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The briefing highlights the failure of many clean cookstove programmes to achieve long-term uptake because they prioritise technical parameters over user needs. Using research from Ethiopia, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zambia, and India, the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) advocates for combining quantitative economic models with qualitative ethnographic research to understand the trade-offs and cultural preferences of households. A case study in Haryana, India, demonstrates that factors such as the ability to use dung cakes, the need for an open flame for roti, and aesthetic appeal are critical to user acceptance. The document recommends that global policies and standards for cookstoves incorporate 'usability' parameters and local user-focused research to successfully transform household energy markets.

The Living Planet Report 2012 documents a significant global decline in biodiversity and a growing ecological overshoot, where human demand exceeds the Earth's regenerative capacity. It highlights the disproportionate impact of biodiversity loss in tropical and low-income regions and the role of carbon emissions in driving ecological deficits. The report advocates for a paradigm shift toward managing natural capital within planetary limits through 16 priority actions focused on preserving natural capital, producing better, consuming more wisely, and redirecting financial flows and governance.

The document analyzes the global wood products value chain, projecting a significant increase in wood removals by 2050, primarily driven by bioenergy. It evaluates the environmental footprints of wood versus alternative materials, the role of recycling and efficiency in reducing virgin fibre demand, and the potential for sustainable production through managed natural forests and tree plantations. The report emphasizes the importance of secure land rights for indigenous peoples and the role of credible certification, specifically FSC, in ensuring sustainable forest management.

The Living Planet Report 2012 documents a significant global decline in biodiversity and a state of 'ecological overshoot,' where human consumption exceeds the Earth's regenerative capacity. It highlights the disproportionate impact of high-income countries on natural resources and proposes a framework for preserving natural capital through better production, wiser consumption, and equitable governance.

The report critiques the Kalimantan Forests and Climate Partnership (KFCP), a pilot REDD project funded by the Australian government. It argues that the project fails to protect indigenous rights, ignores the root causes of deforestation, and risks creating 'leakage' where emissions are simply displaced. The document highlights conflicts over land tenure among the Dayak people and criticizes the use of market-based carbon offsets as a way for developed nations like Australia to avoid reducing their own fossil fuel emissions.

The report critiques the Kalimantan Forests and Climate Partnership (KFCP), a bilateral agreement between Australia and Indonesia designed to pilot REDD carbon offsets. It argues that the project ignores indigenous land rights, fails to address the primary drivers of deforestation, and risks creating social conflict. The document further contends that market-based REDD mechanisms generally shift climate responsibility from rich to poor nations and are prone to 'leakage' and permanence issues.

The document argues that African agriculture must transition to 'climate-smart' models to combat projected yield losses of up to 50% by 2020. Using Kenya as a case study, it highlights several low-cost innovations: greenhouse agriculture combined with drip irrigation to reduce water use; rainwater harvesting from rock outcrops; the adoption of drought-resistant cassava varieties; the use of alternative indigenous fodders like acacia pods and tubers for livestock; and the implementation of Plastic Tubular Digester (PTD) biogas technology to reduce deforestation and energy costs. The briefing emphasizes that scaling these innovations requires moving beyond pilot projects through 'bankable projects' that attract microfinance, promoting participatory action research via National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS), and leveraging farmers' groups for capacity building.

The Yucatan Peninsula Accord, signed in December 2010 by the states of Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan, represents Mexico's first sub-national regional climate agreement. The Accord aims to reduce vulnerabilities of local and indigenous populations through a joint low-carbon development scheme consisting of a regional adaptation strategy, a REDD+ programme in the Sian Kaan-Calakmul forest corridor, and a regional climate fund dedicated to scientific research. The document highlights that pooling resources at the sub-national level helped the participating states attract international and national funding that they could not secure individually. Key challenges identified include a lack of climate legal expertise among civil servants and the need to balance regional cooperation with state autonomy.

The document details Tanzania's efforts to establish a National REDD+ Strategy by December 2012, supported by a $90 million partnership with Norway. It highlights the role of a National Taskforce in coordinating cross-sectoral efforts, the use of pilot projects to generate local data, and the importance of building on existing participatory forest management (PFM) experience. However, it identifies significant obstacles, including intra-governmental mandate overlaps, limited stakeholder trust, and insufficient resources for community engagement. The brief argues that successful REDD+ implementation requires long-term international support, inclusive governance, and robust protections for community land rights.

This report by Friends of the Earth International highlights the 'ecological war' waged by extractive industries, detailing the deaths and repression of activists in countries such as Nigeria, the Philippines, and Colombia. It argues that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a myth used to mask systemic abuses and calls for an end to fossil fuel addiction and the protection of indigenous territories.

