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The document defines indigenous peoples as descendants of original inhabitants who maintain distinct social, cultural, and political systems, often facing marginalization and poverty. It highlights the 2007 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) as a critical framework for protecting their rights to languages, education, and media. A central theme is the protection of 'traditional environmental knowledge' and the right of indigenous communities to control their intellectual property and cultural heritage. The guide also discusses the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in overcoming isolation, citing examples like the Kiechwa Satellite Network and the proposed Continental Indigenous Network in Central and South America to enable grassroots broadcasting in local languages.

The document outlines the roles of the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Bali Action Plan in shaping international climate negotiations. It details the specific issues to be addressed in Copenhagen—including mitigation, adaptation, forests, technology, and finance—and discusses whether the resulting agreement will replace or retain the Kyoto Protocol framework.

The document is a transcript of an address by Jonathan Lash identifying five primary environmental concerns for 2009: the potential for green economic stimulus, the likelihood of U.S. climate legislation, U.S.-China cooperation, and the development of new mechanisms to protect global forests and combat illegal logging.

A declaration by various international organizations opposing the World Bank's role in the UNFCCC climate regime due to its continued financing of fossil fuels, contribution to deforestation, and undemocratic governance.

The document analyzes the 'Global Europe' strategy, which shifts the EU from multilateralism toward 'WTO+' bilateral free trade agreements. It argues that this approach focuses on 'competitiveness' and securing raw materials, often at the expense of social and environmental protections in the Global South. The report details negative impacts in Central America, Africa, the Caribbean, and Asia, specifically highlighting threats to food sovereignty, the displacement of peasant communities for agrofuels, and the erosion of domestic policy space through the liberalization of services and government procurement.

The report analyzes the 'Global Europe' strategy as a political and economic tool used by the EU to secure access to raw materials, energy reserves, and open markets in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. It argues that 'Association Agreements' go beyond trade in goods to include the liberalization of services, investments, and government procurement, which the author claims undermines the sovereignty of developing nations. The document highlights specific negative impacts, such as the promotion of agrofuels in Central America, the pressure on African nations to sign Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) to maintain tariff preferences, and the role of European financial institutions like the European Investment Bank in funding extractive projects. It concludes that the strategy prioritizes corporate competitiveness over human rights and environmental sustainability.

The report examines the critical role of forests in regulating the global climate through carbon, water, and nitrogen cycles. It argues that while forests currently act as carbon sinks, rising temperatures—particularly above 23C—risk turning them into carbon sources. The text emphasizes the superior carbon storage of old-growth forests over plantations and highlights the extreme vulnerability of peatlands and tropical forests. It concludes that protecting existing forests and their soils is a more effective climate strategy than relying on reforestation or the uncertain phenomenon of 'carbon fertilization'.

The report argues that REDD, as currently designed, focuses on reducing rather than stopping deforestation and risks becoming a tool for corporate profit rather than climate mitigation. It highlights significant risks to indigenous land rights, the potential for 'leakage' where deforestation simply moves to other areas, and the danger of replacing natural forests with monoculture plantations. The author criticizes the use of carbon markets to fund REDD, suggesting instead public funding derived from fossil fuel taxes and the elimination of fossil fuel subsidies.

The report critiques REDD, asserting that it is designed to reduce rather than stop deforestation and may incentivize the replacement of natural forests with carbon-poor plantations. It warns that financing REDD through carbon markets could allow industrialized nations to avoid reducing fossil fuel emissions, undermine national sovereignty in developing countries, and lead to the displacement of indigenous communities. The author argues that REDD's 'opportunity cost' calculations often benefit polluters and that the mechanism is susceptible to market volatility and corporate lobbying. The document advocates for a non-market, grant-based funding system managed by the UN, focused on ecosystem justice, the recognition of indigenous land rights, and the elimination of the underlying drivers of deforestation.

The document examines the critical relationship between forests and the global climate, highlighting the risk that temperature increases above 2-3°C could transform forests from carbon sinks into net carbon sources. It emphasizes the superior carbon storage of old-growth forests over plantations and the extreme vulnerability of peatlands, particularly in Southeast Asia. The guide warns that climate change is increasing the frequency of wildfires and pest outbreaks, while also altering species distribution. It concludes that stopping deforestation and protecting old-growth forests and peatlands are urgent priorities for climate mitigation.

The report analyzes the environmental and social footprints of China's rapid economic growth within three specific sectors: forestry, cotton, and E-products. It argues that because China is a central 'middleman' in global supply chains, it shares responsibility with international partners to address degradation. For forestry, the report highlights China's role as a major importer of illegally logged timber and recommends building capacity in supplying countries and adopting sustainable procurement. In the cotton sector, it notes high water and pesticide use in domestic production and suggests promoting sustainable sourcing and Sino-African cooperation. For E-products, it focuses on the crisis of E-waste and the toxicity of informal recycling, recommending a national E-waste strategy and international cooperation on responsible disposal. The overarching strategy emphasizes national capacity building, leveraging sustainable markets through green procurement, and active participation in international sustainability standards.

