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The document argues that while the WTO has historically neglected the environment, there is a current paradigm shift toward recognizing trade's role in addressing climate change and biodiversity loss. It assesses the outcomes of the Thirteenth Ministerial Conference (MC13), highlighting failures in fisheries subsidies and the absence of explicit climate commitments in the Ministerial Declaration, while noting progress in plurilateral initiatives like the Dialogue on Plastic Pollution. Experts propose reforming subsidy rules for fossil fuels and agriculture, leveraging 'Aid for Trade' for just transitions, and adopting the legal principle of 'Common Concern of Humankind' to guide trade law. The report emphasizes the need for regulatory alignment on circular economy principles and the ability of the WTO to coordinate trade-related climate measures, such as Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanisms, to avoid global trade fragmentation.

The guidelines establish a framework for GSS+ labelled financial instruments in Panama, aligning with international standards like ICMA and the Climate Bonds Standard. It details the requirements for use-of-proceeds instruments (green, social, sustainability) and general-purpose sustainability-linked instruments, emphasizing transparency, external reviews, and impact reporting. The document also highlights Panama's Sustainable Finance Taxonomy and the broader sustainable debt market trends in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The document synthesises INC member inputs regarding the protection of human health within the framework of a proposed global plastics treaty. It highlights a broad consensus that the treaty's objectives should encompass both environmental and human health protections, noting that plastic pollution causes wide-ranging health issues, including neurotoxic and endocrine-disrupting impacts. The briefing details the work of two expert groups: Expert Group 1, focusing on financial mechanisms and means of implementation to mitigate health costs, and Expert Group 2, focusing on science-based criteria for identifying chemicals of concern, problematic products, and safe product design. Key priorities identified include the prevention of 'regrettable substitution' of chemicals, the necessity of material transparency, and the importance of protecting vulnerable populations, such as waste workers and indigenous peoples.

The Kham River Restoration Initiative in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, India, has transformed a polluted seasonal river into a community asset. Through a coalition of municipal leadership and community groups, the project implemented an Urban River Management Plan, restored 54 acres of riparian zone, and integrated informal waste pickers into formal municipal employment. These efforts have reduced flood risk, improved public health, and restored the city's cultural connection to the waterway.

The chemicals industry accounts for 4% to 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions, a level comparable to the steel industry. While chemicals are essential for 96% of manufactured goods and over 75% of emission reduction technologies, their production relies heavily on fossil fuel feedstocks and energy-intensive processes. RMI advocates for a systems approach to decarbonization focusing on reducing petrochemical demand through circular economy principles, improving process and energy efficiency via renewables and hydrogen, and transitioning to defossilized feedstocks to avoid over-reliance on carbon capture and storage (CCS).

The document argues that reducing embodied carbon—which accounts for an estimated 11% of global emissions—is a necessary technology transition that must be completed by 2050. It presents a business case for developers, noting that embodied carbon often comprises a substantial part of Scope 3 emissions and that failure to adopt low-carbon practices could lead to stranded assets. The guide divides recommendations into building-level strategies (reducing material use, increasing utilization, switching to low-carbon materials, and designing for disassembly) and corporate-level strategies (institutionalizing practices, prioritizing retrofits, marketing successes, reporting Scope 3 emissions, and aggregating demand through buyer coalitions).

The authors contend that the boom in energy transition mineral (ETM) extraction threatens Indigenous Peoples and biodiversity, noting that 54% of known ETM projects are on Indigenous lands. They criticize U.S. mining laws from 1872 and the Biden administration's support for the Thacker Pass mine in Nevada as contradictory to Indigenous rights. To reduce reliance on extraction, the document advocates for a circular economy hierarchy prioritizing demand reduction, reuse, and high-standard recycling, specifically favoring direct recycling over pyrometallurgy.

The document outlines the critical role of copper in India's infrastructure and clean energy transition, predicting a potential doubling of demand by 2030. It recommends a multi-pronged approach including diversifying primary supply through strategic partnerships with countries like Chile and Australia, reforming trade duties to support domestic smelting, and rationalizing the GST on copper scrap to promote a circular economy.

The report analyzes 21 policy measures from 14 WTO members that triggered trade concerns, categorizing these frictions into six types: timing and implementation, transparency, absence of stakeholder engagement, proportionality, justification, and discrimination. It provides specific regulatory recommendations to ensure that environmental measures targeting plastics do not create unnecessary trade barriers.

The report examines the paradox of the mining sector, which is essential for supplying critical minerals for energy transition technologies but is itself a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. It analyzes the sector's impact on NDCs, with a focus on coal mining and critical minerals, and provides case studies from Chile, Indonesia, and South Africa to highlight the challenges of achieving a just transition. The document concludes with policy recommendations for improving data quality, creating sector-specific mitigation packages, and fostering shared responsibility between producing and destination countries.