South Africa hosted COP 17 in 2011 with the goal of establishing legal guidelines for carbon emission reductions and advancing a post-2012 global climate regime. The document highlights the tension between developed and developing nations regarding binding targets, specifically the stalemate over the Kyoto Protocol. South Africa aims to act as a bridge-builder, championing African agency and adaptation needs while coordinating with the BASIC alliance. Domestically, the document notes that South Africa must finalize policies on carbon taxes and renewable energy tariffs to lead by example, as it is the world's 13th highest greenhouse-gas emitter.

Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) documents global campaigns where local and Indigenous communities use collective rights to oppose corporate-led extractive and agricultural projects. The report highlights legal battles against dams in Malaysia and oil pollution in Nigeria, resistance to tar sands in North America, and the promotion of community-based forest governance and food sovereignty in regions such as Indonesia, Cameroon, and Latin America.

The document outlines various international efforts to protect the ancestral and collective rights of local communities and Indigenous Peoples. It highlights resistance against large-scale industrial projects, such as the Bakun dam in Malaysia, mining in the Philippines and Costa Rica, and oil sands extraction in Canada and the US. The report also discusses community-based forest governance in Indonesia and Cameroon, the promotion of food sovereignty through local markets in Colombia and seed banks in Uruguay, and the fight against genetically modified organisms (GMOs) globally. It argues that community rights serve as a legal and social tool to resist corporate dominance and transition toward environmentally sustainable and socially just societies.

The report examines seven transboundary river basins—Congo, Okavango, Red, La Plata, Danube, Mekong, and Jordan—to evaluate how ecosystem services (ES) are integrated into Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). It finds that while IWRM planning is common, actual implementation is weak and often focuses on traditional services like hydropower and navigation, neglecting critical ES such as carbon sequestration and flood regulation. The authors argue that moving toward an ES-based 'benefit-sharing' model, supported by economic instruments like Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES), can overcome political, institutional, and financial barriers to sustainable transboundary water management.

The report presents a series of case studies from FOE member groups in Nigeria, Uganda, Indonesia, Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, the United States, Guatemala, and Switzerland. It highlights the conflict between industrial agricultural models—characterized by monocultures, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and land grabbing—and community-led efforts to maintain agroecological practices, preserve native seeds, and secure land rights. The document argues that food sovereignty is inextricably linked to the protection of forests and biodiversity, and it showcases various strategies for resistance, including community-based conservation, the creation of alternative markets, and legal initiatives to prevent urban sprawl and industrial land use.

This report by Friends of the Earth International compiles experiences from Nigeria, Uganda, Indonesia, Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, the USA, Guatemala, and Switzerland. It argues that food sovereignty is inseparable from the protection of biodiversity and forests, and it documents how local communities—including indigenous peoples and peasant farmers—resist monocultures, land grabbing, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) through agroecology, seed conservation, and community-based land management.

The document presents a collection of case studies from Friends of the Earth International member groups, highlighting the intrinsic link between biodiversity and food sovereignty. It examines the negative impacts of industrial monocultures, land grabbing, and genetic modification in countries such as Nigeria, Uganda, Indonesia, Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, the USA, Guatemala, and Switzerland. Each case study emphasizes the role of local and indigenous knowledge, the importance of seed saving, and the necessity of community-led land management to resist corporate-driven agricultural systems and environmental degradation.

The document argues that large-scale commercial agriculture and timber enterprises, rather than subsistence farming, are the leading drivers of tropical deforestation. It highlights the role of cattle ranching in the Amazon, palm oil plantations in Southeast Asia, and the global demand for timber and paper. The text emphasizes that tropical deforestation accounts for approximately 15 percent of global warming pollution due to the release of carbon stored in trees. It cites the Brazilian soybean moratorium as a successful example of how industry can grow without further forest clearing through societal pressure and improved land-use practices.

The document advocates for the repeal of conventional biofuel subsidies, citing the high cost of the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) and the environmental and economic damages caused by the Renewable Fuel Standard. It highlights that corn ethanol can result in higher net carbon dioxide emissions than gasoline and contributes to global food price increases by diverting crops from food production to fuel.

Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is a global federation of 76 autonomous environmental groups with over 2 million members. Founded in 1971, the organization has evolved from a small group of activists into a decentralized network that prioritizes environmental and social justice. FoEI's current strategy, 'mobilise, resist, transform', focuses on challenging the neoliberal economic model, which it identifies as the driver of climate change, biodiversity loss, and resource depletion. The federation advocates for key concepts such as 'environmental space', 'ecological debt', and 'food sovereignty' to create sustainable societies. Its work spans several core areas, including climate and energy justice, forest protection, food sovereignty, and resisting extractive industries like mining, oil, and gas.