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The report investigates voluntary certification in three high-impact sectors: fisheries, palm oil, and textiles. It concludes that a proliferation of low-ambition schemes creates consumer confusion and allows companies to 'greenwash' unsustainable practices. In fisheries, the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and Friend of the Sea (FOS) are criticized for certifying fisheries with high bycatch and destructive methods. In palm oil, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and government-led schemes like ISPO are found ineffective at stopping deforestation and peatland drainage. In textiles, the report highlights the lack of transparency in the Higg Index and the low standards of the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) compared to the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS). The authors call for the abolition of the least ambitious schemes and a shift toward mandatory due diligence, transparency, and science-based regulations.

The document analyzes the rapid expansion of Indonesia's coal sector, driven by political decentralization and intertwined interests between politicians and mining companies. It examines the resulting environmental and social legacies, recent government attempts to regulate the sector through licensing reforms and production caps, and the impact of global shifts toward renewable energy and divestment from coal.

The research examines the adoption of ethanol stoves in Maputo, finding that while users appreciate the convenience and cleanliness compared to charcoal, adoption is low (17%) and often replaces other clean fuels like LPG or electricity rather than charcoal. High costs, poor fuel quality, and design flaws are primary barriers to sustained use.

The document highlights the link between cocoa cultivation and dramatic forest loss in key producing regions, specifically noting that cocoa is the top driver of deforestation in Ivory Coast and Ghana. While it acknowledges a commitment by major chocolate companies and the governments of Ivory Coast and Ghana to 'No New Deforestation' in West Africa, it argues that this effort must be expanded globally to protect biodiversity in countries like Cameroon, Indonesia, and Peru. The guide encourages consumers to use a scoring system based on three criteria: participation in the West African pact, adoption of worldwide shade-grown agroforestry policies, and a global commitment to refuse deforestation cocoa.

The study finds that while woodfuel demand contributes to moderate degradation in Haiti, it is less severe than typically portrayed, though a business-as-usual scenario predicts a 4%±1% decline in above-ground woody biomass by 2027.

The report introduces Sustainable Land Bonds (SLBs), which are sovereign bonds used to finance low-carbon land management. Unlike standard bonds, SLBs are paired with Results-Based Payment (RBP) agreements where third parties offset interest costs if the issuing country meets specific emission reduction targets. This model aims to help tropical forest countries achieve their Paris Agreement Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) while stimulating rural economic growth and attracting institutional investment.

The document outlines the legal outcomes of a Supreme Court decision on the Brazilian Forest Code, detailing the special regimes for landowners who deforested before July 2008, the role of the Environmental Regularization Program (PRA), and specific rules for Legal Forest Reserves and Permanent Preservation Areas (APP).

The document details the STF's decision that the 2012 Forest Code does not result in environmental regression, while specifying five points of unconstitutionality. It explains the benefits available to producers who deforested before July 22, 2008, including the suspension of fines through Environmental Regularization Programs (PRAs) and flexible restoration requirements. The briefing emphasizes that registration in the Rural Environmental Registry (CAR) by May 31, 2018, is mandatory for accessing these benefits and obtaining rural credit. It concludes that the law's implementation is essential for Brazil to meet its Paris Agreement goals, specifically the restoration of 12 million hectares and the elimination of illegal deforestation.

The report analyzes the governance and utilization of Indonesia's Village Fund, finding that while the fund has grown significantly and is a major revenue source for villages, it is predominantly spent on transportation infrastructure. The authors identify five key challenges—including a lack of technical capacity, misaligned planning between village and district levels, and insufficient regulatory guidelines—that hinder the fund's potential to support environmental conservation and sustainable land use. To address these, the report recommends integrating village priorities into district planning, empowering the Village and Community Empowerment Office, creating specific sustainability guidelines, adopting a 'negative-list' for spending, and introducing a sustainability variable into the fund's allocation formula.

Tesco has committed to reducing its scope 1 and 2 emissions by 60% by 2025 and scope 3 emissions by 17% by 2030, both using a 2015 base-year. To achieve these goals, the company is implementing a costed renewable electricity roadmap and investing in energy and refrigeration efficiency, having already spent over £700 million since 2006. Tesco aims for 100% renewable electricity by 2030 and a net-zero carbon status by 2050, while managing specific challenges related to agricultural emissions, which constitute approximately 70% of its supply chain emissions.

