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Colombia's 2025 NDC shifts to an absolute emissions limit for 2035, targeting between 155 and 161 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent. The plan emphasizes 'Peace with Nature' to reduce deforestation, a just transition away from fossil fuels including a roadmap by 2029, and urban decarbonization through electric mobility and black carbon reduction. However, the transition faces challenges from economic dependence on oil and coal exports and upcoming 2026 elections.

The document translates the ICJ's 2025 Advisory Opinion on climate change into practical legal tools for climate litigation. It details State obligations under international treaties (UNFCCC, Paris Agreement) and customary law, emphasizing a 'rigorous' due diligence standard to limit global warming to 1.5°C. The guide covers specific litigation areas including government framework cases, adaptation, reparations, the right to a healthy environment, corporate conduct, climate finance, speculative interventions (like geoengineering), and regulatory backsliding, providing key quotes and illustrative case examples for each.

The document translates the ICJ's 2025 advisory opinion into practical tools for climate litigation, focusing on government framework cases, adaptation, remedies, the right to a healthy environment, corporate conduct, climate finance, speculative interventions, and regulatory rollbacks. It emphasizes that States have binding obligations to limit warming to 1.5°C, act with 'stringent' due diligence based on the best available science (IPCC), and protect human rights. The notes detail how these findings can be used to challenge inadequate NDCs, hold corporations accountable for emissions, and oppose the dismantling of environmental protections.

The document analyzes the ICJ's advisory opinion to argue that States must prioritize reducing greenhouse gas emissions at the source over speculative technologies like geoengineering and carbon offsets. It outlines how the ICJ's standards of 'stringent due diligence' and the 'precautionary principle' can be used in litigation to hold States and corporations accountable for ineffective climate strategies that delay the phase-out of fossil fuels.

The document translates the ICJ's advisory opinion into practical tools for climate litigation, focusing on the 'stringent due diligence' States must exercise to regulate private actors, particularly in the fossil fuel industry. It highlights that States may be in breach of international obligations if they fail to prevent significant climate harm through the production, licensing, or subsidizing of fossil fuels. The brief also connects these findings to specific case categories, including licensing, duty to regulate, corporate frameworks, accountability for loss and damage, and greenwashing, emphasizing the 1.5°C temperature goal as a legal standard.

The document analyzes how the 2025 ICJ Advisory Opinion (AO) establishes a 'stringent due diligence' standard for States to prevent significant harm to the climate system. It argues that regulatory rollbacks, such as easing emission standards or removing Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) requirements, may constitute internationally wrongful acts. The note provides specific legal excerpts from the AO and applies them to various categories of litigation, including challenges to diluted mitigation standards, weakened land-use protections, and procedural rollbacks. A detailed annex examines recent regulatory shifts in India—including thermal power emission norms, forest governance changes under the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act 2023, and EIA exemptions—as examples of conduct that may breach the ICJ's established standards.

The document analyzes the legal implications of the ICJ's 2025 advisory opinion for 'government framework cases,' which target emissions reduction targets and regulatory frameworks. It details how the ICJ clarified that 1.5°C is the primary temperature goal of the Paris Agreement and established a 'stringent' due diligence standard for States in preparing and implementing Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The guide highlights that NDCs must reflect a State's 'highest possible ambition' and be capable of making an adequate contribution to the 1.5°C goal. It also emphasizes the application of customary international law regarding the duty to prevent significant transboundary harm and the duty to cooperate, regardless of treaty membership. Furthermore, the document connects climate action to human rights obligations and intergenerational equity, providing a legal basis for courts to order remedies such as the adoption of consistent NDCs or full reparation.

The ICJ AO Litigation Notes Digest synthesizes the International Court of Justice's 2025 advisory opinion, establishing that States have stringent due diligence obligations to prevent significant harm to the climate system. It clarifies that the 1.5°C goal is the primary temperature target under the Paris Agreement and that the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment is a precondition for other human rights. The digest details the legal consequences of breaches, including obligations of cessation and reparation, and emphasizes that climate obligations are erga omnes, meaning all States have a legal interest in their protection.

The report identifies China as the world's largest methane emitter and explores how sustainable finance can bridge the investment gap for abatement. It highlights the 2025 NDC update as a critical window for action and recommends the integration of quantitative methane targets, expanded green taxonomies, and the inclusion of methane in the national emissions trading system to mobilise the estimated USD 7.7 billion in annual investment needed.

