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In 2022, the United States had over 4.2 million climate jobs, with clean energy job creation outpacing overall job growth. Energy efficiency was the largest sector with 2.2 million jobs, followed by public transportation (821,220) and electricity transmission and distribution (over 703,000). Significant growth was observed in clean vehicles, which grew by 14.7%, and grid modernization, which saw an 11.6% increase in electricity transmission and distribution. Federal laws like the Inflation Reduction Act are expected to create over 303,500 annual construction jobs and 100,000 permanent jobs. Adaptation and resilience jobs are emerging across all 50 states, though exact total figures are unavailable.

The 2024 National Budget continues a decade-long trend of budget cuts to achieve a primary budget surplus and stabilise debt, despite high levels of poverty and unemployment in South Africa. The IEJ argues that the National Treasury's claim of insufficient funds is contradicted by the drawdown of R150 billion from the Gold and Foreign Exchange Contingency Reserve Account (GFECRA). The document highlights real-term declines in per capita non-interest expenditure, social grant values, and spending on healthcare and education. It proposes alternative revenue sources, such as wealth taxes and taxing financial transactions, to fund essential services and job creation. The IEJ criticises the reliance on Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) for infrastructure and electricity, warning of fiscal risks and potential tariff increases.

The Sharm-el-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda (SAA) serves as a global framework to drive adaptation and resilience transformations across food, water, health, and infrastructure systems. Launched at COP28, the First Implementation Report identifies progress in planning, finance, and technology, while emphasizing the role of businesses, financiers, and local changemakers as catalysts for transformational change.

WRI Indonesia's Cities4Forests initiative helped Jakarta implement two new regulations in 2021 regarding tree management and park provision. This collaboration led to the creation of 54 new urban parks since 2022 and the planting of over 65,000 urban trees, specifically targeting underserved areas to mitigate air pollution, extreme heat, and flooding.

WRI implemented over 30 nature-based projects in Mumbai, Kochi, and Jaipur, including urban farming and water-body restoration, to combat climate risks like urban flooding and extreme heat. These initiatives, which included a school-based gardening project in Mumbai scaling to 250 schools and an urban farm at Jaipur Central Jail, led to the establishment of India's first national-level forum on urban nature-based solutions to share best practices and scale these approaches across Indian cities.

The E-Mobility Program, managed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), aims to replace fossil-fuel buses with battery electric buses (BEBs) and improve urban mobility in Armenia, Georgia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Nepal, and Uzbekistan. The program integrates mitigation (reducing GHG emissions) with adaptation (increasing infrastructure resilience to floods and heat) and focuses on innovative business models to overcome high upfront costs. It requests USD 169.92 million from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to leverage a total investment of USD 454.4 million.

The IEJ criticizes President Ramaphosa's SONA for lacking concrete plans to address South Africa's economic crises, poverty, and unemployment. The organization urges MPs to question the President on the sustainability of the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant, the risks of private sector-led infrastructure and energy transitions, the 'starvation' of public services by the National Treasury, and the failure to hold state capture perpetrators accountable. The IEJ specifically calls for a transition to a Universal Basic Income Guarantee and the use of the Gold and Foreign Exchange Contingency Reserve Account (GFECRA) to fund developmental priorities.

The COP 28 Resilience Hub Synthesis Report outlines four primary cross-cutting messages from its sessions: the need for climate finance architecture reform to scale innovative resilience funding, the necessity of centering equity and justice in partnerships, the importance of gender-specific and socio-cultural considerations at the intersection of health and climate, and the risk that increasing conflict and violence may reverse development gains. The report also incorporates insights from Regional Hubs and nine specific themes explored during COP28.

The report confirms that the Building Climate Resilience for Food and Livelihoods in the Horn of Africa (BREFOL) programme, managed by the African Development Bank, is classified as an Environmental and Social Safeguards (ESS) Category B programme. It documents the disclosure of Environmental and Social Management Frameworks (ESMF) and Environmental and Social Management Plans (ESMP) on February 2, 2024, in English, French, Amharic, and Somali across Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and South Sudan.

The report identifies a significant global gap in healthcare electrification, with an estimated 1 billion people lacking reliable power at local facilities and a total investment need of USD 4.9 billion. While solar PV systems dominate current initiatives, the report argues for a shift from short-term procurement models (EPC) to long-term service-based models (ESCO) to ensure sustainable operation and maintenance (O&M). Key recommendations include developing country-specific taxonomies, enhancing inter-sectoral coordination between health and energy ministries, and leveraging climate finance and decentralized renewable energy certificates (D-RECs) to bridge the funding gap.

