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PR2106 WA State Poll Toplines
A March 2021 poll of 640 registered voters in Washington State shows high levels of concern regarding climate change and strong support for holding oil and gas companies financially responsible for climate impacts. A majority of respondents (73%) believe oil and gas companies are not paying their fair share of climate costs, and 61% support suing these companies for damages. After receiving additional information about industry disinformation, the proportion of respondents who believe oil and gas companies should be most responsible for upgrading state infrastructure rose to 37%.
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Document type: Fact sheet
climate change in the american mind
A March 2021 survey of 1,037 American adults reveals that 70% believe global warming is happening and 57% attribute it primarily to human activity. While 64% of respondents express worry about global warming and 65% feel a personal responsibility to reduce it, social engagement remains low, with 67% rarely or never discussing the topic with family and friends. The report also highlights a gap in understanding scientific consensus, as only 22% recognize that over 90% of climate scientists agree on human-caused warming. Perceived risks are highest for future generations and plant and animal species, while a majority of Americans believe extreme weather poses a moderate to high risk to their local communities.
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Document type: Report
climate change in the american mind
The March 2021 report 'Climate Change in the American Mind' finds that 70% of Americans believe global warming is happening, with 57% attributing it primarily to human activity. While 64% of respondents express worry about global warming and 65% feel a personal responsibility to reduce it, social engagement remains low, with 67% rarely or never discussing the topic with family and friends. The report also highlights a gap in scientific literacy, as only 22% of Americans recognize that over 90% of climate scientists agree on human-caused warming. Perceived risks are highest for future generations (71%) and plant and animal species (71%), while 55% of Americans believe extreme weather poses a moderate to high risk to their local community over the next decade.
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Document type: Report
THE AUSTRALIAN CLIMATE CRISIS AND THE GREAT BARRIER REEF WORLD HERITAGE AREA
The report asserts that the Great Barrier Reef's Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) is deteriorating due to climate change, with the IUCN assessing its outlook as "critical" in 2020. It argues that Australia is fueling this crisis by maintaining inadequate emissions targets, expanding fossil fuel exports, and failing to align its Reef 2050 Plan with a well-below 1.5°C warming pathway. The document concludes that site-level mitigation is insufficient and calls for the World Heritage Committee to require Australia to implement national-level decarbonization and legislative commitments to protect the Reef.
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Document type: Report
How Could Trade Policy Better Address Food System Shocks?
The report analyzes three types of food system shocks—the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2015–2016 Southern African drought, and the US-China trade war—to argue that existing WTO rules are insufficient to prevent harmful trade measures during crises. It highlights how climate change will increase the frequency of extreme weather events, further destabilizing food markets. The authors propose 13 recommendations centered on four objectives: ensuring food access for the poor, safeguarding farmer livelihoods, improving market functions through sustainable resource allocation, and restoring multilateral trust. Key proposals include banning export restrictions on humanitarian aid, cutting high tariff peaks, and establishing a special safeguard mechanism for low-income countries.
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Document type: Report
Comment la politique commerciale pourrait-elle mieux faire face aux chocs du système alimentaire ?
The report analyzes the role of trade policy in managing food system shocks, using the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2015-2016 Southern Africa drought, and the US-China trade war as case studies. It argues that current WTO rules have gaps regarding export restrictions, high tariffs, and harmful agricultural subsidies. To enhance resilience, the authors propose four policy goals: ensuring food access for the poor, protecting farmer livelihoods, improving market functioning through equitable resource distribution, and restoring trust in multilateral institutions. Key recommendations include exempting humanitarian food purchases from export bans, reducing 'tariff peaks' in major importing countries, and establishing a special safeguard mechanism for low-income producers.
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Document type: Report
THE BIG GOVERNANCE ISSUES IN BOTSWANA
The report evaluates Botswana's governance across 12 thematic areas, including human rights, separation of powers, and sustainable development. While acknowledging Botswana's global reputation for stability and economic management, it highlights systemic failures such as high gender-based violence, a lack of true separation between the Executive and Parliament, and significant economic inequality. It recommends structural reforms to the electoral system, the decentralisation of public services, and the establishment of a National Human Rights Institution to ensure more inclusive and accountable governance.
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Document type: Report
New Dimensions of Growth and Development in Africa–China Cooperation
The document analyzes the evolving economic relationship between Africa and China, highlighting a trade imbalance where Africa primarily exports raw commodities and imports manufactured goods. It suggests that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and Special Economic Zones (SEZs) can attract Chinese foreign direct investment to boost local manufacturing. While China is a primary source of infrastructure funding via the Belt and Road Initiative, the report notes concerns over debt sustainability, though it argues these are often tainted by geopolitics. Finally, it discusses the opportunities and risks of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), urging African nations to harmonize regulations and improve digital infrastructure to avoid a widening digital divide.
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Document type: Policy brief
Nuclear Energy in Ghana
Ghana is pursuing a nuclear power programme to address chronic electricity shortages and support industrialisation, aiming for a plant by 2030. While the country has made significant progress in establishing a regulatory framework and converting its research reactor from highly enriched uranium to low enriched uranium, it still faces challenges in funding, stakeholder involvement, and the completion of a national strategy. The report also highlights Ghana's extensive use of nuclear technology in medicine, agriculture, and research.
