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Climate Central analysis shows that human-caused climate change significantly increased the number of days with maximum temperatures exceeding 90°F in West Africa's cocoa belt from 2015 to 2024. The most severe impacts occurred in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, where climate change added approximately 40 days of growth-limiting heat per year. These temperature extremes, combined with shifting rainfall patterns and pests, threaten global cocoa supplies, increase chocolate prices, and endanger the health and livelihoods of small-scale farmers.

Climate change has significantly increased the number of days with temperatures above 32°C in West Africa's cocoa belt, particularly in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana. This excessive heat, especially during the main crop cycle (October-March), can reduce cacao harvest quantity and quality by hindering photosynthesis and increasing water stress. In 2024, 71% of analyzed cacao-producing areas across Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Cameroon, and Nigeria experienced at least six additional weeks of such heat. Beyond temperature, production is threatened by erratic rainfall, the cacao swollen shoot virus (CSSV), smuggling, and illegal mining.

The report outlines how the federal government of Canada can regulate oil and gas development through specific constitutional powers, noting that while provinces have significant authority, federal jurisdiction extends to federal lands, offshore areas, Indigenous reserves, and international trade, as well as indirect areas like fisheries and climate change.

ClientEarth and a coalition of civil society organizations argue that the European Commission's 'Omnibus Simplification Package' is being developed through an opaque, non-inclusive process that violates EU democratic principles and the Commission's own Better Regulation Guidelines. The authors contend that the Commission is facilitating 'regulatory capture' by prioritizing private meetings with industry actors over broad public consultation, potentially undermining the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). They demand a comprehensive impact assessment and a public consultation involving all relevant stakeholders before any legislative proposal is presented.

ClientEarth urges the European Commission to use the European Oceans Pact to move beyond 'paper parks' and policy silos. The organization calls for a systemic approach to enforcement of the Common Fisheries Policy and Habitats Directive, the creation of an EU Ocean Fund to replace the EMFAF, and the phasing out of fossil fuel subsidies in the maritime sector. It advocates for legally binding targets to protect 30% of EU seas by 2030 and a ban on destructive activities like bottom trawling in all Marine Protected Areas.

The WHO-Civil Society Working Group reports on its 2024 achievements, notably catalyzing a new World Health Assembly resolution on climate change and health. The group provided input for the WHO's COP29 Special Report and coordinated policy recommendations endorsed by over 100 organizations. To expand its influence, the group established a COP Task Force to plan activities for COP30. Despite these gains, the report notes that COP29 failed to provide sufficient concessional funding for developing countries or concrete commitments for the phase-out of fossil fuels.

The document outlines key decisions from COP16 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CDB), focusing on the integration of biodiversity with climate action, public health, and marine protection. It highlights the adoption of the Global Action Plan on Biodiversity and Health, the establishment of the Cali Fund for genetic resource benefit-sharing, and new governance structures for indigenous peoples, local communities, and Afro-descendants. The brief also emphasizes the need for continued technical and scientific support to implement these decisions within national biodiversity strategies.

The report explains that while provinces have broad authority over natural resources, the Canadian federal government can regulate oil and gas development through various 'heads of power' in the Constitution. It details the legal doctrines used by courts to resolve jurisdictional overlaps, such as 'double aspect' and 'incidental effects,' and analyzes twelve specific federal powers—including criminal law, fisheries, and interprovincial works—that allow the federal government to influence the oil and gas life cycle from production to closure.

The report argues that Africa remains hindered by colonial legacies, financial dependency, and weak institutional leadership. It highlights critical crises in food security, youth unemployment, and rising conflict, while critiquing the AU's leadership selection process and its focus on reparations over immediate structural reforms. The document recommends a more proactive AU Commission, a reformed Peace and Security Architecture, and a unified foreign policy to transition Africa from a passive observer to a powerful global actor.