The report highlights the economic vulnerability of the 13 million people in the global tea sector, particularly smallholder farmers in developing countries who produced 60% of the world's tea in 2022. While voluntary sustainability standards (VSSs) cover at least a quarter of global production, their impact on farmer incomes is limited, often because 90% of VSS-compliant tea is sold as conventional. The document calls for new approaches to reward sustainable practices and ensure fairer production.

The proposal identifies significant barriers preventing the Chadian private sector from contributing to climate action, including the NDA's poor understanding of private sector roles and a lack of national technical expertise in climate finance. To address these, the project proposes a series of capacity-building activities: training the NDA on GCF private sector facilities, establishing a private sector coordination mechanism, developing a roadmap for the accreditation of a private sector Direct Access Entity, and creating a knowledge management system. The project will be implemented by the Institut de la Francophonie pour le Développement Durable (IFDD) over 18 months, with a strong focus on gender mainstreaming, targeting at least 40% female participation in training and strategy development.

The Union of Concerned Scientists provides a guide for voters to hold 2024 political candidates accountable across several key areas: clean energy and transportation, climate accountability, climate change resilience, food system reform, nuclear weapons policy and justice, and the protection of scientific integrity within federal agencies.

This briefing by Somos El Cambio explains the necessity of the energy transition, defined as phasing out fossil fuels in favor of renewable sources and more efficient energy use to mitigate global warming. It highlights the economic and environmental benefits of this shift, particularly for Latin America and the Caribbean, while emphasizing the need for fairness and equity to avoid repeating the extractivist patterns of the fossil fuel era.

The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), established by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, provides USD 27 billion in grants to mobilize financing for GHG emissions reduction in the United States, specifically targeting low-income and disadvantaged communities (LIDACs). While the fund offers a transformative opportunity to align climate mitigation with economic development and climate justice, the report identifies significant barriers, including short implementation timeframes, varying operational capacities among community development financial institutions (CDFIs), and a shortage of skilled workforce and project pipelines. To overcome these, the report recommends catalyzing private capital through secondary markets and blended finance, standardizing underwriting and financial products, implementing a hub-and-spoke technical assistance framework, aligning government efforts across all levels, and establishing a collaborative 'sandbox' culture for systemic learning.

The report examines the global tea market, highlighting the vulnerability of smallholder farmers to price volatility and climate change. It assesses the impact of voluntary sustainability standards (VSSs) like Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance, noting that while they can provide price floors and premiums, a significant amount of certified tea is still sold as conventional. The document argues for a shift toward more transparent pricing, direct trade, and sustainable land management to ensure living incomes for producers.

The document outlines an ESMP for the Jigme Khesar Strict Nature Reserve (JKSNR) in Bhutan, focusing on two primary activities: the restoration of alpine meadows and the maintenance of the Sangbay Park Range Office. It establishes a framework for mitigating environmental risks, such as forest fires and waste generation, and social risks, specifically worker health and safety. The plan integrates both Royal Government of Bhutan (RGoB) laws and WWF's Social Safeguards Integrated Policies and Procedures (SIPP), with the latter prevailing in cases of discrepancy. It includes detailed occupational health and safety (OHS) standards, monitoring arrangements, and grievance redressal mechanisms to ensure the project supports biodiversity conservation and climate resilience.

The document outlines a site-specific management plan for the Nature Conservation Division (NCD) in Bhutan to ensure that infrastructure improvements and wildlife facility upgrades are conducted with minimal environmental and social harm. It specifies four primary activities: securing a wildlife taxidermy store, remodeling a wildlife rescue center and office floors, installing shipment containers for seized items, and expanding the Takin Interpretation Center gallery. The plan establishes mitigation measures for construction waste, noise, dust, and occupational health and safety, while aligning project safeguards with both Royal Government of Bhutan laws and WWF International's Social Safeguards Integrated Policies and Procedures. It also details a comprehensive grievance redressal mechanism and strict occupational health and safety standards for workers.

The ESMP for Phibsoo Wildlife Sanctuary (PWS) outlines safeguards for two primary activities: river bank protection in the Nichula range and the development of ecotourism amenities at the Wangchulingka outpost. It defines mitigation measures for waste, noise, and worker safety, while ensuring compliance with both Royal Government of Bhutan (RGoB) laws and WWF's Social Safeguards Integrated Policies and Procedures (SIPP). The plan includes detailed occupational health and safety standards and a multi-tiered grievance redressal mechanism.

The 2023 study found that none of the five water infrastructure investments in Garissa County were fully functional, with three partially functional and two non-functional. The primary drivers of failure were a lack of dedicated budgets for operations and maintenance (O&M), capacity gaps in local management, and limited early engagement with water institutions. The report recommends establishing sustainable financing mechanisms, integrating renewable energy to lower costs, and strengthening the technical and project management skills of local site committees.