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The report proposes 'natural capitalism' as a new economic model where businesses profit by radically increasing resource productivity, eliminating waste, shifting from selling products to providing services, and investing in the restoration of natural capital. It argues that the current industrial model is logically flawed because it liquidates the ecosystem services upon which all life depends. By applying whole-systems thinking, the authors claim companies can achieve significant cost savings and competitive advantages, citing examples from firms like Southwire, Dow, and Interface. The text suggests that while governments can support this transition through tax policy, corporations possess the necessary agility and resources to lead the effort to heal the planet.

The text proposes 'natural capitalism' as a successor to the current industrial system, which the authors claim liquidates natural capital and treats it as income. It outlines four core strategies—radical resource productivity, biomimicry, a service and flow economy, and investing in natural capital—to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation. The document emphasizes that the limiting factor for future prosperity is no longer industrial capacity but the availability of life-supporting ecosystem services.

The text examines the ideological divide in environmental debates and proposes 'natural capitalism' as a synthesis that integrates economic viability with ecological health. It argues that businesses must shift from incremental improvements to systemic innovations in resource productivity to avoid catastrophic environmental failures. The author highlights a growing global movement of organizations and a shift in corporate strategy—exemplified by companies like OK Petroleum—that view environmental sustainability as a competitive advantage rather than a regulatory burden. Ultimately, it calls for a fundamental reevaluation of how society values natural and social capital to ensure long-term stability.

The report proposes 'Natural Capitalism' as an alternative to the traditional border economy based on cheap labor and lax environmental controls. It outlines four shifts for businesses: increasing resource productivity, adopting biologically inspired closed-loop production, moving to a solutions-based service model, and reinvesting in natural capital. The document emphasizes that global supply chain pressures and consumer perceptions are forcing suppliers, including maquiladoras, to improve environmental performance to remain competitive. It further extends these principles to community development, distinguishing between 'expansion' (physical growth) and 'development' (betterment), and suggests strategies like import substitution, vendor matching, and waste-matching to increase local wealth without increasing environmental throughput.

Work Package 1 (WP1) of the CADWAGO project aims to assess the impact of stakeholder perceptions of ecosystems on water governance in the context of climate change. Using 10 international case studies, researchers will apply four distinct interpretations of resilience—engineering, ecological, social-ecological, and epistemic—to analyze how water resource systems are perceived and governed. The methodology involves qualitative content analysis of policy and scientific documents, followed by pattern matching across cases and member check interviews. The findings are intended to identify social barriers and opportunities for adaptive responses to climate change and inform the analytical frameworks of other project work packages.

The Community Action Plan (CAP) for Maing Naung village focuses on the conservation of the Naung Taw and Naung Loam wetlands in the Upper Chindwin Basin, Myanmar. The plan addresses high-level threats such as mining, illegal fishing (electric shock and poisoning), and deforestation through a three-pronged approach: wetland habitat conservation, the promotion of sustainable livelihoods, and capacity building via Communication, Education, Participation and Public Awareness (CEPA) programs. Implementation is led by a Village Working Committee (VWC) with support from the Stockholm Environment Institute and other partners, utilizing a monitoring framework to track biodiversity, water quality, and socioeconomic impacts.

The document examines Tanzania's water-poverty nexus, highlighting a significant 'implementation gap' where progressive policies on Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and decentralization are hindered by limited institutional and financial capacity. It emphasizes the critical role of rainfed agriculture, which supports the majority of the poor, and the need to integrate 'green water' flows into management strategies. The report also notes severe challenges in sanitation coverage and the conflict between hydropower and irrigation needs in major river basins.

The document identifies open-pit mining, climate change, deforestation, and agricultural expansion as the primary drivers of habitat loss and resource depletion in the Chindwin River Basin. It highlights five highly affected biodiversity areas, with Pauk Inn wetlands identified as the most vulnerable. Key institutional challenges include limited financial resources, data gaps, and a lack of public participation. The report recommends that the Chindwin River Basin Committee lead integrated water resources management and that the Sagaing regional government centralize conservation activities to improve coordination.

The project focuses on the Akagera Basin in Rwanda, addressing the increasing competition for water, energy, and food resources driven by population growth and economic transformation. By utilizing the Stockholm Environment Institute's WEAP and LEAP modelling tools, the initiative aims to identify sustainable development pathways and avoid sector-based plan incompatibilities. Key goals include producing 25 technical reports and policy briefs, engaging over 2,000 stakeholders, and supporting over 15 Nature Based Community Enterprises (NBCEs) to enhance climate resilience in the districts of Bugesera, Kirehe, Ngororero, and Rutsiro.

The document evaluates biofuel production in southern Africa, finding that sugarcane generally improves food security and reduces poverty, while jatropha's benefits are unproven or precarious. It highlights a trade-off where sugarcane can increase carbon stocks but displace food crops, whereas jatropha plantations in Mozambique caused substantial carbon stock losses. The brief also notes that high costs hinder the adoption of ethanol cooking stoves in urban Mozambique despite their potential to reduce charcoal-driven deforestation.

