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The briefing outlines five key heat metrics—land surface temperature, air temperature, heat index, wet bulb globe temperature, and thermal comfort indices—detailing their specific uses and limitations. It argues that while traditional metrics are useful for regional analysis and safety limits, thermal comfort modeling is essential for understanding human-scale heat exposure and designing local interventions like shade and wind corridors. The document provides a framework for matching these metrics to goals such as protecting pedestrians, reducing energy use, or lowering citywide temperatures.

The briefing examines how battery energy storage systems (BESS) can replace fossil fuel generation to ensure grid reliability. It details three primary functions of batteries: balancing variable renewable energy supply and demand, providing stability services like frequency and voltage regulation, and enabling 'black start' capabilities to restore power after blackouts. The author contends that batteries often offer lower costs and faster response times than thermal plants. To maximize these benefits, the document recommends that utilities conduct analytical studies to identify specific reliability needs and utilize all-source procurement processes to ensure the most cost-competitive resources are selected.

The document asserts that a comprehensive approach to ending plastic pollution must address the entire life cycle, starting from raw material extraction through the production of plastic polymers. It details the chemical processes involved—from feedstocks to monomers and polymerization—and highlights the significant environmental and health risks associated with this production, including greenhouse gas emissions and toxic releases. The brief provides legal and scientific precedents to support the inclusion of production controls in the treaty and recommends specific mechanisms, such as national reduction targets and a moratorium on new production capacity, to effectively reduce the global volume of plastics.

The Stockholm Environment Institute's 'Clean and Green' (L&V) framework moves beyond eliminating open defecation to integrate health risk management with the safe reuse of productive waste. The framework consists of a 'Clean path' to reduce pathogen exposure and a 'Green path' to recover nutrients (N, P, K) and organic matter from human and animal waste. Following pilot tests in Burkina Faso, the document argues for the framework's application in Bolivia, where rural poverty is high and agricultural productivity could be enhanced by recycling nutrients from human excreta, which is estimated to provide the equivalent of 40 kg of chemical fertilizer per household annually.

The briefing examines carbon mineralization as a carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategy, highlighting its potential to remove up to 10 gigatons of CO2 annually by 2050. It argues that while some federal funding exists, mineralization lacks the dedicated support given to direct air capture. The author calls for expanded R&D funding, demonstration projects, and updated tax credits (specifically 45Q) to scale the technology. Additionally, the document emphasizes the need for robust measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) standards and regulations to manage hazardous materials in feedstocks to ensure responsible deployment.

ClientEarth critiques the European Commission's proposed Soil Monitoring Law for lacking legally-binding targets and implementation timetables. The briefing recommends establishing a long-term target of 100% healthy soils by 2050 with intermediate milestones, requiring Member States to implement detailed soil district management plans, and ensuring meaningful public participation and access to justice to prevent the law from being ineffective.

The document describes the ocean as the planet's largest carbon sink, sequestering approximately 26% of human-released CO2 annually. It details the biological and physical carbon pumps, the role of large marine mammals and coastal ecosystems in 'blue carbon' storage, and evaluates emerging geoengineering approaches for carbon dioxide removal (CDR). The brief emphasizes that while ocean-based solutions build resilience and biodiversity, they must be paired with rapid emissions cuts to effectively slow global warming.

The document argues that current efforts, including the Global Methane Pledge, are insufficient to meet the 40–45% reduction in methane emissions required by 2030. It proposes a global agreement based on three pillars: an updated monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) framework; national methane action plans for the energy, agriculture, and waste sectors; and technical and financial assistance for developing countries.

RMI proposes a shift from corporate-level carbon aggregation to product-level accounting that differentiates the emissions intensity of virgin and recycled materials. This method aims to address the lack of transparency in the supply chains of steel, aluminum, and petrochemicals, which together accounted for 14 percent of global GHG emissions in 2019. While circularity offers immediate emissions cuts and environmental benefits—such as reducing iron ore extraction by 37 percent—recycled inputs are projected to meet only 70 percent of steel demand by 2050, necessitating the simultaneous scaling of zero-carbon technologies for virgin materials. The proposed accounting guidance is intended to help corporations verify supplier progress, allow producers to gain competitive advantages, and assist policymakers in enforcing instruments like the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).

The briefing argues that a comprehensive global methane agreement is necessary to achieve a 40-45% reduction in emissions by 2030 to maintain the 1.5°C warming target. It proposes three pillars of action: an updated monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) framework utilizing satellite technology; national methane action plans targeting the energy, agriculture, and waste sectors; and a system of technical and financial assistance for developing countries. The authors highlight that many mitigation measures, particularly in the energy sector, are low-cost or can be implemented at no net cost.

