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Tropic Coffee is a Rwandan SME that processes and exports specialty Arabica coffee, working with approximately 3,000 farmers. An assessment using the RAI Tool for Agribusiness found the company has a moderately high level of compliance with responsible investment principles, scoring particularly high in inclusive governance, stakeholder treatment, and contributions to food security. Key strengths include the empowerment of women through savings groups and specialty market access, and the provision of free shade fruit trees to farmers. However, the company lacks a formal documented business strategy on responsible conduct and faces financial constraints regarding the cost of certifications and the lack of its own dry milling facilities. The report recommends that the company formalize its RAI strategy and that the Rwandan government consider more flexible cherry pricing frameworks to better link farmer payments to international market fluctuations.

The study analyzes LULC trends in Turkana, Narok, West Pokot, and Elgeyo Marakwet counties, finding that achieving a 10% forest cover target yields the most favorable environmental and agricultural outcomes by 2050. It warns against the 'Shamba system' of forest-to-cropland conversion and highlights the threat of invasive species, particularly Prosopis juliflora, in arid regions.

The document compares current US law with the May 2024 House Agriculture Committee's proposed changes to the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). Key proposed modifications include expanding the definition of precision conservation management planning to include the acquisition of technology, increasing payment limits for organic production transitions to $200,000 for 2025-2029, and adding carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas reduction as criteria for state-determined high-priority practices. It also details existing funding from the 2018 Farm Bill and the Inflation Reduction Act, which allocated $8.45 billion for EQIP through 2026.

The document compares the current legal framework of the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) with proposed changes from the House Agriculture Committee. Key updates in the House version include the addition of precision agriculture conservation activities as a basis for supplemental payments and the inclusion of costs for precision agriculture technology in payment determinations. It also outlines a new 'State Assistance for Soil Health' grant program for fiscal years 2025 through 2029, providing up to $100 million annually to eligible States and Indian Tribes, prioritizing those with climate action plans that include soil health.

The document evaluates a small and medium-sized licensed buying company (LBC) in Ghana's cocoa sector using the RAI Tool for Agribusiness. While the company demonstrates high compliance in inclusive structures and stakeholder treatment, it shows significant gaps in formal strategy, human resource development, and environmental impact management. The study highlights the challenges faced by local SMEs competing with multinational enterprises, including limited access to affordable finance and climate-related yield declines. It recommends digitizing transaction processes, formalizing grievance mechanisms, and developing a structured strategy to move beyond ad hoc responsible business conduct.

The report analyzes national and international frameworks to support the creation of the Brazilian Sustainable Taxonomy for land use. It highlights the significant variance in sustainability measurements—ranging from 1% to 44% of rural credit for the 2022/23 year depending on the criteria used—and recommends a technical, scientific, and gradual implementation process. The document details specific criteria from the EU, Colombian, and Mexican taxonomies, as well as domestic initiatives like the ABC+ Plan and FEBRABAN, to identify areas of consensus and points of attention such as the 'do no significant harm' (DNSH) principle.

The report analyzes Brazil's complex legislative framework for forest restoration, concluding that current policies are designed for property-scale rather than landscape-scale implementation. It identifies three essential factors for scaling up: permitting a variety of restoration typologies within a single project, breaking barriers between public and private land tenure, and integrating both mandatory and voluntary restoration areas. The authors argue that the ongoing revision of the National Plan for Native Vegetation Recovery (PLANAVEG) is a critical opportunity to implement these changes and leverage the carbon market to achieve climate and socioeconomic goals.

The report analyzes Brazil's complex restoration landscape, arguing that current policies are designed for property-scale rather than landscape-scale implementation. It identifies three critical factors for scaling: permitting a variety of restoration typologies within single projects, overcoming land tenure uncertainties on public lands, and integrating mandatory legal obligations with voluntary restoration activities. The authors suggest that the ongoing revision of the National Plan for Native Vegetation Recovery (PLANAVEG) is a key opportunity to implement these changes.

The report analyzes the challenges of scaling up forest and native vegetation restoration in Brazil, arguing that current public policies are designed for individual rural properties rather than landscape-scale initiatives. It identifies three essential factors for success: the adoption of multiple complementary restoration typologies, the integration of both public and private lands, and the synergy between mandatory legal restoration and voluntary initiatives. The authors highlight the potential of carbon markets and payment for environmental services to drive these efforts, while noting that regulatory contradictions—particularly regarding environmental licensing for native silviculture—remain significant hurdles.

The report provides a comprehensive vulnerability assessment for the Kintampo Municipal Assembly, identifying agriculture as the most sensitive sector. It combines historical climate data (1980–2020) with future projections to 2100, highlighting increasing temperatures and variable rainfall. The study identifies specific community-level vulnerabilities, with Busuama being the most vulnerable and Kintampo the least, and recommends targeted adaptation strategies including conservation agriculture, irrigation, and gender-responsive initiatives.

The report analyzes deforestation mitigation strategies in five Global South countries, highlighting the effectiveness of combining financial incentives, land tenure reform, national certification, and landscape restoration. It emphasizes that success requires a combination of context-specific measures, targeting high-risk areas, and leveraging both digital and physical monitoring systems, often complemented by voluntary sustainability standards.

