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The 'Resilient Recovery Rapid Readiness Support in Lesotho' project seeks USD 300,000 from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to ensure that Lesotho's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic accelerates its climate goals. The initiative focuses on creating a National strategy for resilient recovery, including an investment plan, and developing two concept notes for climate-resilient agriculture and food security. The project is led by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) under the guidance of the Lesotho Meteorological Services, which serves as the National Designated Authority (NDA). It aims to address the socio-economic shocks of the pandemic—which increased vulnerable households by 50%—by integrating climate adaptation and mitigation into economic stimulus and recovery planning.

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) serves as the largest dedicated climate fund for developing countries, accounting for two-thirds of all multilateral climate finance last year. The GCF focuses on bridging the adaptation finance gap, where only one-fifth of global climate funds are currently allocated. To scale action, the GCF employs a strategy involving the translation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) into investment plans, piloting innovative technologies and business models, utilizing blended finance to crowd-in private investment, and strengthening the capacity of domestic financial institutions. Key initiatives include the Global Sub-national Climate Fund and partnerships to de-risk investments in adaptation technologies and coral reef protection.

The document argues that adaptation and mitigation should be treated as complementary processes rather than separate tracks. It emphasizes that integrated planning increases political support, reduces costs, and improves stakeholder dialogue. The text highlights challenges in sectoral understanding—specifically that mitigation-focused sectors often underestimate adaptation needs—and the difficulty of measuring resilience and combining reporting for both approaches. It suggests integrating Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) components into national measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) systems and calls for international cooperation to share data and case studies on integrated planning.

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) emphasizes that advancing gender equality is critical for a climate-resilient future, as women are disproportionately affected by climate change yet act as key agents of change. The GCF mandates gender mainstreaming across all interventions through its Governing Instrument and Gender Policy, requiring every project to include a Gender Action Plan. The Fund has committed to providing $10 billion annually in support designed to optimize co-benefits between climate action and gender equality. Specific examples of this approach include supporting women-led agricultural enterprises in Ghana, argan tree cooperatives in Morocco, clean energy enterprises in Mongolia, and off-grid renewable energy SMEs in Kenya and Rwanda via the KawiSafi Ventures Fund.

The World Resources Institute critiques the World Bank Group's draft Climate Change Action Plan, asserting it falls short of the urgency required by the Paris Agreement. The briefing recommends that the World Bank Group implement a numeric emissions cap, phase out fossil fuel financing—specifically natural gas—and prioritize climate resilience through better project design and staffing. It further suggests improving climate finance reporting to measure actual impact rather than just financial inputs and providing more technical resources to low- and middle-income countries to help them develop projects that move beyond 'business-as-usual' development.

The IAI Directorate reports that while COVID-19 delayed some actions requiring international travel, activities remain aligned with the Strategic Plan. The document introduces a comprehensive framework of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and leading/lagging metrics to measure organizational performance across themes such as fundraising, open data, capacity building, and science priorities. It also recommends delaying the triennial revision of the Strategic Plan to the 2023-2024 intersessional period to coincide with the term of a new Executive Director.

The document argues that sustainable development, healthy ecosystems, and climate mitigation and adaptation are inextricably linked, requiring integrated policy-making to avoid ad hoc implementation. It highlights nature-based solutions as a primary example of integrated approaches and identifies institutional silos and the lack of high-level mandates as key barriers to scaling these solutions.

The GCF and GEF have established a Long-Term Vision (LTV) to move beyond their Pilot Coordinated Engagement (launched in 2018) toward a structured partnership. The LTV focuses on three pillars: collaborative programming for major initiatives (such as the Great Green Wall and Amazon initiatives), sharing knowledge and methodologies to maximize climate impact, and improving joint communication. The funds aim to leverage their unique strengths—GEF's focus on upstream enabling environments and multi-convention synergies, and GCF's ability to mobilize large-scale blended finance for climate-specific benefits—to reduce duplication and streamline support for developing countries.

The document outlines the output of the 'Resilience and management of Arctic wetlands: phase 2 report', which consists of 13 key findings and 20 policy recommendations. These recommendations are organized into six themes, including national governance, climate mitigation, and knowledge building for wetlands management. The work was a collaborative effort between the Stockholm Environment Institute, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, Stockholm University, and CAFF, and was presented to policymakers at the 12th Arctic Council Ministerial meeting.

The Electrical Grids and Storage Criteria provide a framework for certifying bonds that finance the construction, upgrade, and operation of electricity transmission, distribution, and storage infrastructure. To be certified, assets must meet specific mitigation benchmarks—such as supporting renewable energy integration or operating within a decarbonising system—and satisfy a comprehensive adaptation and resilience checklist. The criteria cover a wide range of assets, from high-voltage transmission lines to battery storage facilities, and include detailed methodological notes for determining system eligibility based on grid emission factors or added generation capacity.

