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The report highlights that forest degradation in the Brazilian Amazon—defined as the partial loss of vegetation—is a critical but neglected threat to climate goals. It asserts that degradation often exceeds deforestation in terms of annual area affected and carbon emissions, driven by selective logging, forest fires, and the edge effects of deforestation. The author argues that Brazil possesses the technical capacity to monitor this phenomenon but fails to include it in official environmental performance metrics or greenhouse gas inventories. The document calls for Brazil to integrate degradation measures into its policies and international reporting to reclaim a global leadership role in climate action.

The Ouémé Basin Climate-Resilience Initiative (OCRI) is a six-year project in Benin designed to reduce climate vulnerability for 330,000 direct beneficiaries and 6 million indirect beneficiaries. The initiative focuses on the Upper and Middle Ouémé Basin, implementing a mix of hard infrastructure (micro-dams, water harvesting) and soft measures (climate-resilient agriculture, agroforestry) across 95,000 hectares. It targets key value chains including maize, cashew, shea, and mango to diversify income and reduce poverty. The project also establishes a multi-stakeholder platform to institutionalize integrated basin management and strengthens the financial capacity of the Fonds National pour l’Environnement (FNEC) to provide long-term climate finance.

Research on cattle pastures in the Brazilian Pantanal reveals that seasonally flooded pastures are significant net emitters of CO2 carbon, particularly during aerobic phases, suggesting that improved livestock management and drought-resistant grasses could mitigate these emissions.

The document analyzes the proposed EU Nature Restoration Law, supporting its overarching target to restore 20% of EU land and sea by 2030 but arguing that many specific targets lack sufficient ambition or quantification. It calls for increased targets for terrestrial and marine habitats, the removal of 15% of river barriers by 2030, and the expansion of peatland restoration beyond agricultural land to include forestry. The authors emphasize the need for clear national accountability, strengthened non-deterioration obligations, and dedicated EU funding to ensure the regulation's success in mitigating climate change and biodiversity loss.

The policy brief highlights that forest degradation in the Brazilian Amazon is a critical but overlooked driver of greenhouse gas emissions, often exceeding the impact of clear-cut deforestation. It identifies selective logging, fire, and the edge effects of deforestation as primary drivers. The author contends that while Brazil possesses the technical capacity to monitor degradation, it fails to include these emissions in national inventories or set specific reduction targets. The document calls for the integration of degradation metrics into environmental performance indicators and the application of Brazil's experience in combating deforestation to address this complex phenomenon.

The memorandum outlines a series of legislative amendments to the South African tax regime. Key proposals include a ramp-up of the carbon tax rate to US$30/tCO2e by 2030, the extension of energy efficiency and electricity price neutrality incentives until 2025, and the introduction of an excise duty on vaping products. It also addresses technical corrections in retirement fund transfers, insurance accounting under IFRS 17, and VAT registration for foreign suppliers.

The report finds that while Estonia's total greenhouse gas emissions fell from 18,687.4 kt CO2e in 2018 to 11,555.8 kt CO2e in 2020, significant gaps remain across all sectors to reach 2050 neutrality. The energy sector shows a positive trend in renewables, but wind capacity investment is lagging. The buildings sector lacks incentives for non-residential renovations, which are identified as highly cost-efficient. The LULUCF sector transitioned from a carbon sink to an emitting sector in 2020. Transport emissions are decreasing, but a modal shift toward public transport and cycling has not been achieved. Agriculture emissions continue to rise slowly, and the sector faces limited reduction potential without impacting food production. The report highlights the contradiction of government support for a new shale oil refinery, which is viewed as a step away from climate neutrality.

British Columbia’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard reduced transportation emissions by an average of 6% annually from 2010 to 2020 and is projected to drive 31% of the province's 2030 reduction targets. The document proposes expanding the regulation to include jet and marine fuels, as well as direct air capture with permanent storage, to address hard-to-abate sectors and negative emissions. To maximize effectiveness, the author recommends closing the incentive gap that currently favors renewable diesel over low-carbon jet fuel, incorporating indirect land-use change (ILUC) into carbon footprint measurements to support advanced biofuels, and allowing direct air capture credits for projects located outside British Columbia to accelerate technology deployment.

The submission argues that the current pesticide regulatory framework in Canada is inadequate, citing historical failures to prevent unacceptable risks and a reliance on risk assessment over hazard prevention. The authors advocate for a 'planetary health' approach that integrates climate change, biodiversity, and environmental justice into pesticide regulation. They propose 22 detailed recommendations across four areas: lifecycle approach to business practices, improved risk assessment for vulnerable populations, increased transparency in decision-making, and a more rigorous application of real-world data and Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs). Key goals include a 50% reduction in pesticide use by 2030 and the adoption of the precautionary principle.

The report utilizes system dynamics modelling and financial analysis to evaluate restoration options for the Katingan peatlands and Belitung mangroves in Indonesia. It finds that sustainable management of these ecosystems provides high societal value across all simulated climate scenarios and offers a cost-effective method for climate change mitigation and community support. However, the report emphasizes that for land rehabilitation to be economically viable and lasting, local communities require additional income sources, such as tourism, to prevent a shift toward environmentally damaging activities like mining and plantations.