The Coalition on Materials Emissions Transparency (COMET) argues that current corporate GHG reporting, primarily based on the GHG Protocol, is insufficient for driving decarbonization because it relies on averages and corporate boundaries rather than actionable product-level data. To address this, COMET proposes shifting toward the use of primary data from direct suppliers, implementing fixed boundaries for comparability, and defining product boundaries that incentivize market-driven decarbonization. These principles aim to make Scope 3 emissions visible and traceable, facilitating a transition to zero-carbon production.

The document examines integrated agriculture-aquaculture (IAA) systems, which recycle nutrients between crops, livestock, and fish to increase productivity and reduce external inputs. It argues that IAA is a promising climate-smart land use approach for Southeast Asia, offering benefits such as livelihood diversification, improved water efficiency, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The brief emphasizes the need for inclusive policies, gender equity, and regional cooperation through ASEAN frameworks to scale up these systems for smallholder farmers.

The document critiques 'net zero' targets as a façade for continued pollution, highlighting the risks of relying on unproven carbon removal technologies and the injustice of shifting sequestration burdens to the global South. It calls for 'Real Zero' emissions, emphasizing the need for developed nations to take greater responsibility and implement systemic changes in energy, agriculture, and transport.

The report critiques 'net zero' targets as a form of 'greenwashing' that allows polluters to continue emitting greenhouse gases by relying on unproven technologies and carbon offsets. It argues that these targets often shift the burden of carbon sequestration to the Global South, constituting 'carbon colonialism'. The authors advocate for 'real zero' emissions, which require drastic reductions in fossil fuel use, the adoption of agroecology, and a transition to 100% renewable energy, particularly by developed nations in the North.

The document is a transcript of a virtual briefing featuring experts from NOAA, the North Carolina Coastal Federation, Wetlands Watch, and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The discussion focuses on the implementation of natural infrastructure, such as living shorelines and coral reef restoration, to combat sea level rise and storm surge in the Southeast. Key topics include the use of NOAA's Digital Coast tools, the effectiveness of oyster-based shorelines in North Carolina, the impact of nuisance flooding and sea level rise in Virginia, and the threat of stony coral tissue loss disease in Florida. The panelists also discuss regulatory barriers, the need for improved cost-benefit analysis for nature-based solutions, and the importance of coordinated funding and permitting processes to enhance regional resilience.

The document outlines the structural and methodological questions countries must address to implement the global stocktake, the five-year cycle designed to assess collective progress toward the Paris Agreement's goals. It emphasizes the need for common methodologies to aggregate diverse mitigation commitments, a framework for tracking context-specific adaptation progress, and clear modalities for accounting for public and private finance flows. The author argues that the stocktake must be both backward-looking (assessing progress) and forward-looking (identifying opportunities for enhanced action) to serve as the 'engine' of the Paris Agreement.

The MENA region faces severe climate vulnerability characterized by warming and water scarcity, yet adaptation and mitigation efforts are often siloed. The document proposes a 'nexus' approach that integrates water and energy planning to identify synergies, such as solar desalination or energy recovery from wastewater, and recommends the use of integrated tools like WEAP and LEAP to move beyond reactive, short-term coping measures.

The document explains how nuclear power plants use water to absorb waste heat and cool equipment, detailing once-through and closed-cycle cooling systems. It highlights the significant volumes of water required, the environmental impact on aquatic life, and the critical role of the Ultimate Heat Sink (UHS) during accidents. The author argues that the primary safety hazard is not radioactive leakage, but rather the failure of water to reach the plant or leaking into the plant.

This briefing document outlines technical and regulatory issues arising from a May 15, 2013, workshop between the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) and industry stakeholders regarding the Section 21 emission standards. It focuses on refining activity descriptions, adjusting emission limits for specific industrial processes, and addressing the legal and practical implications of including 'use of' and 'storage' in the listed activities.

Carbon Market Watch argues that current Article 6.2 rules are too minimal, creating a "Wild West framework" for international carbon markets. The briefing recommends mandatory authorisation statements for cooperative approaches, stricter definitions of 'first transfer' to prevent delayed reporting, and the prohibition of authorisation revocations to avoid double counting. For Article 6.4, it urges the CMA to provide guidance to the Supervisory Body on minimum durability standards for removals, science-based risk assessments for reversals, and more robust additionality requirements, including mandatory common practice analysis.