable.

The document examines the marginalisation of women within Africa's emerging restoration economy, noting that despite international and regional policy frameworks, women still lack the social, economic, and political power necessary for equitable participation. It argues that gender equity must move beyond simple benefit-sharing to include active roles in decision-making and full integration across the restoration value chain. The report identifies critical barriers, such as discriminatory customary laws regarding land and asset ownership that limit access to finance, and suggests systemic reforms, financial system updates, and knowledge empowerment to ensure women are active drivers of ecological restoration.

The report highlights a critical deficit in basic infrastructure—including sanitation, health, education, and connectivity—across the state of Pará. It finds that residents in the influence areas of planned large-scale logistics projects suffer from even worse access to these services than the state average. The authors argue that the historical focus on commodity-export logistics has neglected local needs and suggest using compensations from large projects to fund essential local infrastructure.