The briefing analyzes the legal instability resulting from the Brazilian Supreme Court's (STF) decisions regarding the 2012 Forest Code. It highlights contradictions in the court's treatment of the July 22, 2008, cutoff date, the Environmental Reserve Quote (CRA), and the amnesty for past environmental infractions, warning that these inconsistencies create a 'Frankenstal' code that threatens environmental outcomes.

The document highlights that companies pledging to end deforestation by 2020 have approximately 1,000 days remaining. It cites the Brazilian Soy Moratorium as a successful precedent where soy-driven deforestation in the Amazon dropped to almost zero in under 1,000 days. The author specifically identifies Bunge and Cargill as being responsible for the majority of soy destruction in frontier areas and calls for employees and customers of these firms to pressure them to change their practices.

The document applies a Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus approach to analyze the Cumbaza watershed in Peru, highlighting how deforestation and climate change threaten urban and rural resource security. It quantifies 11 key WEF interactions and projects resource demands through 2050, emphasizing the critical role of forest ecosystem services in maintaining water quality and quantity for the region's growing population.

The document identifies four critical areas for legal reform to prevent forest conversion: ensuring consistency between sectoral laws, establishing transparent land-title granting processes, formally recognizing customary land rights of local communities and indigenous peoples, and providing detailed implementation and enforcement mechanisms. It warns that legal ambiguity and a lack of stakeholder consultation lead to uncontrolled deforestation, land-tenure conflicts, and the potential for unfair evictions.

The document identifies five critical areas for legal reform to prevent illegal forest conversion: land allocation, clearance permits, conversion timber rules, environmental protections, and community rights. It highlights how contradictory laws, lack of transparency, and failure to recognize customary land tenure lead to uncontrolled deforestation and social conflict. The toolkit uses case studies from nine tropical countries to illustrate legal gaps and provides checklists for policy-makers to ensure comprehensive and enforceable regulations.

The document serves as an overview for a legal toolkit designed to help law-makers address the complexities of forest conversion laws. It identifies five key areas for legal attention: land allocation, clearing permits, timber rules, environmental protection, and community rights. The toolkit is based on an analysis of legal frameworks in nine tropical countries and focuses primarily on the regulation of large-scale projects to balance economic growth with environmental and social protections.

The document outlines five essential requirements for a legal framework regulating forest clearance: unambiguous permits, environmental and social evaluations, explicit application timelines, protection of community and indigenous rights, and strong enforcement. It highlights risks such as the use of clearance permits as loopholes for illegal timber harvesting and the conflict between sectoral laws, providing case studies from Liberia, the Republic of Congo, Brazil, and Viet Nam to illustrate these legal failures.

The document outlines the necessity of detailed, binding environmental legal tools to mitigate the impacts of forest conversion, such as biodiversity loss and climate change. It emphasizes the role of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), the importance of transparency, and the need for laws to be fit for the specific national context. Through case studies from Gabon, Ghana, Brazil, and Liberia, it illustrates how non-binding guidelines, limited agency capacity, and sustainability policies affect forest protection.

The document argues that formal legal recognition of customary land tenure and the inclusion of local communities in decision-making are essential for protecting both forest ecosystems and the livelihoods of indigenous peoples. It identifies key legal barriers—such as complex registration processes and a lack of implementing legislation—that lead to risks of eviction, land disputes, and land scarcity. The factsheet advocates for the integration of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) into national laws and provides a checklist of questions to guide law-makers through legal reform.

The Socio-Climate Benefits Fund (SCBF) is designed to combat small-scale deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon by providing long-term investment and technical training to smallholders for the implementation of agroforestry systems. The instrument operates through an investment vehicle that establishes a company to manage Rural Partnership Agreements, providing upfront capital and inputs in exchange for a share of the harvest. The fund aims to increase smallholder income by at least 58% for 1-hectare implementations and 234% for 4-hectare expansions, while storing ten times more carbon than current degraded pasture vegetation over 20 years. The financial structure requires a total of $13.1 million, comprising a $1.5 million grant, $5 million in commercial equity, and $6.6 million in concessional debt across first-loss and senior tranches.