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The report examines the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus in Latin America and the Caribbean, highlighting how the region's reliance on natural resources creates critical trade-offs. It argues that while LAC is resource-abundant, fragmented governance and climate change threaten security. The document proposes a framework for action based on infrastructure, information, institutions, and investment to transition toward climate-compatible development.

The Green Climate Fund reached operational effectiveness in May 2015 after securing signed contribution agreements totaling US$ 5.47 billion, exceeding the 50 per cent threshold of its US$ 10 billion in pledges. The Fund has accredited seven initial entities and is implementing a Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme to assist over 120 developing countries in nominating national designated authorities and developing climate strategies. It has also established initial investment, risk management, and results management frameworks to begin funding mitigation and adaptation projects by its third meeting in 2015.

The document outlines the strategic priorities of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) for the 2015 Paris climate agreement, emphasizing the need for equity, adaptation, and financial support. It details the role of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) and the challenges of closing the 'ambition gap' to limit global warming to 2°C. The briefing highlights the importance of the Common But Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR) principle and the necessity of developed countries fulfilling their 100 billion USD annual climate finance pledge by 2020.

The document outlines the Pan-African Parliament's (PAP) expectations for the 2015 Paris Agreement, emphasizing the need for equity, justice, and a legally binding framework. It highlights the critical role of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) and the necessity of closing the ambition and finance gaps. The PAP advocates for a strong focus on adaptation, the operationalization of the 'common but differentiated responsibilities' (CBDR) principle, and the fulfillment of the $100 billion annual climate finance commitment by developed nations. It also discusses the technical challenges of the negotiations, including the legal form of the agreement and the management of loss and damage.

The report examines the intersection of energy poverty and gender inequality in West Africa, highlighting how socially determined roles lead to differential access to and use of energy services. It identifies significant barriers for women in the energy workforce and entrepreneurship, including gaps in STEM education and limited access to land and finance. The document assesses the existing regional and national policy landscapes, noting a general lack of gender-disaggregated data and limited collaboration between energy and gender ministries. It argues for a gender-responsive approach to energy planning to maximize the impact of interventions and achieve universal energy access by 2030.

The document analyzes the 'accountability chains' of various private financial instruments to determine if they share the climate-related goals necessary to be counted as climate finance. It contrasts public finance, which has a continuous accountability chain focused on public goods, with private instruments like commercial debt, where investors prioritize financial returns over climate outcomes. While green bonds and philanthropy show aligned goals, equity and remittances present complexities regarding transparency, reversibility, and the nature of the benefits delivered.

The SEI Initiative on Climate Finance focuses on enhancing the delivery and effectiveness of climate finance for developing countries. It addresses four primary areas: defining and evaluating effectiveness to ensure long-term social and economic change; reforming the fragmented global finance architecture to reduce transaction costs; analyzing the role and viability of private finance in adaptation and energy transitions; and operationalizing the concept of 'intolerable risks' to better address loss and damage.

The SEI Initiative on Fossil Fuels and Climate Change, launched in January 2015, focuses on the supply side of climate policy to prevent the 'lock-in' of fossil fuel dependence. The initiative investigates the emissions implications of infrastructure, the political economy of extraction, and the role of international governance. It employs a multi-disciplinary approach involving energy modelling and political economy analysis, with specific case studies in Colombia, South Africa, Indonesia, Norway, and the U.S. to examine the interplay between resource exploitation and low-carbon development goals.

The Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) provides several specialized tools for climate action: LEAP for integrated energy planning and GHG mitigation; WEAP for integrated water resources planning and 'climate-proofing'; REAP and REAP Petite for consumption-based environmental impact accounting; and weADAPT, a collaborative web-based platform for sharing adaptation knowledge. SEI also leads the PROVIA Guidance project to provide technical guidance for National Adaptation Plans (NAPs). The institute's current strategy focuses on expanding capacity-building, creating 'toolkits' to address resource trade-offs, and making these technical tools more accessible to non-experts through visualization and cloud-based platforms.

