Search Climate Insights Directory

The document advocates for a coordinated Caribbean approach to monitoring and evaluating National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), emphasizing the need for indicators that serve national interests rather than just donor requirements. Key recommendations include adopting a 'big picture' approach via national adaptation road maps, creating a pool of regional indicators, leveraging existing frameworks like the CIF-PPCR, and establishing M&E indicators at the start of the process to allow for incremental improvements.

The paper examines the challenges of attracting private investment for sustainable energy infrastructure in Africa, specifically focusing on the tensions between liberalization and regulation, risk-return profiles and affordability, and global goals versus local needs. Through case studies of natural gas in Tanzania and electricity in Zambia, it highlights how corruption, poor planning, and low tariffs hinder progress, while suggesting that a combination of public-private partnerships, capacity building, and democratic accountability is essential for sustainable development.

The Global NDC Conference 2017 brought together over 250 participants from 80 countries to exchange best practices on advancing low-carbon resilient development. The report identifies integrated governance, multi-dimensional financing strategies, and the Enhanced Transparency Framework as the three pillars necessary for the successful implementation of NDCs. Key recommendations include the need for high-level leadership to break down sectoral silos, the translation of NDCs into bankable project pipelines to attract private investment, and the institutionalization of data systems to build trust and accountability.

The 2017 Green Economy Barometer reports a dual reality: while renewable energy capacity is growing and green technologies are hitting mass markets, the 'brown economy' remains dominant, biodiversity is in crisis, and financial systems continue to subsidise fossil fuels. The document argues that the transition is gathering speed but risks failure if it does not address the needs of rural economies, informal workers, and the youth unemployment crisis.

The CRN3 Researchers Meeting focused on improving the translation of scientific research into actionable policy outputs. Key discussions centered on the challenges of interdisciplinary science, the establishment of an IAI open data platform supported by the Government of Uruguay, and the creation of a special peer-reviewed journal issue to compile CRN3 position papers. The meeting also explored collaborations between IAI and global bodies like the IPCC and IPBES to better align scientific projects with national environmental frameworks.

The report details the outcomes of the "Science for Action" campaign conducted by the SDG Media Zone and the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) during COP-23. The campaign utilized live interviews and social media coverage to promote the Sustainable Development Goals and the communication of science for decision-making, achieving over 2.5 million impressions and reaching more than 780 thousand people across 30 countries.

The document describes 'The Adaptive Watershed' (TAW), a training program structured into three themes: understanding the watershed and its people, making informed decisions for an adaptive plan, and committing to inclusive management. The program emphasizes a "plan–do–check–correct" approach to manage interlinked land, water, and human systems, specifically integrating climate change adaptation and gender equity. It aligns its objectives with four Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation), SDG 13 (climate action), SDG 5 (gender equality), and SDG 15 (life on land). The curriculum guides participants through mapping watershed resources, analyzing stakeholder power dynamics, identifying climate and non-climatic stressors, and developing SMART key performance indicators for monitoring and evaluation.

The Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Index ranks 153 countries based on 11 indicators across three dimensions: inclusion (education, employment, parliamentary representation, cellphone use, and financial inclusion), justice (legal discrimination, son bias, and discriminatory norms), and security (intimate partner violence, community safety, and organized violence). Iceland ranks first (.886), while Afghanistan and Syria rank last (.385). The report finds that while some countries perform well across all dimensions, many exhibit unbalanced achievements; for example, Latin America performs well on justice but poorly on inclusion. The index also highlights a disconnect between national income and women's well-being, noting that countries like Saudi Arabia rank significantly lower on the index than their per capita income would suggest. Additionally, the report analyzes the specific impact of conflict on security, noting that women in conflict-affected states face a 35 percent higher risk of intimate partner violence.

The report introduces the Energy Access Dividend (EAD) framework to help policymakers quantify the benefits of rapid electrification. By analyzing Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Kenya, it demonstrates that decentralized renewable energy can provide faster access than centralized grids, leading to significant household savings, increased study time for children, and reduced carbon and black carbon emissions. The model links these dividends to the achievement of multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), arguing that delays in energy access result in lost investments in human and economic development.

The document explores the role of citizen science in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), categorizing projects into contributory, collaborative, and co-created models. It argues that citizen science can fill critical data gaps, particularly for marginalized groups, and foster public engagement and behavioral change. While acknowledging challenges regarding data quality and statistical bias, the brief asserts that well-designed projects produce data comparable to professional science. It provides a detailed matrix of potential applications across various SDG targets, including energy affordability, water sanitation, and biodiversity monitoring.