The report provides a comprehensive analysis of climate change projections for Estonia through 2100 and outlines a strategic adaptation plan to 2030. It identifies key vulnerabilities across eight priority sectors—including health, land use, nature, bioeconomy, economy, society, infrastructure, and energy—and proposes specific goals, metrics, and measures to mitigate risks such as sea-level rise, extreme weather, and ecosystem shifts. The plan estimates a total implementation cost of 43.7 million euros between 2017 and 2030.

The Stockholm Environment Institute's Water Beyond Boundaries (WBB) initiative aims to evolve water planning beyond the traditional Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) paradigm. WBB focuses on three pillars: extending management beyond the immediate watershed to include global resource flows, implementing multi-scale participatory tools to address social inequalities (including gender and poverty), and integrating ecosystem needs throughout the planning process. The initiative is being tested through pilot studies in the Mekong River basin and the Magdalena River Basin, while reflecting on previous work in California.

The project, running from October 2013 to October 2015, seeks to identify strategies to minimize trade-offs between biofuel production and rural wellbeing in sub-Saharan Africa. It employs field-based research at case study sites in Malawi, Swaziland, and Mozambique, focusing on sugar cane and jatropha feedstocks. The study examines various ecosystem services—including climate regulation and water—and dimensions of poverty such as food security and energy poverty, with a specific focus on Malawi's long-term experience with biofuel blending in transport fuel.

The document critiques traditional 'water productivity' measures for focusing too heavily on agricultural output ('crop per drop') while ignoring the essential water needs of broader landscape ecosystem services. It advocates for an integrated water resource management (IWRM) approach that mimics natural water storage and incorporates 'bottom-up' input from diverse stakeholders to balance agricultural gains with the preservation of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Using case studies from India and Zambia, the brief demonstrates how narrow productivity gains can create downstream trade-offs or overlook the primary subsistence drivers of rural livelihoods.

The document describes a research framework for Work Package 3 of the CADWAGO project, focusing on 'systemic governance' of water catchments. It proposes viewing water catchments as 'social-biophysical systems' where human social systems and biophysical systems are 'structurally coupled' and co-evolve. The research aims to move away from linear models of knowledge transfer toward models of learning and adaptation, specifically investigating four key areas: history, facilitation, stake-holding, and reflexivity. The project utilizes systems theory and the metaphor of a 'helmsperson' to understand how governance can be adaptive in response to uncertainty and feedback.

Work Package 4 (WP4) of the CADWAGO project aims to analyze European water governance by synthesizing insights from other work packages and case studies. Using a theoretical lens of 'governance learning' and the science-policy interface, WP4 seeks to identify 'windows of opportunity' for systemic and adaptive water governance. The methodology involves iterative learning, transdisciplinary approaches, and three scheduled governance learning events in Sweden (June 2013), with the Open University (June 2014), and the University of Sicilie (June 2015) to facilitate dialogue between researchers and stakeholders.

The Community Action Plan (CAP) for Tharyarkone village focuses on the conservation of the Naung Sa Pin/Naung Salein wetland, a permanent swamp of approximately 1.1 hectares in the Upper Chindwin Basin. The plan addresses high-level threats including mining, logging, and overfishing by promoting sustainable livelihood alternatives such as groundnut cultivation, pig farming, and fish farming. It outlines a governance structure led by a Village Working Committee (VWC) to implement habitat conservation, boundary demarcation, and a Communication, Education, Participation and Awareness (CEPA) program. The plan includes a monitoring framework to track water quality, biodiversity, and land-use changes to ensure the long-term ecological integrity of the wetland.

The report finds that Rwanda faces significant economic costs from existing climate variability and future climate change, particularly in health, agriculture, and water sectors. It estimates that future climate change could cost Rwanda nearly 1% of its GDP annually by 2030, excluding extreme events. Adaptation costs are projected to range from $50 million to $600 million per year by 2030, depending on whether development-related needs are included. The study also identifies a low-carbon growth pathway as being in Rwanda's self-interest to avoid 'lock-in' to high-emission infrastructure and to access carbon financing.

The report argues that the ocean is a victim of global market failure, where the true value of its ecosystems and services is ignored. It identifies six primary threats—ocean acidification, warming, hypoxia, sea level rise, pollution, and overexploitation of resources—and emphasizes that these stressors often interact synergistically. The authors quantify the 'cost of inaction' by comparing low and high emission scenarios, estimating that avoidable damages could exceed US$ 1 trillion per year by 2100. The document advocates for a shift from traditional cost-benefit analysis to a precautionary, insurance-based risk model and calls for integrated, cross-scale ocean governance to build ecosystem resilience.

The report examines the relationship between water productivity, water flows, and ecosystem services, emphasizing that narrow agricultural efficiency often creates trade-offs with broader landscape health. It advocates for an integrated approach to water resource management that values regulating and supporting services alongside provisioning ones.