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Document type: Report
Submission on the Draft Expropriation Bill, 2020
The submission by Natural Justice (NJ) evaluates the draft Expropriation Bill, 2020, which aims to replace the 1975 Act and allow for expropriation without compensation in South Africa. NJ argues that the Bill fails to account for climate change and agro-ecological constraints, which are critical given South Africa's limited arable land. The organization expresses concern over the state-centric approach to expropriation, the potential for state-owned land to be shielded from reform, and the risk that state-subsidized land held by disadvantaged people could be expropriated for nil compensation. NJ recommends the creation of an ombudsperson to represent public interests, the adoption of a Land Redistribution Framework Act for better oversight, and the implementation of a Land Records Act to protect the tenure of millions of people with unregistered rights.
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Document type: Statement
Powering Ghana's Economic Development through Nuclear Energy
Ghana is pursuing a nuclear power programme to support its goal of becoming a highly industrialised economy within four decades and to ensure a sustainable electricity supply as natural gas and oil reserves are predicted to be depleted by 2045. Despite a history of nuclear research and the operation of the Ghana Research Reactor-1 (GHARR-1) since 1994, the country has faced setbacks due to political instability and military coups. Current efforts are guided by the IAEA's Milestones Approach and Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review (INIR) missions, with the government aiming to incorporate nuclear energy by 2029.
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Document type: Report
Report of the Civil Society APRM Youth Submission Validation Workshop
The workshop served as a platform for youth working groups to validate a report on governance in South Africa, covering themes from institutional planning and political participation to climate change and economic empowerment. Government and APRM representatives emphasized the importance of integrating youth voices into the national review process, particularly given high youth unemployment rates. The working groups identified systemic failures in policy implementation, a lack of youth representation in political parties, and the need for a 'green, intersectional and just' future to address climate change and its compounding effects on other social issues.
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Document type: Report
Regiones e identidades españolas: deriva y proyección post-pandémica
The author analyzes how neoliberalism and the 'tertiarization' of the Spanish economy—specifically the dominance of tourism—have fueled regional inequalities and the rise of peripheral nationalisms. The text argues that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated these tensions by exposing the fragility of the tourism-dependent model. To mitigate future conflicts and the impacts of climate change, the author proposes a transition toward a 'degrowth' model, emphasizing the revival of organic agriculture in the interior, the promotion of green industries, and the potential reorganization of Spain into a federal state.
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Document type: Research paper
Health synergies: International sustainability development national action
The research uses content analysis to examine the integration of health within global agendas for climate change, sustainable development, disaster risk reduction, and urban transformation. It finds a lack of governance mechanisms and limited thematic synergies, suggesting that health systems strengthening and the concept of planetary health could improve the coherence of national policy implementation.
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Document type: Research paper
Climate Change FAQs
The document explains that human activities, primarily the burning of fossil fuels, are the main drivers of global warming, which has seen average global temperatures rise by about one degree Celsius since 1880. It details the resulting environmental impacts, such as rising sea levels, ocean acidification, and increased frequency of extreme weather events, while highlighting the specific vulnerability of the United States to billion-dollar disasters. The text outlines mitigation and adaptation strategies, including the transition to renewable energy and energy efficiency, and discusses the role of international agreements like the Paris Agreement and the influence of climate finance in supporting these transitions.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Tradeoffs between climate change, irrigation and fish habitat in the Stung Chinit watershed, Cambodia
The study concludes that the Stung Chinit watershed possesses sufficient water to support a 10% expansion of irrigated area and double-cropping of rice while protecting downstream flows, provided that well-coordinated water management is implemented. While climate change increases temperatures and irrigation demand, the research identifies poor water management as a greater threat to ecosystems and rice production than climate change itself. The findings indicate that promoting dry season rice without flow requirements would severely impact instream flows, but implementing such requirements results in only minor rice shortages that can be mitigated through improved cooperation and shifted irrigation practices.
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Document type: Research paper
Beyond Weapons of Mass Destruction: Time for a New Paradigm?
The briefing examines the limitations of the current WMD paradigm, which focuses primarily on chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) weapons. By comparing the treatment of fentanyls and novichoks, the author illustrates how narrow definitions of WMD can lead to a misalignment of policy priorities, where a highly lethal but non-WMD designated substance like fentanyl causes more domestic death and economic damage than designated WMDs used in targeted assassinations. The author advocates for a shift toward a 'mass effects' framing to encompass systemic risks like climate change and pandemics, as well as emerging technologies like drone swarms.
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Document type: Briefing
THE SECURITY THREAT THAT BINDS US
The report argues that global ecological disruption is a critical, underappreciated security threat. It details how the collapse of ecosystem services, biodiversity loss, and environmental crime create systemic risks including pandemics, political instability, and economic harm. The authors advocate for a fundamental reboot of U.S. national security architecture to integrate scientific expertise and prioritize ecological security alongside climate change.
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Document type: Report
Climate Change FAQ
The document explains that human activities, primarily the burning of fossil fuels, have increased average global temperatures by approximately one degree Celsius since 1880. It details the resulting impacts, including rising sea levels, ocean acidification, and more severe extreme weather events. The text outlines strategies for mitigation and adaptation, discusses the role of renewable energy and energy efficiency, and describes the efforts of the United States, corporations, and the United Nations to address the crisis.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Developing a Pathway for Universal Infrastructure Coverage
The policy brief proposes a shift from project-based infrastructure to a business-based model to achieve universal infrastructure coverage, particularly in developing countries. It highlights how technological disruptions in energy, transport, and water are reducing capital costs and enabling distributed infrastructure. The authors advocate for listing these infrastructure businesses on local stock exchanges to attract institutional investors and suggest implementing stewardship principles—such as master plans and impact management—to align business operations with community needs and sustainability goals.
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Document type: Policy brief