The document highlights how two decades of conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have created a humanitarian crisis and severely threatened Virunga National Park. It argues that the illegal trade in park resources, specifically charcoal, funds violence and leads to deforestation, while the displacement of populations increases pressure on the ecosystem. The author contends that environmental governance must be integrated into any peace agreements to prevent natural resources from continuing to finance conflict and to support future economic recovery.

The document outlines a comprehensive system for facilitating North-South cooperation to transition countries toward low-carbon economies. It defines effectiveness through a 'cycle of cooperation' consisting of shared meaning construction, high-quality deliberation, policy internalization/implementation, and continuous learning. The author argues that since the initiative lacks binding legal enforcement, it must rely on a mix of positive material incentives (such as 'reinforcement by reward'), normative suasion, and managerial capacity-building. The framework emphasizes the need for detailed stakeholder mapping to identify 'veto players' and 'change agents,' and suggests a hybrid organizational structure combining bilateral and multilateral elements to balance ownership with legitimacy. Finally, it stresses that financial support must be substantial—amounting to 'several billion €/$'—and closely linked to demonstrable reform progress to avoid 'decoupling' between verbal commitments and actual implementation.

The document examines the hydropolitics of the Nile Basin, focusing on the tensions between upstream states, particularly Ethiopia, and downstream states, Egypt and Sudan. It argues that colonial-era agreements and Egypt's pursuit of 'prior appropriation' rights have created an inequitable distribution of water, hindering development in upper riparian states. The author suggests that cooperation through frameworks like the Nile Basin Initiative and the adoption of the Helsinki Rules for equitable sharing are necessary to avoid future conflict and ensure food and energy security.

The report assesses the environmental consequences of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA) on the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS). It finds that while trade has increased, a third of the trade volume involves highly polluting sectors, with much of this pollution originating in China. In Cambodia, imports of polluting goods from China have improved the local environment at the expense of China's, while the increase in natural resource-based exports threatens resource sustainability due to weak regulation. The author concludes that the ACFTA's lack of environmental cooperation provisions is a significant policy shortcoming.

This executive summary by Friends of the Earth challenges the Malaysian Palm Oil Council's (MPOC) claims that Malaysian palm oil is sustainable. It argues that expansion, particularly in Sarawak, is driving tropical deforestation, the destruction of peat lands, and human rights violations against indigenous peoples like the Penan. The report highlights the role of European and American bio-energy targets in driving this demand and calls for the EU to abandon its 10% biofuel target and for the Malaysian government to recognize Native Customary Rights and enforce a zero-burning policy.

The report argues that the Malaysian palm oil industry's claims of sustainability are misleading, citing evidence of widespread deforestation, illegal open burning on peatlands, and the systemic violation of indigenous land rights in Sarawak. It highlights the 'carbon debt' created by converting peat forests to plantations and criticizes the lack of public participation in Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs). The document calls for the EU to abandon biofuel targets that drive this demand and for the Malaysian government to recognize Native Customary Rights (NCR).

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) warns that using food crops like corn and soybeans for biofuels increases food prices, degrades ecosystems, and can raise global warming pollution through land conversion. The UCS advocates for a shift toward 'better' biofuels derived from waste or non-food biomass, supported by a low-carbon fuel standard and performance-based public funding. While the 2007 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) provides a foundation by requiring pollution reductions from new facilities, the UCS argues for broader sustainability criteria to prevent deforestation and protect biodiversity.

The report argues that the drive for agrofuels in Latin America is based on a cash-crop model of intensive monocultures that benefits large landowners and international agribusiness while causing widespread deforestation, water shortages, and human rights abuses. In Brazil, sugarcane expansion is linked to slave-like working conditions and the displacement of family farms. Argentina's soy-based biodiesel industry has led to significant deforestation and the concentration of land ownership, with 46% of production controlled by 2.2% of producers. In Colombia, oil palm expansion is associated with paramilitary violence and the forced displacement of Afro-descendant and indigenous communities. Central American countries, including Costa Rica, Guatemala, and El Salvador, are increasing production to meet US and EU demand, which the report warns will exacerbate child labour and food insecurity. The document highlights the influence of multilateral banks like the IADB and the World Bank, and corporations such as Cargill and Bunge, in financing and driving this transition.

The report analyzes the 'agrofuel offensive' in Latin America, focusing on Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, and Central American nations (Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Guatemala). It argues that the rapid expansion of monocultures for biofuels is driven by Northern demand and supported by government subsidies and international finance, leading to widespread deforestation, land concentration, and human rights abuses. Key findings include the use of slave-like labor in Brazilian sugarcane fields, the displacement of indigenous and Afro-descendant communities in Colombia for palm oil, and the loss of food security as food crops are replaced by energy crops. The document highlights the role of transnational corporations and international financial institutions in funding these developments while local populations face increased poverty and environmental degradation.