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This policy brief examines China's strategic pursuit of natural resources and its expanding investment footprint in the Mekong region, specifically in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. It details China's shift toward securing raw materials through direct investment and state-backed financing, while highlighting the resulting environmental and social risks for host countries.

This research paper by Dr Jakkie Cilliers of the Institute for Security Studies argues that Africa's high dependency on natural resources creates severe adaptive challenges when facing the combined pressures of climate change and population growth.

This case study by Natural Justice details a legal action brought by 25 children and young adults against the Colombian government and 14 municipalities regarding deforestation in the Colombian Amazon. The Colombia Supreme Court ruled on April 5, 2018, recognizing the Colombian Amazon as a subject of rights and ordering the government to implement action plans to reach net-zero deforestation by 2020.

The 'Les Soleils du Garamba' project is a Team Europe-funded initiative to deploy green mini-grid energy infrastructure in the Democratic Republic of Congo to reduce environmental pressures on Garamba National Park and improve regional stability.

The G20 Agriculture Ministers’ Meeting Outcome Document and Chair's Summary, convened on 18 September 2025 in Cape Town, South Africa, outlines a strategic framework to address global food insecurity and malnutrition. Under the South African Presidency's theme of 'Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability', the ministers identified four priority areas: inclusive market participation, empowerment of youth and women, innovation and technology, and climate resilience. The document emphasizes the role of multilateral trade, public-private partnerships, and the voluntary transfer of technology to transform global food systems.

This policy briefing examines the ecological importance and governance challenges of the Eastern Arc Mountains in Tanzania and Kenya. It highlights that approximately 70% of the original forest cover has been lost due to deforestation and degradation, driven largely by population growth and a heavy reliance on biomass for energy. Despite a comprehensive policy framework and significant donor funding—including REDD+ initiatives—the document argues that governance failures, lack of state funding, and poor enforcement of local by-laws have hindered conservation efforts.

This report, produced by Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), provides a comprehensive analysis of the clean cooking sector in Madagascar. It evaluates current fuel and stove usage, estimates the production potential of various biofuels, and models two transition scenarios toward 2030: a 'base scenario' aligned with national policy and a 'universal access scenario' aligned with SDG7. The analysis highlights the severe health and environmental impacts of traditional cooking and quantifies the financial gaps and social benefits associated with transitioning to modern energy services.

This SEI fact sheet examines the impact of land-use change, deforestation, and decentralized water infrastructure on the hydrology of the Chiquitano dry forest in Bolivia, specifically within the Santa Cruz Department. It highlights the proliferation of 'atajados' (artificial storage ponds) and groundwater wells driven by agricultural expansion, noting that these unregulated diversions are not currently represented in regional hydrologic models and may threaten downstream ecosystems and water availability.

The CHAPOSA project investigated charcoal production and forest depletion in the supply areas of Lusaka (Zambia), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), and Maputo (Mozambique) between 1989 and 1998. The report finds that woodland cover is reducing in all three regions due to charcoal production and agricultural expansion, with the most severe depletion occurring around Maputo. While charcoal provides a critical income source for the rural poor and an affordable energy source for the urban poor, the current system is largely unregulated, with state licensing and fee collection being highly ineffective. The report recommends a coordinated policy approach: enforcing fiscal systems to fund forest management, while simultaneously providing rural agricultural support and expanding urban electricity access to reduce dependence on charcoal.

This fact sheet by the Stockholm Environment Institute describes the threats to biodiversity and local livelihoods in the Chindwin River Basin of Myanmar, identifying key vulnerable areas and providing policy recommendations for integrated water resources management and institutional coordination.

This research paper, prepared by the Stockholm Environment Institute for the New Climate Economy, examines the health, economic, and environmental impacts of traditional biomass cooking in sub-Saharan Africa. It analyzes the challenges of transitioning to clean cooking energy and provides case studies from Mali, Ghana, Ethiopia, and Kenya to identify success factors for scaling up improved cookstove interventions.

This briefing note presents the results of a vulnerability assessment conducted between 2011 and 2012 in the Monte Alén–Monts de Cristal landscape, specifically focusing on Atom village in Equatorial Guinea. The study, part of the COBAM project, examines how climate-related disturbances, socio-economic shifts toward an oil economy, and forest degradation affect local livelihoods and food security.

This briefing by the Stockholm Environment Institute examines future pathways for household biomass use in Ethiopia from 2013 to 2030. Using the LEAP model, it compares a baseline scenario with 'moderate shift' and 'high shift' scenarios to evaluate the potential for reducing wood consumption and greenhouse gas emissions through the adoption of improved cookstoves and fuel-switching to electricity, biogas, and bioethanol.

This briefing describes a pilot study conducted by GFA Consulting Group and the Stockholm Environment Institute to assess the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus in Zambia. The appraisal examines the interdependencies between governance and bio-physical perspectives, highlighting how agricultural transformation and energy transitions compete for limited resources like water and biomass.

The Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) strategy for 2025–29 focuses on accelerating the implementation of climate and sustainability goals through five new strategic directions and three core impact areas: climate transitions, nature and resources, and health and wellbeing.

This policy brief, published by the Stockholm Environment Institute in June 2015, defines 'frontier landscapes' as remote, sparsely populated areas undergoing rapid transformation due to agricultural expansion and socio-economic shifts. Based on a multi-stakeholder forum at the Global Landscapes Forum in Lima, Peru, the document outlines six propositions to foster sustainable, inclusive, and legitimate development in these regions, emphasizing the need for early action, common ground, institutional capacity, political support, valuation of actor diversity, and robust monitoring.

The UK Soy Manifesto is a collective industry commitment to ensure that all physical shipments of soy imported into the UK are free from deforestation and conversion. Signatories commit to implementing these standards immediately where possible, and no later than 2025, using a cut-off date of January 2020 for deforestation and conversion.

This policy brief by Transforma outlines strategies to integrate the forestry sector into Colombia's economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic. It identifies critical systemic failures in information management, institutional coordination, and financing, while highlighting the sector's potential for greenhouse gas mitigation and rural poverty reduction. The document provides specific recommendations to formalize the sector, combat illegal logging, and optimize commercial plantations to increase the forestry sector's contribution to the national GDP.

This policy brief by civil society groups argues against the Indonesian government's plan to open 20 million hectares of forest for food and energy self-sufficiency, claiming it will lead to massive deforestation, human rights violations, and ecological disasters.

This briefing paper by Trend Asia criticizes the Indonesian government's continued reliance on coal-fired power plants (PLTU) despite escalating climate disasters and negative socio-economic impacts. It details legal challenges brought by civil society organizations and affected citizens against the National Electricity General Plan (RUKN) 2025-2060 and the Electricity Supply Business Plan (RUPTL) 2025-2034, arguing that these documents perpetuate fossil fuel dependency and ignore public health and environmental risks.