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The document outlines a framework for transitioning away from fossil fuels (TAFF), emphasizing that roadmaps must be anchored in scientific alignment, the CBDR-RC principle, and national ownership. It argues that national plans should integrate energy access, subsidy reform, and economic diversification, while international efforts require structured producer-consumer coordination and reform of global finance systems. The guide aims to support 2026 initiatives, including the Brazilian COP 30 Presidency's global roadmap, to address the misalignment between current fossil fuel production plans and climate science.

The report examines the nexus between youth employment and Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) technology in Ghana. It finds a significant disconnect between national policy frameworks and the operational realities of youth-led startups, which face severe constraints in financing, regulatory compliance, and market adoption. While Indigenous knowledge is heavily integrated into product design, it lacks formal policy support and documentation. The study recommends streamlining business registration, operationalizing the National Green Jobs Strategy, and creating targeted financial and gender-inclusive support systems to scale CSA tech as a viable employment pathway for Ghanaian youth.

The GCF's 2025 administrative budget saw a total expenditure of USD 131.7 million, representing 98% of the approved USD 134.5 million budget. While the Board and Secretariat remained broadly within their budget envelopes, the Trustee's expenditure reached 130% of its budget due to higher-than-expected average annual cash balances. The independent units' execution was 88% overall, with the Independent Evaluation Unit spending 82% of its budget. Significant year-on-year increases in Secretariat spending were noted in travel (48%) and consultants (41%), driven by record programme delivery of USD 3.26 billion across 50 projects in 2025.

The GCF Accreditation Panel recommends the accreditation of the Bank of Bhutan Limited (BoB) as a national direct access entity for 'small' projects with a 'medium risk (I-2)' environmental and social category. While BoB demonstrates strong institutional presence as Bhutan's largest commercial bank and a track record in green financing, the assessment identified gaps in internal audit quality assurance, public disclosure of procurement and investigation guidelines, and the operationalization of its grievance redress mechanism. The recommendation is subject to specific conditions to be met both before the issuance of the accreditation certificate and before the submission of the first funding proposal, including the development of a Gender Action Plan and the implementation of risk-based E&S screening tools.

The GCF Accreditation Panel recommends the World Health Organization (WHO) for accreditation under the 'medium' size category and 'medium risk (category B)' environmental and social risk category. The assessment finds that WHO meets basic fiduciary standards, project management standards, and gender policy requirements. While WHO's Environmental and Social Safeguards Framework (ESSF) is considered adequate, the panel noted a gap regarding the lack of an external evaluation of the ESSF, which is set as a condition for accreditation to be resolved within two years of the first funded activity. WHO's track record includes managing large-scale grants, such as a USD 192.92 million project for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative and various climate-resilient health projects in the Pacific and Asia.

The evaluation concludes that the SAP has become operationally ineffective, failing to deliver on its promises of simplification and acceleration. While it has provided unintended value as a 'stepping-stone' for Direct Access Entities (DAEs) to build institutional capacity, it is now virtually indistinguishable from the standard Project Approval Process (PAP). The report recommends discontinuing the SAP in its current form and replacing it with a new, integrated access modality featuring delegated authority and a focus on replicating proven interventions rather than piloting new ideas.

The evaluation finds that while country ownership is a core principle of the GCF, its operationalization is uneven and often reduced to procedural compliance. Key structural bottlenecks include limited institutional capacity of National Designated Authorities (NDAs), a heavy reliance on International Accredited Entities (IAEs) over Direct Access Entities (DAEs), and a lack of meaningful whole-of-society engagement. The report recommends shifting from a process-based approach to one focused on long-term institution-building, simplifying access to finance, and embedding inclusivity as a cultural default.

The report argues that AI can significantly accelerate the energy transition in ASEAN by managing the complexity of rising variable renewable energy (VRE) shares. It identifies five key AI applications—forecasting, predictive maintenance, dispatch optimisation, real-time control, and dynamic line rating—that can reduce operational costs and emissions. While ASEAN shows strong digital readiness, current AI adoption is fragmented and pilot-based. The report estimates that widespread AI adoption could save up to $67 billion and reduce nearly 400 million tonnes of CO2 by 2035, provided that regulatory, data, and cybersecurity challenges are addressed.

The briefing examines the limitations of North-South Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPs), specifically regarding funding, local ownership, and equity. It proposes South-South cooperation as a complementary approach that leverages peer learning and context-specific solutions to integrate local development needs like energy access and job creation. Using the experiences of South Africa and Colombia, the text identifies specific areas for collaboration, including mine closures and green industrialization, while noting that institutional support and inclusive participation are necessary to achieve transformative development goals.

The Cities4Forests initiative mobilized $115 million to restore 320,000 acres of forests and watersheds across 15 US states, utilizing innovative financial tools like the Forest Resilience Bond and green bonds. These efforts aim to mitigate the $900 billion in annual losses caused by wildfires, which now burn over 7 million acres annually. Key projects include restoration in the Tahoe National Forest, the Upper Weber River watershed, and around Lake Maumelle, collectively supporting 260 jobs and avoiding over 10 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

Caribbean civil society representatives call for a just energy transition characterized by increased renewable energy affordability, infrastructure development, and workforce upskilling. They advocate for the reform of the international financial architecture to provide grants and loans suitable for small islands, the establishment of a Just Transition Fund, and the adoption of a Fossil Fuel Treaty to ensure a binding phase-out timeline and inclusive decision-making. The group urges the creation of a month-to-month Monitoring and Evaluation Mechanism to track the implementation of outcomes from the upcoming Santa Marta Conference.