A case study in Bharatpur, Nepal, reveals that dengue and skin infections are significantly associated with proximity to garbage disposal sites, with skin infections further linked to reliance on surface water. While nature-based solutions (NBS) like green streets and rainwater harvesting show potential for reducing hazards by managing stormwater and improving hygiene, the report concludes that NBS cannot substitute for essential urban infrastructure such as piped water and municipal solid waste management.

The Council on Strategic Risks advocates for the restoration of Feed the Future and the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), asserting that these programs mitigate national security risks by building food system resilience and providing critical forecasting for humanitarian responses. The text highlights that Feed the Future reduces migration intent in Honduras and that FEWS NET lowers the cost of humanitarian interventions. It references endorsements from former military commanders and bipartisan political support to emphasize that food security is an investment that prevents future conflict and reduces the need for costly US military or humanitarian spending.

The document examines the uncertainty surrounding the second Trump administration's approach to foreign aid and global security. It highlights a 90-day freeze on all U.S. foreign assistance and the withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health Organization. The text notes a divide in perception, where populations in BRICS nations are more positive about Trump's presidency for global peace compared to those in the EU and UK, despite an overall increase in global conflicts and expansionist rhetoric regarding territories like Greenland and Panama.

The document highlights the 2025 International Year of Glaciers' Preservation, detailing how human-caused climate change is accelerating glacial melt. It emphasizes the role of glaciers as 'water towers' providing freshwater for billions and warns of increasing risks from glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), particularly in Asia and the Americas. The text notes that glaciers in 50 UNESCO World Heritage sites are losing an average of 58 billion tonnes of ice annually, with a third projected to vanish within 25 years.

The Canadian Climate Institute urges the Quebec government to implement new flood maps and construction regulations despite opposition from municipalities and developers. The author argues that the cost of inaction—estimated between $70 million and $210 million in annual losses—far outweighs the potential decrease in property values, noting that homes in very high-risk zones are likely to suffer several hundred thousand dollars in damages over the next 25 years.

The document highlights the escalating risk of wildfires in Canada, using the Jasper, Alberta fire as a case study to illustrate the dangers of fragmented governance and outdated policies. It proposes a three-pronged adaptation toolkit focusing on restricting new development in high-risk areas, retrofitting existing buildings with FireSmart materials, and implementing landscape-level risk reduction such as fuel thinning and Indigenous cultural burning.

The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) has condemned the inaugural actions of the 47th US President, stating that the administration's agenda to dismantle environmental protections and expand fossil fuel production represents an attack on human rights and global cooperation. CIEL asserts that these executive orders threaten a safe climate and target marginalized populations, reaffirming the organization's commitment to collective action and justice.

The IPBES Nexus and Transformative Change assessments highlight a critical imbalance in global finance, where trillions of dollars support activities damaging nature while conservation funding remains severely inadequate. With over half of global GDP dependent on nature, the reports argue for systemic economic reforms, including the elimination of harmful subsidies, the internalisation of environmental externalities, and increased financial flows to Indigenous Peoples and developing nations to mitigate systemic risks.

The CEO of Mighty Earth attributes the severe fires in Southern California to a combination of rising temperatures, human expansion into wildlands, and poor management of flammable materials, framing these events as part of a global trend of climate-driven disasters.

The research applies a driver-response model to two watersheds in the Arizona-Sonora borderlands to analyze social-ecological interactions. In the Río Magdalena, smallholder agriculture employs low-impact adaptive strategies. In Ambos Nogales, urban growth and infrastructure-based solutions, such as inter-basin water transfers, dominate, while wastewater flows and climate change present ongoing challenges. The study argues that cross-border collaboration is essential for adaptation in these mutually conditioned systems.

The paper examines water management in Nogales, Sonora, where interbasin transfers are used to combat scarcity driven by population growth and climate change. It highlights a system where wastewater is exported north to the US and south to the Alisos basin, the city's primary drinking-water source, leading to indirect potable reuse via aquifer recharge. The study concludes that these strategies increase water scarcity in Nogales and cause negative health, livelihood, and environmental effects in the source basin.