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The document examines the use of ring-fencing—the limitation of consolidating income and deductions across different mining projects or activities—as a tool for governments to ensure timely tax collection and protect the tax base. It analyzes the trade-offs between accelerating state revenue and potentially disincentivizing investment, particularly in marginal deposits. The guide provides detailed design options, such as ring-fencing by mining license area, activity type (upstream vs. downstream), or specific project, and offers recommendations on allocating indirect costs and managing transfer pricing risks. It also discusses exceptions for unsuccessful exploration costs to balance revenue goals with the need to attract exploration investment.

The document examines 'ring-fencing'—the practice of limiting the consolidation of revenues and deductions for different activities or projects undertaken by the same taxpayer—as a tool for governments to protect the mining tax base. It analyzes the trade-offs between accelerating public revenue and potentially discouraging investment, particularly in marginal deposits. The guide details various design options, such as ring-fencing by mining license area, activity (upstream vs. downstream), or separating mining from non-mining activities. It also provides practical recommendations on allocating indirect and general expenses, managing national transfer pricing risks, and handling permanent losses from unsuccessful exploration to balance revenue needs with investment incentives.

The document serves as a technical resource for designing and issuing gender bonds in Africa, aligning with International Capital Market Association (ICMA) standards. It details the issuance process for both use-of-proceeds (UoP) and performance-based bonds, emphasizing the need for gender-disaggregated data, internal working groups, and external reviews. The guide highlights the growth of the gender bond market in Africa, citing recent issuances in Morocco, Rwanda, South Africa, and Tanzania, and provides case studies and frameworks to help issuers direct capital toward women-owned MSMEs, housing, and leadership diversity.

The paper identifies that nitrous oxide from agricultural soils constitutes about half of U.S. agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, with a combined soil and fertilizer production footprint of 346 million tonnes of CO2e in 2022. It proposes a technical toolkit for reducing losses—including soil testing, precision application, and cover crops—and suggests reducing nitrogen-intensive end uses like corn for ethanol. To scale these efforts, the author recommends a philanthropy-backed coalition (CLEAR) and a federal National Nitrogen Initiative that updates NRCS Practice 590 to tie payments to verified outcomes based on nitrogen use efficiency and nitrogen balance.