The report examines the challenges and opportunities for African energy exporters facing the EU Methane Regulation, which imposes extraterritorial monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) standards on imports. While Africa accounts for nearly 13% of global methane emissions, the continent faces significant financing gaps and technical barriers to compliance. The authors argue that while the regulation threatens export revenues, it provides a strategic opportunity to adopt low-cost abatement technologies. Key recommendations include mobilising innovative financing like transition bonds, establishing local independent verification capacity, and harmonising MRV standards to maintain market access to the EU.

The report examines how the petrochemical industry serves as a 'Plan B' for fossil fuel companies, creating physical and economic lock-in that threatens global decarbonization efforts. It highlights the rapid growth of plastics and ammonia production, the environmental and health costs of these chemicals, and the use of 'transition narratives' to justify new fossil infrastructure. The authors propose five strategic levers—financial strain, market uncertainty, greenwashing, human health impacts, and just transition frameworks—to curb this expansion and enable a full fossil fuel phaseout.

The Climate Bonds Green Bond Dataset (GBD) applies a science-based, independent screening process to labelled green bonds to determine their environmental credibility. Rather than relying on issuer claims or regulatory compliance, the GBD uses the Climate Bonds Criteria and an internal screening library to classify bonds as 'Aligned', 'Not aligned', or 'Pending'. The methodology specifically excludes activities that risk 'carbon lock-in', such as fossil fuel infrastructure, and treats non-alignment or data gaps as diagnostic signals of market shortcomings.

As of year-end 2025, the cumulative issuance of GSS+ bonds meeting Climate Bonds Initiative standards reached USD 6.8 trillion. Green bonds remain the dominant segment, surpassing USD 4 trillion in outstanding balance. The report highlights a growing focus on adaptation and resilience (A&R) finance, exemplified by the world's first certified resilience bond issued by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the development of the Climate Bonds Resilience Taxonomy (CBRT).

The Climate Bonds Core Methodology for Data Products provides a science-based framework for evaluating labelled-debt instruments, including green, social, sustainability, and sustainability-linked bonds. It employs a tiered system consisting of the Core Methodology, dataset-level methodologies, and an internal screening library to ensure consistency and credibility. Instruments are screened based on their use-of-proceeds (UoP) or key performance indicators (KPIs) and classified as 'aligned', 'not aligned', or 'pending'. The framework prioritizes avoiding 'fossil-fuel lock-in' and uses a materiality-based approach for tagging sub-themes such as biodiversity and climate resilience. While external reviews are considered supplementary, alignment is determined independently through a systematic review of issuer disclosures and formal transaction documentation.

As of the end of 2025, the Climate Bonds Initiative recorded a cumulative aligned GSS+ debt volume of USD6.8tn, with annual aligned volume reaching USD1.0tn for the third consecutive year. Green bonds remain the dominant label, accounting for 64% of 2025 aligned volume (USD653.5bn), while sustainability bonds reached a record annual volume of USD217.3bn. Europe leads globally in both annual and cumulative aligned volume, though the USA remains the largest single country source of cumulative aligned volume at USD887.4bn. The report also highlights the launch of the Climate Bonds Resilience Taxonomy (CBRT) to address the funding gap for climate adaptation and resilience, exemplified by the world's first CBRT-certified resilience bond issued by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

ClientEarth argues that the MSFD has failed to achieve Good Environmental Status (GES) by its 2020 deadline and proposes a revision that turns GES into a binding 'obligation of result'. The response calls for clear, quantifiable EU-wide thresholds, the introduction of interim targets, and a strict non-deterioration obligation. It emphasizes the need for policy coherence between the MSFD and the proposed Ocean Act, as well as the alignment of fisheries management and climate obligations with marine protection. Furthermore, it advocates for dedicated funding streams and the introduction of robust compliance mechanisms, including access to justice, dissuasive penalties, and a right to compensation for damages resulting from breaches of the directive.

The 12th Meeting of the San Giorgio Group (SGG12) focused on moving climate finance from ideas to large-scale delivery, emphasizing system coherence and country-level impact. The group highlighted that annual climate finance now exceeds USD 2 trillion, driven by renewable energy and transport electrification. Key priorities include reforming Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), scaling guarantees and catalytic equity, and addressing the high cost of capital in developing countries. The agenda also calls for 'radical localism' to center people in the climate narrative and suggests leveraging artificial intelligence and underutilized public financing institutions, such as export credit agencies, to accelerate the energy transition.

The report finds that while agricultural credit flows to the Cerrado are significant, the current financial architecture fails to align with sustainability goals. Sustainable credit is limited, highly concentrated among large producers and a few financial institutions, and lacks sufficient territorial coverage, particularly in the Matopiba region. The authors recommend improving transparency through tools like the Brazilian Sustainable Taxonomy, increasing the share of financing linked to sustainability results, and scaling innovative blended finance mechanisms to mobilize private capital.