The report identifies China as the world's largest methane emitter and highlights a significant funding gap, estimating a domestic need of approximately 7.7 billion USD annually. While China has updated its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) to include all greenhouse gases, the report argues that a lack of quantitative targets, detailed technical standards, and integrated MRV systems hinders large-scale private investment. It suggests expanding the Green Finance Support Project Catalogue, integrating methane into the national carbon trading system, and developing diverse financial instruments—such as KPI-linked bonds and equity funds—to accelerate the deployment of abatement technologies in coal mines, oil and gas systems, and livestock and rice farming.

The document translates the ICJ's 2025 advisory opinion into practical tools for climate litigation, focusing on government framework cases, adaptation, remedies, the right to a healthy environment, corporate conduct, climate finance, speculative interventions, and regulatory rollbacks.

China experienced a record surge in coal power commissioning and project proposals in 2025, despite a decline in actual coal power generation and the rapid growth of clean energy and storage. The report highlights a growing gap between investment decisions and system realities, noting that new capacity is dominated by large, inflexible units designed for baseload operation. This trend risks creating stranded assets and structural barriers to decarbonisation. The authors argue that the 15th Five-Year Plan must end net coal capacity growth and shift coal's role from a primary energy source to a flexible, residual support system to meet 2030 climate targets.

The document assesses early adaptation signals in Rwanda's water resources and mining sectors, finding technical progress in catchment restoration and climate-compatible mining, but highlighting systemic gaps in leadership inclusion, procurement, and the integration of artisanal miners.

The report assesses the integration of GESI into Rwanda's mining adaptation strategies, identifying a gap between high-level policy commitments and the lack of disaggregated data in implementation. While Rwanda has set targets for climate-compatible practices and site rehabilitation, current monitoring fails to track the participation of women, youth, and persons with disabilities. The report recommends mandatory disaggregated reporting, participatory community mapping via GIS, and the creation of an Inclusive Adaptation Scorecard.

The report evaluates Rwanda's water sector adaptation targets under NDC 3.0, finding that while technical goals for water storage, flood protection, and catchment restoration are robust, they lack GESI-disaggregated data and inclusive metrics. It recommends reforming the 2018 Water Resources Law to mandate social inclusion plans, establishing a Joint GESI Coordination Unit, and implementing ring-fenced budgets for women's and youth cooperatives to ensure equitable adaptation outcomes.

The document details Rwanda's shift from framework-level climate commitments in NDC 2.0 to an outcome-driven strategy in NDC 3.0, specifically for the water and mining sectors. It introduces SMART indicators, disaggregated water storage targets, and specific adoption rates for climate-compatible mining, supported by detailed funding estimates and institutional mandates to enhance accountability and investor confidence.

ASEAN requires an estimated US$281 billion annually by 2035 for its energy transition, necessitating a strategic blend of bilateral financing from China, Japan, and the US. While China provides scale and speed through asset-led infrastructure, Japan focuses on system-level upgrades and concessionality, and the US employs blended finance to mobilise private capital. The report argues that ASEAN countries are transitioning from being mere deployment markets to becoming manufacturing hubs for EVs, solar PV, and critical minerals. It recommends that the 2026 ASEAN Summit be used to align these national industrial strategies into coordinated regional value chains to avoid duplication and attract diverse global capital.

The document analyzes the strategies used by agribusiness to delay climate action, focusing on the 24th World Meat Congress and COP30. It identifies key industry narratives—such as the claim that meat is sustainable, essential for health, and that the industry is simply meeting inevitable demand—as tools to distract from the need for dietary shifts and methane reductions. The report highlights the role of industry-funded media, like the film 'World Without Cows', and the influence of agribusiness on the FAO and US dietary guidelines to maintain 'meat primacy' and avoid systemic reform.

The report identifies systemic constraints for women-led enterprises (WLEs) in Nepal, particularly in agriculture and forestry, where 70% of women are employed. A survey of 200 WLEs reveals that 65% have been affected by climate shocks, yet 88% rely on personal savings due to collateral gaps and misaligned financial products. While Nepal has a GESI-responsive climate policy framework, implementation gaps persist, with climate finance often remaining gender-neutral. The brief recommends tailored capacity building, the introduction of parametric insurance-linked credit, and the strengthening of women's enterprise associations to bridge the financing gap.

The African Climate Foundation and Dalberg developed the NDC Investment Planner (NIP) to address the gap between climate ambition and investment in Africa. While many African countries have submitted second and third-generation NDCs, only about 11% of the continent's annual climate-finance need is met. The NIP provides a three-stage process—Identify, Evaluate, and Select and Act—to move from broad policy frameworks to investable portfolios. It evaluates opportunities based on 'investment potential' and 'economic transformation potential' to help governments prioritise actions, refine analyses, and prepare projects for funding.