The report finds that while China has significant potential for land-based climate mitigation, efforts have historically focused on energy and industry, with forestry being the only land sector with comprehensive targets. Agriculture, grasslands, and wetlands remain underexploited, hampered by a lack of standardized methodologies and a prioritization of food security over carbon sequestration. The relaunch of the China Certified Emission Reduction (CCER) scheme in 2023 offers a potential funding mechanism, though it is currently limited to forestry.

The report examines the global tea market, highlighting the vulnerability of smallholder farmers to price volatility and climate change. It assesses the impact of voluntary sustainability standards (VSSs) like Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance, noting that while they can provide price floors and premiums, a significant amount of certified tea is still sold as conventional. The document argues for a shift toward more transparent pricing, direct trade, and sustainable land management to ensure living incomes for producers.

The document identifies rice cultivation, animal husbandry, and synthetic fertilizers as the primary sources of on-farm emissions in the Greater Mekong Subregion, accounting for 63% of the region's 1.1 Gt CO2-eq emissions in 2020. It highlights barriers to the adoption of low-emission innovations, including food insecurity, knowledge gaps, lack of training, and insufficient policy support. The briefing proposes high-impact solutions such as the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), direct-seeded rice, precision livestock feeding, and site-specific nutrient management, while recommending policy interventions like targeted subsidies, verifiable emission targets, and the establishment of multi-stakeholder learning networks.

The report advocates for the mainstreaming of ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) as a tool to align climate and biodiversity actions across the Rio Conventions. It highlights the potential of EbA to reduce climate hazard intensity by 26% and provide significant economic benefits, such as USD 65 billion in flood protection from mangroves. The document emphasizes the need for policy coherence between National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), while stressing that equity and human rights-based approaches are essential for sustainable implementation.

The report argues that climate action and gender equality are synergistic and must be integrated to achieve a just transition. Based on 12 projects in 17 countries, it identifies four axes for empowerment: improving productivity of existing activities, helping women enter male-dominated sectors, consolidating low-carbon business plans, and providing access to new green technologies. Key findings highlight that women's traditional knowledge is often inherently low-carbon and that removing discriminatory barriers—such as limited land rights and social norms—can accelerate climate resilience and economic growth. The document provides specific recommendations for policymakers to integrate gender-sensitive budgeting and support women's leadership in sectors like regenerative agriculture, the blue economy, and ecotourism.

The GLOW program demonstrates that gender equality and climate action are synergistic, arguing that women's leadership and participation are essential for the effectiveness and sustainability of low-carbon transitions. Through projects in the Global South, the report identifies four pathways for empowerment: improving the productivity of existing women's economic activities via climate-smart methods, integrating women into traditionally male-dominated value chains, consolidating low-carbon business models, and creating entirely new green jobs using emerging technologies. Key findings highlight that women often possess traditional knowledge that is inherently low-carbon and that emerging technologies, such as solar irrigation and circular bioeconomy tools (e.g., black soldier fly farming), can reduce servile labor and lower barriers to entry for women. The report recommends integrating gender-transformative policies into National Determined Contributions (NDCs), increasing women's access to productive assets and digital markets, and addressing the disproportionate burden of unpaid care work as a core component of climate action.

The GLOW programme identifies four primary routes for simultaneous women's empowerment and climate action: improving existing activities, enabling entry into male-dominated sectors, consolidating low-carbon business models, and accessing new green technologies. Key findings emphasize that climate action must be rights-based and locally appropriate, as social norms significantly shape women's ability to adopt new practices. The report argues that women's leadership in decision-making and access to productive assets are essential for the effectiveness and sustainability of just transitions. It recommends integrating gender-responsive budgeting, strengthening the gender capacity of local government personnel, and promoting technologies that reduce the drudgery of unpaid care work.

The 2024 report by Climate Policy Initiative/PUC-Rio examines the progress of the Brazilian Forest Code's implementation. While CAR registration is consolidated nationwide, the analysis phase remains a critical bottleneck, with only 15% of registries having initiated analysis and 3.3% concluded. The report highlights the adoption of automation tools like 'CAR Digital' in Mato Grosso and the 'Análise Dinamizada' by the Brazilian Forest Service (SFB) to accelerate validation. It also notes advancements in the PRA, with new states like Espírito Santo, Goiás, and Tocantins regulating the program. However, significant challenges persist, including low registry quality, communication gaps with landowners, and legal disputes regarding the Atlantic Forest biome.

The document defines key forestry terms and outlines the methodology for tracking progress toward the 2030 goals of the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use. It establishes a 2018-2020 baseline and a linear reduction pathway requiring a 10 percent annual reduction in loss to reach zero deforestation by 2030. The methodology covers the calculation of gross deforestation, humid tropical primary forest loss, greenhouse gas emissions, and forest degradation using the Forest Landscape Integrity Index (FLII). It also details indicators for forest restoration, including tropical moist forest regrowth and area under restoration, and biodiversity impacts via 7,025 Forested Key Biodiversity Areas (fKBAs).