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The document presents a portfolio of 2008 research by Climate Strategies, focusing on the EU ETS, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and G8 climate opportunities. Key analyses include the risks of carbon leakage in industrial sectors, the underperformance of CDM projects in terms of certified emission reductions, and the economic rationale for transitioning from free allowance allocation to auctioning in the EU ETS. It also includes the Eliasch Review on financing global forests and a study on the development of mandatory emissions trading in Japan.

The briefing contends that forests should not be treated primarily as carbon sinks and warns that market-based REDD mechanisms risk creating climate loopholes and displacing local communities. It advocates for funding forest conservation through national programs and carbon taxes in industrialized nations rather than carbon markets, emphasizing the need to address the underlying drivers of deforestation such as agrofuels and industrial logging.

This briefing by Friends of the Earth International contends that forests provide value beyond carbon sequestration and warns that integrating REDD into carbon markets threatens indigenous land rights and climate goals. It advocates for direct funding of community-led conservation, the recognition of territorial rights for over one billion forest-dependent people, and a shift in responsibility toward industrialized nations to reduce emissions and address the root causes of deforestation, such as biofuels and industrial extraction.

The fact sheet contends that treating forests primarily as carbon sinks undermines biodiversity and the rights of indigenous peoples. It argues against the use of carbon markets and REDD, suggesting instead that industrialized nations provide direct financial support and address the root causes of deforestation, such as industrial logging and unsustainable consumption of meat and paper.

The briefing identifies three primary financing categories for REDD: direct carbon markets, market-linked approaches, and voluntary sources. Direct carbon markets offer the highest funding potential (tens of billions of dollars annually) but risk a zero-sum effect on global emissions if offsets are not real and verifiable. Market-linked approaches, such as using auction revenues or dual markets, provide additional reductions and can fund capacity building and stabilization. Voluntary sources, including official development assistance, provide the fastest way to build initial capacity but offer the least reliable and smallest funding scale (hundreds of millions of dollars annually). The author proposes a phased timing strategy: utilizing voluntary funding in the short term, increasing market-linked funding toward 2020, and transitioning to direct carbon markets as the primary source in the 2020s once capacity and verification systems are established.

The document argues that REDD is a cost-effective method for reducing heat-trapping emissions, noting that $5 billion annually could protect nearly 20% of tropical forests at risk, while $20 billion could protect about half. It identifies opportunity costs as the largest expense and highlights that global models provide more conservative, comprehensive cost estimates than regional studies. Total implementation, administrative, and transaction costs are estimated at nearly $1 per ton of reductions, with separate stabilization costs estimated at $630 million per year for the ten most critical countries to prevent international leakage.

The report identifies that the creation of expiring units (tCERs and lCERs) and complex methodologies have severely diminished investment confidence in A/R CDM projects, leading developers to prefer voluntary markets. It recommends replacing expiring units with a risk-buffer system, simplifying methodologies, and potentially extending national accounting systems (Article 3.3) to non-Annex I countries to increase mitigation potential, which is estimated at 10,000 MtCO2 per year by 2030 in developing countries.

The report analyzes the global commodity chain of forest products where China acts as the central processing hub, importing raw materials from developing nations and exporting finished goods to Western markets. It highlights a systemic failure in governance and sustainability, particularly in Mozambique and Russia, where weak tenure rights and corruption lead to illegal logging and forest degradation. Conversely, it notes that trade with New Zealand demonstrates a positive model where strong governance ensures sustainable plantation management. The document argues that China's own self-interest—specifically the need for secure, long-term fibre supply—should drive it to lead international efforts in sustainable forest management, improve its procurement policies, and support capacity-building in supplier countries.

The document examines the critical role of ecosystem services in buffering human populations against environmental disturbances and the risks posed by their decline. It highlights how the combination of climate change, biodiversity loss, and land-use change creates 'vulnerability complexes' that disproportionately affect poor and marginalised groups. The brief warns of 'tipping points' that could lead to catastrophic ecological shifts and massive population displacement, estimating that between 24 million and 700 million people could be environmentally displaced in coming decades. It calls for international climate policy to move beyond mitigation to include the monitoring of ecosystem health and the building of resilience to prevent humanitarian crises.

Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) demands that industrialized countries reduce emissions by at least 40% by 2020 and provide large-scale financial transfers to developing nations based on climate debt. The organization rejects carbon offsetting, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and the inclusion of forests in carbon markets, arguing that such mechanisms undermine real emission cuts and threaten indigenous land rights. FoEI advocates for the conservation of old-growth forests, the protection of climate refugees, and the removal of the World Bank from climate financing roles due to its undemocratic structure and continued investment in fossil fuels.