The document outlines a methodology for governments to identify 'critical' or 'strategic' minerals based on technical, economic, and geopolitical risks. It emphasizes that criticality is dynamic and varies depending on whether a country is a producer or a consumer. The guide proposes a four-step process: understanding criticality, conducting a risk inventory and mapping, making strategic decisions, and performing regular reviews. It provides detailed indicators across geological, economic, social, environmental, and geopolitical dimensions to help countries maximize the benefits of the energy and digital transitions.

The report argues that battery minerals are not like oil because their demand can be managed through six key solutions: changing chemistries, increasing energy density, recycling, extending battery lifetimes, improving vehicle efficiency, and enhancing mobility efficiency. Under a 'continued trend' scenario, virgin demand for lithium, nickel, and cobalt is projected to peak in the mid-2030s. Under an 'accelerated trend' scenario, net-zero mineral demand is achievable by 2050, turning mining into a one-off effort. The report highlights China's leadership in recycling and suggests that the Global South can leverage used vehicle imports to build its own recycling industries. Ultimately, the transition to a circular battery loop offers a path from oil dependence to circular energy independence.

The document examines the current state of circular economy trade measures notified to the WTO, noting a heavy bias toward end-of-life waste management over upstream resource efficiency. It proposes that the WTO facilitate a 'dynamic alignment system' using mutual recognition agreements, ISO 59000 standards, and cross-border extended producer responsibility schemes to support a global transition to a circular economy, particularly for developing nations.

The document examines textile waste management in Estonia in the context of the European Union’s Waste Framework Directive, which mandates separate textile waste collection by 2025. It highlights a significant gap in Estonia's current infrastructure, noting that while some industrial textile waste is recycled, there is no capacity for post-consumer textile waste recycling.

The report details the systemic impacts of plastic pollution on municipal infrastructure, public health, and ecosystems, asserting that a small number of petrochemical and FMCG companies knowingly exacerbated the crisis by promoting inadequate recycling solutions. It provides a guide for government attorneys to use nuisance, products liability, and consumer protection laws to hold these polluters accountable, drawing parallels to successful litigation against the tobacco and PCB industries.

The document argues that current EU public procurement policy, particularly the voluntary approach of the 'Classic Directive', is ineffective at achieving sustainability goals. It recommends a dual approach: introducing binding targets, procedural requirements, and monitoring in horizontal legislation, while implementing sector-specific mandatory minimum requirements in sectoral legislation. The briefing highlights that public procurement represents 14% of EU GDP and 15% of its global greenhouse gas emissions, making it a critical lever for the green transition.

The report contends that PVC poses unmanaged risks to human health and the environment throughout its life cycle, from toxic manufacturing emissions and accident risks to the release of microplastics and hazardous additives. It argues that the ECHA's 2023 investigation provides a sufficient technical basis for a broad ban, as alternatives are available for all assessed uses. The authors criticize the ECHA report for having a narrow scope—analyzing only 13% of PVC additives—and for underestimating the true costs of PVC by ignoring end-of-life disposal and health remediation expenses. It concludes that targeting only a few additives would lead to 'regrettable substitution' and that a full material restriction is the only effective way to prevent the steady increase of PVC and its toxins in the environment.

The report argues that transition indicators can bridge the 'ambition gap' and 'implementation gap' by articulating the tangible socio-economic benefits of climate neutrality and resilience. Through case studies in Germany, South Korea, China, India, Indonesia, Kenya, and the Netherlands, the authors propose specific metrics for the power, industry, transport, building, and agricultural sectors. These indicators are designed to facilitate inclusive social dialogue, improve governance by clarifying sectoral responsibilities, and encourage international mutual learning, particularly within the Global South.

The document analyzes India's high import dependence on copper and the global supply risks—including geopolitical instability in producer nations and declining ore grades—that threaten its economic and energy goals. It proposes a four-pronged strategy: diversifying primary supply through strategic partnerships, reforming trade duties to encourage domestic value addition, providing production-linked incentives for the smelting and fabrication industry, and rationalizing the GST on copper scrap to formalize the recycling sector.

The report highlights that the EU is a net importer of CO2 emissions, with consumption-based emissions (CBEs) significantly exceeding territorial emissions. While the EU has focused on territorial targets, the authors argue that addressing CBEs is essential for global climate goals. Through case studies of Sweden, Denmark, and France, the report identifies a lack of standardized monitoring and binding targets as primary barriers. It recommends that the EU establish binding CBE targets, standardize carbon accounting, and expand policies like the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and the EcoDesign Regulation to drive sustainable consumption and production globally.