The report outlines a framework for Chile to establish a national green taxonomy, which would serve as a classification system to identify sustainable economic activities and prevent greenwashing. It recommends that Chile follow a three-step path: adopt existing international taxonomies (such as those from the EU, China, or Climate Bonds Initiative), adapt them to local contexts, and lead the development of new criteria for sectors lacking international benchmarks, specifically mining. The document identifies energy, transport, construction, and industry as priority sectors for mitigation, while emphasizing that adaptation and resilience criteria must be developed in parallel across all sectors. It proposes a three-level governance structure involving government ministries, technical coordinators, and industry experts, and suggests focusing initial applications on green debt instruments.

The report outlines a framework for Chile to establish a national green taxonomy, recommending a pathway of adopting and adapting international standards (such as the EU and CBI taxonomies) while leading the development of criteria for sectors unique to its economy, specifically mining. It identifies Energy, Transport, Construction, and Industry as priority sectors for mitigation and emphasizes the parallel development of adaptation and resilience criteria. The roadmap proposes a three-tier governance structure involving government ministries, financial regulators, and technical experts to ensure the taxonomy is science-based, binary, and aligned with the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C goal.

The report examines Results-Based Financing (RBF) as a mechanism to link financial rewards to verified climate outcomes, reducing risk for public funders and attracting private investment. It identifies key opportunities in urban development and transition sectors, such as energy and transport, while highlighting implementation challenges like high upfront costs and the risk of perverse incentives. The document provides a blueprint for RBF preparation and execution, supported by case studies from Peru and the United States.

The document argues that Middle Income Countries (MICs) face a critical gap in debt relief mechanisms following the COVID-19 pandemic, as they are ineligible for the Debt Suspension Servicing Initiative (DSSI) despite high debt burdens that crowd out climate spending. It proposes Debt for Climate (DFC) swaps, where creditor nations forgive a portion of external debt in exchange for the debtor nation making local currency payments toward climate projects. The report outlines eligibility criteria for debtor nations—including a requirement of no imminent liquidity crisis and high bilateral external debt—and suggests three specific use cases: an Accelerated Coal Power Retirement Mechanism (ACPRM), an Accelerated Energy Efficiency Adoption Mechanism (AEEAM), and Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) for adaptation. It identifies specific priority countries for these mechanisms, such as Vietnam and the Philippines for coal retirement, and South Africa and Uzbekistan for energy efficiency, based on energy intensity and carbon dependency data.

The document outlines two primary structures for Recovery Bonds: sovereign green bonds, which earmark proceeds for eligible environmental projects, and Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform (FFSR) bonds, which use future savings from the removal of fossil fuel subsidies as a notional basis for repayment. It provides a step-by-step issuance guide for green bonds and identifies high-potential target markets for FFSR bonds, including China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and Vietnam, with a cumulative potential of USD 500 billion. The report argues that green stimulus offers higher economic multipliers and job creation compared to traditional recovery spending.

The survey of 1,269 residents in Helsinki and Tallinn reveals a high valuation of urban nature for pollution reduction, habitat provision, and relaxation, while economic value and community building are seen as less important. Residents in both cities expressed concerns over antisocial behavior and the risk of crime in isolated green areas, as well as the loss of 'wild' nature to infill building. Preferred new green elements include trees, green walls, and meadows. Regarding urban planning, approximately 50% of respondents felt their cities did not actively promote participation opportunities, showing a preference for 3D/VR tools and direct engagement like walks with planners over social interaction with other residents. Area-specific analysis highlights the use of Kalasatama and the Pollinator Highway primarily for exercise, daily errands, and commuting, with walking and cycling as the dominant modes of transport.

The report finds that SDG implementation in Sri Lanka is highly synergistic, with only 2% of direct interactions between analyzed targets being restricting. Key 'accelerators' with the highest outward influence include policy coherence, reducing corruption, and climate change capacity. Conversely, targets like drinking water and housing show the lowest outward influence due to potential trade-offs with environmental and resource management. The study emphasizes that because targets are closely intertwined, Sri Lanka requires cross-sectoral collaboration rather than siloed approaches.

The report examines the ecological importance of Arctic wetlands, particularly their role in global carbon storage and biodiversity, while analyzing the public policy frameworks used by Arctic states to manage them. It highlights that while scientific knowledge of wetland functions is extensive, significant gaps exist in policy coherence, the influence of societal interest networks, and real-time mapping. The document advocates for a Social-Ecological Systems (SES) approach to stewardship, emphasizing the necessity of indigenous and local community participation and the adoption of advanced geospatial AI tools to improve wetland inventories and monitoring.

The UNEP Regional Seas Programme employs a regionalized approach to ocean governance, coordinating actions across 18 Conventions and Action Plans involving over 146 countries. While it has achieved significant milestones in pollution management and biodiversity conservation, its effectiveness is hindered by political instability, funding gaps, and weak enforcement.

The first meeting of Ethiopia's National Community of Practice (COP) for Gender Equality and Social Inclusion in Climate Change took place on April 26, 2021. The meeting aimed to establish a coordinating body to address the limited integration of gender into climate actions, which previous assessments attributed to inadequate human and financial capacity within gender-mandated directorates. Key outcomes included the endorsement of the COP's Terms of Reference and the drafting of a one-year work plan featuring policy analysis, project mapping, and capacity audits. The COP is co-chaired by the Women, Children and Youth Directorates of the Ministry of Finance and the Environment, Forest and Climate Change Commission.