Pakistan is highly vulnerable to climate change despite contributing only 0.8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. The document outlines the need for Pakistan to align its climate adaptation and mitigation strategies with national development plans to secure funding and political buy-in. Key priorities include developing a National Adaptation Plan (NAP), updating greenhouse gas inventories for Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs), and engaging the private sector, particularly in solar power.

The authors contend that while international UNFCCC negotiations move slowly, rapid progress in domestic climate legislation—particularly in emerging economies—is shifting the center of gravity of the climate debate. They argue that national actions driven by self-interest and co-benefits, such as energy security and resource efficiency, are prerequisites for an effective international treaty.

The CDKN's Africa START research call provides £300,000 for 16 projects and £150,000 for management and a learning forum. The funded research addresses diverse climate risks across Africa, including forest degradation in Nigeria and Cameroon, water management in Benin and Ethiopia, and coastal lagoon sensitivity in North Africa, all aimed at enhancing food security and rural livelihoods.

The workshop brought together 35 participants from 21 global and regional web initiatives to map their niches, share challenges, and establish the Climate Knowledge Brokers Group. Key outcomes include a detailed knowledge map of existing platforms and the identification of four joint projects focusing on linked open data, a 'portal-of-portals' for signposting, shared search facilities, and metadata standards.

The document examines how 'suppressed demand'—the unmet desire for products or services due to barriers like low income, poor infrastructure, and high technology costs—disadvantages low-income countries in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Current CDM methodologies typically use 'actual consumption' as a baseline, which results in lower certified emission reductions (CERs) and makes projects less attractive to investors. The brief advocates for using 'desired consumption' as the baseline to reward avoided pollution and promote sustainable development. It highlights the outcomes of CMP7, which requested the CDM Executive Board to accelerate the implementation of guidelines on suppressed demand, particularly for LDCs, Small Island Developing States (SIDS), and African countries, while calling for increased capacity building and skills enhancement in these regions.

The document identifies five high-priority mitigation options for Pakistan's forestry sector: community-based forest management, preservation of conifer forest land, agroforestry practices, commercial plantations, and reforestation of degraded land. These options are characterized by low marginal abatement costs (mostly <$25/Tonne CO2e) and the potential to reduce emissions by a total of 21.7 MtCO2e by 2030. The sector faces significant challenges, including a net loss of over one million hectares of forest between 1990 and 2015, an entrenched illegal timber trade, and a lack of a national carbon monitoring system.

The document provides a matrix of how different climate mitigation policies impact developing countries. It highlights that while mechanisms like the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), REDD+, and technology transfer generally offer positive outcomes for growth and investment, other policies like border tax adjustments can lead to reduced trade and lower global growth. The effects of carbon taxes and emission trading schemes are mixed, depending on factors such as carbon leakage and the allocation of revenues.

The report finds that while Indonesia's national development plans recognize the link between forest conservation and water, energy, and food security, significant implementation gaps and trade-offs persist. REDD+ has catalysed useful governance tools like the One Map Initiative and the Integrated Licensing System, but institutional efforts have been hampered by the use of ad-hoc agencies like BP REDD+. Furthermore, the report highlights that national food and energy targets, such as the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate, often conflict with forest conservation goals.

The report identifies the current state of Colombia's bond market, which is underdeveloped and dominated by the National Government. It outlines a two-phase road map: Phase I focuses on laying foundations through capacity building, defining green investments, and establishing governance; Phase II focuses on market expansion by diversifying issuers, reducing costs, and mitigating currency risks. The document highlights significant potential in green portfolios across the real sector, cities, and development banks, while noting barriers such as a lack of domestic verifier expertise and a concentrated demand for high-credit-rated securities.

The report presents ten propositions on the intersection of climate change and economic growth, emphasizing that while growth is essential for poverty reduction in developing nations, it must be decoupled from carbon emissions. It advocates for 'climate compatible development'—a framework that minimizes climate harm while maximizing human development opportunities. The author argues that low-carbon growth is feasible and can act as an industrial policy to create jobs and competitive advantages. The document highlights the need for national strategies that move from 'blueprint planning' to 'process planning,' the importance of leveraging private finance through 'investment-grade' policy frameworks, and the necessity of building political consensus to ensure long-term stability in climate policy.