The document proposes using the Planetary Boundaries framework to define the 'global level of ambition' for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 12 on Sustainable Consumption and Production. It suggests that by downscaling global boundaries to national or regional levels and using consumption-based environmental accounting, countries can account for both domestic and imported environmental impacts. The brief emphasizes the need for continuous science-policy dialogue to ensure vertical policy coherence and fair allocation of the global safe operating space among nations.

The document examines the intersection of gender equality and food security, arguing that gender discrimination is a primary driver of hunger. Through a literature review of 27 articles, it finds that gender-related policies typically have a positive impact on food security, while food security interventions can sometimes constrain women's positions within the family if social norms are not addressed. The brief highlights that women and female-headed households are more prone to food insecurity due to limited access to assets, land, and decision-making power. It calls for gender-differentiated data and a holistic approach to power relationships to ensure that sustainability goals are achieved without leaving women and girls behind.

The Stockholm Environment Institute and the Swedish Steel Producers Association (Jernkontoret) are creating a methodology and toolbox—a 'societal value compass'—to guide the Swedish steel industry toward its 2050 vision of creating positive societal value. The tool integrates the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with capital theory (natural, real, human, and social capital) to evaluate how industry activities affect broader societal interests. The project involves cross-impact balance analysis of SDG targets, focus group consultations, and the development of a prototype to be tested through topical case studies. This framework aims to enhance the industry's global competitiveness and facilitate communication with investors, employees, and policymakers regarding its contribution to sustainability.

The document outlines the challenges and best practices for implementing the 2030 Agenda in Latin America, emphasizing the need for cross-sectoral institutional structures, subnational engagement, and improved data disaggregation. It highlights the vulnerability of SDG implementation to political cycles and the difficulty of aligning the 2030 Agenda with the Paris Agreement. Key recommendations include incorporating medium-term goals to bridge government cycles and mobilizing private sector resources to fill funding gaps caused by regional recessions.

The document outlines the challenges and best practices for implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Latin America, focusing on institutional harmonization, inter-sectoral cooperation, local ownership, and financing. It highlights the risk of political instability affecting long-term goals and the need for better data disaggregation and multi-stakeholder dialogue to move beyond central government control.

The document presents the NDC-SDG Connections tool, developed by the Stockholm Environment Institute and the German Development Institute, which disaggregates 161 NDCs into over 7,000 activities to map their links to the 17 SDGs and 169 targets. The analysis reveals that while NDCs span all SDGs, the strongest connections are in water, food, and energy, whereas social goals like health, education, and gender equality are under-represented. The tool highlights synergies across sectors—such as agriculture linking SDG 2, 6, and 15—but notes that it does not identify trade-offs, which remain an unexplored area for policy-makers.

The Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) provides a suite of tools and analyses to help countries meet their Paris Agreement commitments. Key research highlights include the potential for NDCs to include fossil fuel production phase-downs, the need for better guidance on the 'enhanced transparency framework', and the importance of 'fair shares' in achieving a 1.5°C limit. SEI's technical tools, such as LEAP for energy planning, the NDC Explorer for tracking ambitions, and the NDC-SDG Connections tool, aim to bridge the gap between climate science and national policy. Specific country analyses show that Kenya requires significant investment for low-carbon energy pathways, while sub-Saharan African nations could better leverage private sector investment for agricultural adaptation.

The document argues that development often exacerbates disaster risks due to poor decision-making and trade-offs. It introduces a typology of five trade-offs (power, equity, temporal, risk, and aggregation) to help decision-makers identify and manage these risks. The brief applies this typology to the 'Building Back Better' approach to post-disaster recovery, suggesting that inclusive, long-term, and holistic planning can lead to more resilient development.

The Mistra Geopolitics programme, running from 2017 to 2020, is an interdisciplinary research effort involving six Swedish core partners and international institutes. It aims to help Sweden navigate geopolitical insecurity and leverage innovation to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. The programme is organized into five work packages: WP1 focuses on the frame of geopolitics and security in the Anthropocene; WP2 analyzes transnational impacts on Sweden including trade and migration; WP3 examines global governance responses to environmental security risks; WP4 explores the link between geopolitical landscapes and the SDGs; and WP5 integrates these findings through a co-creation process and foresight scenarios to strengthen Swedish competitiveness.

The Reducing Disaster Risk Cluster at SEI Asia focuses on the intersection of development and disaster risk across Asia. Its work is organized into four thematic areas: regional cooperation, disaster recovery and resilience, empowering vulnerable groups, and the role of culture in risk. The cluster supports the implementation of the 2015 Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Sustainable Development Goals through research, policy engagement, and capacity-building, with specific projects targeting disability-inclusive DRR and long-term recovery analysis in Southeast Asia.