The SEI Strategy 2015–2019 establishes a framework to bridge science and policy through three primary delivery areas: scientific research, policy engagement, and capacity development. The institute aims to shift from traditional reporting toward a more integrated approach that includes behavioral science, geopolitics, and targeted communication. Central to this strategy is the launch of 'SEI Initiatives'—specialized research hubs focusing on critical issues like climate finance, fossil fuels, and the water-energy-food nexus. The document also details the enabling infrastructure required for these goals, including the PMEC monitoring system and a suite of analytical tools such as LEAP and WEAP, while emphasizing the need to engage 'hard-to-reach' stakeholders in the private sector.

The paper proposes four complementary mechanisms to enhance the UNFCCC's effectiveness for the 2015 agreement: specifying a global long-term emissions goal (such as net zero by mid-century), establishing a predictable commitment cycle for national contributions, ensuring each cycle results in increased emissions reductions, and implementing an assessment and revision process to identify further low-carbon policies.

The document argues that the 2015 climate change agreement requires a new mitigation architecture that balances national ownership with multilateral coherence to keep global temperature rise below 2°C. It suggests a system of "levels" of guidance for emission reduction offers, starting with simple common parameters and increasing in complexity, alongside a systematic and frequent approach to submitting and reviewing offers to drive necessary reductions.

The report argues for integrating a 'capabilities approach'—derived from the work of Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum—into global climate policy, specifically the 2015 international climate agreement. It suggests that climate policies, such as renewable energy and carbon pricing, should be designed to strengthen the basic capabilities of the least well-off rather than diminish them. The document recommends that the UNFCCC incorporate capabilities into the evaluation of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) and across all core agreement elements, including finance and technology, to achieve equitable climate action.

The document highlights the potency of methane as a climate pollutant and the potential for federal regulations to reduce U.S. natural gas production leaks and venting by up to 50% using existing technologies.

The document outlines the role of the Biennial Assessment (BA) in tracking climate finance flows from industrialised to developing countries to support the goal of limiting global temperature increases to 2 degrees Celsius. It highlights the commitment of industrialised governments to provide US$ 100 billion per year by 2020 and emphasizes the necessity of Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) to ensure transparency and effectiveness in mitigation and adaptation activities.

The briefing outlines three key areas of contention at the COP 20 climate talks in Lima: the establishment of a formal process to assess the ambition and fairness of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), the mobilization of $100 billion in dedicated climate finance by 2020, and the integration of adaptation goals and assessment cycles into the final agreement. It emphasizes that these decisions are essential prerequisites for the agreement to be concluded in Paris at the end of 2015.

The document examines the paradox of resource-led growth in sub-Saharan Africa, where windfall revenues from minerals and hydrocarbons often correlate with declining governance and institutional quality. It highlights the negative externalities of extraction and the role of foreign investment in shaping 'elite bargains' between political and business leaders. The author argues that for resource wealth to foster sustainable development, research must focus on reducing commodity concentration, improving institutional accountability, and balancing the trade-offs between extractive growth and climate change mitigation.

The statement criticizes developed nations, specifically Japan, for using climate finance to fund coal-fired power plants in developing countries like Indonesia. It highlights a lack of coherent rules for the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and argues that current international climate agreements, including the US-China deal, are insufficient and non-binding. The author demands that climate finance be restricted to renewable energy and that developed countries fulfill their 'climate debt' through public finance and technology transfers.

The brief advocates for the systematic review of intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs) to ensure global mitigation efforts are fair and sufficient to keep warming below 2°C, arguing that such assessments can provide clear results even when using a broad range of fairness perspectives.

The document outlines the first Biennial Assessment (BA) of climate finance flows, highlighting the critical need for an internationally agreed-upon definition of 'climate finance' to ensure transparency and track progress toward the 2 degree Celsius target. It identifies significant data gaps in energy efficiency and private sector flows, and recommends that the COP strengthen measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) systems to improve the comparability of global finance data.