La Banque Agricole (LBA) is seeking US$ 646,600 from the Green Climate Fund's Project Preparation Facility to design a large-scale programme aimed at fostering climate-smart agriculture in Senegal. The proposed programme intends to establish a dedicated Line of Credit (LoC) to provide concessional loans to smallholder farmers, MSMEs, and cooperatives for the adoption of CSA practices, such as drip irrigation and biodigesters. The PPF will fund critical preparatory activities, including baseline and market studies, a feasibility study for a digital lending platform (Agricash), a gender assessment, and the development of a climate rationale. The ultimate goal of the full programme is to increase farm productivity and resilience while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 3.42 million tCO2e over 20 years, benefiting approximately 307,000 direct beneficiaries.

The document contends that global and European food insecurity is a problem of distribution, access, and utilization rather than production. It highlights that the EU is a net exporter of agri-food products and that a significant portion of its cereal production is used for animal feed and biofuels rather than human consumption. The text argues that industrial agricultural practices drive the climate and biodiversity crises, which in turn threaten food yields through pollinator loss and extreme weather. It advocates for a transition to agro-ecological practices and the adoption of the EU Nature Restoration Law with ambitious, enforceable targets to capture carbon and protect ecosystem services.

The report analyzes the potential for U.S. coastal wetlands to either expand or almost entirely disappear by 2100 based on sea level rise rates, vertical accretion, and the conservation of land for horizontal migration. It identifies Louisiana, North Carolina, and Texas as high-risk areas and emphasizes that conserving undeveloped dryland (refugia) is a decisive factor in preventing widespread wetland loss.

The report analyzes the future of US coastal wetlands under various sea-level rise and development scenarios. It finds that wetlands can either expand by 25% or decrease by 97% by 2100, depending on human decisions regarding land conservation for migration and the rate of vertical growth. Louisiana, North Carolina, and Texas are identified as high-risk areas. The document emphasizes that preserving undeveloped land (refuges) is the most critical factor in preventing widespread wetland loss.

The report evaluates the economic viability of restoring peatlands in Central Kalimantan and mangroves in Belitung, Indonesia. It argues that land rehabilitation is most effective when implemented as a package of interventions—such as combining canal blocking, land-use monitoring, and fire suppression for peatlands, or pairing mangrove planting with ecotourism—rather than as isolated measures. For peatlands, the highest societal net benefit (USD 4.136 billion by 2100) is achieved through a combined approach, primarily driven by avoided carbon emissions and fire damages. For mangroves, rehabilitation is deemed economically viable only when linked to additional revenue streams like ecotourism, which provides sustainable livelihoods and prevents land conversion for tin mining. The analysis emphasizes that local community income is critical for long-term success, as without alternative revenue (e.g., carbon payments or tourism), communities may return to environmentally damaging activities.

The document examines the critical role of forests in climate regulation and biodiversity, noting that 420 million hectares have been lost since 1990. It analyzes the shift from failed attempts at a global forests convention to a polycentric governance system involving the UN Forum on Forests, REDD, and private sector deforestation commitments. The brief highlights the risks of carbon offsets and monoculture plantations, arguing that successful forest protection requires holistic valuation, strong political will, and the alignment of financial incentives.

ClientEarth argues that the proposed EU Framework for Forest Monitoring and Strategic Plans must prioritize the accessibility of remote sensing data and public transparency to combat forestry crime and mismanagement. The document highlights a significant decline in the carbon sequestration capacity of EU forests by 28% between 2013 and 2018 and criticizes the low rate of compliance checks under the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR), where 99% of domestically-harvesting companies were excluded from checks between 2015 and 2020. ClientEarth advocates for a common EU-wide platform for real-time data to support risk-based compliance planning and the 'substantiated concerns' mechanism for public reporting of illegal logging.

President Biden has ordered federal agencies to conduct a one-year inventory of mature and old-growth forests on federal land to identify threats and inform future protection policies. Earthjustice argues that protecting these forests is critical for climate mitigation, noting that federal forest lands sequester 35 million metric tons of carbon and that logging is the primary driver of forest carbon loss across the United States. The organization advocates for a nationwide rule to safeguard these forests from logging and the continued defense of the Roadless Rule.

The SAVi assessment finds that tree planting in Addis Ababa generates significant societal value by sequestering carbon and avoiding costs associated with air pollution, flooding, and heat. The analysis indicates that trees provide better value for money and more job creation than grey infrastructure alternatives, such as electric vehicles or rainwater harvesting tanks, provided that the nature-based infrastructure is maintained to ensure tree survival.

The 'Climate Change: The New Evolutionary Challenge for the Galapagos' programme seeks USD 65.27 million from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to implement a comprehensive transition to a low-carbon economy in Ecuador's Galapagos Islands. The initiative focuses on three main components: changing the energy matrix through a centralized 14.8 MWp solar plant (Conolophus project) and distributed renewable energy; building climate resilience in food systems and ecosystems (including coral reef and Scalesia forest restoration); and establishing sustainability mechanisms such as ecotourism certification and climate-responsive planning. The programme targets 33,000 residents and over 100,000 annual tourists, aiming to reduce 584,169 tCO2eq over 25 years and enhance resilience across 19,000 hectares of agricultural land and 138,000 km2 of marine ecosystems.