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The document examines Zimbabwe's position as Africa's largest holder of lithium reserves amidst a global surge in demand for critical raw materials for electric vehicle batteries. It argues that while lithium mining offers a path to upper-middle-income status by 2030, the country faces significant risks from corruption, resource leakage, and a lack of industrial capacity for local beneficiation. The paper highlights the dominance of Chinese investment and the challenges of artisanal mining conflicts. It recommends strengthening tax regimes, mandating technology transfer, and pursuing regional collaboration to move beyond the export of unprocessed ores.

Ember proposes four key actions for the EU Energy Commissioner: a "Smart Electrification" Action Plan to shift subsidies toward clean technologies, a "Future Grids" Task Force to implement existing grid policies, a joint DG ENER-DG AGRI strategy for agri-PV to align energy and agricultural policies, and a transition to open energy data and system models to improve transparency and investment decisions.

The document analyzes the potential for African nations to move beyond the "pit to port" model of mineral extraction by building integrated battery mineral value chains. It highlights Africa's significant reserves of cobalt, manganese, graphite, and vanadium, and examines the macroeconomic shift from fossil fuel revenues to transition mineral revenues. The paper identifies Morocco as a leader in integrating automotive assembly with battery material production and discusses the potential for South Africa to act as a regional integrator. It concludes that while a continent-wide strategy is unlikely, sub-regional strategies and national policy instruments—such as strategic non-alignment and targeted industrial policies for e-mobility—can help African countries capture more value from their mineral endowments.

The briefing links the increased frequency and intensity of US extreme weather events, such as the July 2023 heatwave and August 2024 California wildfires, to climate change driven by fossil fuels. It highlights that US oil and gas production emissions rose roughly 42% between 2011 and 2022 and notes that 88 large fossil fuel and cement companies are responsible for 48% of the rise in fire-danger conditions in the region. The document argues for corporate accountability, citing a Climate Analytics estimate that the 12 most polluting companies are responsible for USD 15 trillion in economic damages from 1985 to 2018. While the US has seen significant growth in solar and wind capacity and electric vehicle sales, primary energy consumption remains dominated by petroleum (38%), natural gas (36%), and coal (9%) as of 2023.

The document analyzes the global race to secure critical minerals, detailing the subsidy-driven strategies of the US, EU, UK, and Canada, and the dominant market position of China in battery production. It argues that African nations can leverage their mineral wealth to drive sustainable structural transformation by adopting a 'climate-resilient developmental regionalism' framework under the AfCFTA, which integrates climate adaptation and mitigation with regional industrialization.

Tracked urban climate finance reached USD 831 billion in 2021/2022, more than doubling since 2017/2018. However, this remains severely insufficient compared to estimated annual mitigation needs of USD 4.3 trillion by 2030. Finance is heavily concentrated in developed economies and China, with critical gaps in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. While mitigation flows are dominated by transport and buildings, adaptation finance is significantly lower at USD 10 billion, primarily focused on water and wastewater. The report advocates for a '4C Urban Climate Finance Agenda'—Commitment, Collaboration, Capacity, and Capital Mobilization—to bridge the investment gap.

The report finds that while urban climate finance more than doubled to USD 831 billion in 2021/2022, it must increase more than fivefold to align with a 1.5°C pathway. Mitigation needs are dominated by transport, energy, and buildings, with a significant financing gap particularly in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs). The document identifies systemic challenges including weak enabling environments and city-level capacity gaps, and proposes the '4C Urban Climate Finance Agenda' (Commitment, Collaboration, Capacity, and Capital Mobilization) to scale investment.

The methodology employs Functional Urban Areas (FUAs) to define urban scope and tracks primary capital flows for mitigation and adaptation. It combines project-level data from sources like the OECD-DAC and BNEF with capital expenditure estimations for transport, buildings, and energy systems. Needs assessments are derived from top-down global models, adjusted by regional urban population shares and sector-specific inclusion criteria.

The report argues that India requires cumulative investments of US$10.1 trillion by 2070 to reach net-zero, yet current tracked mitigation finance is only about 25 percent of the required amount. It distinguishes between 'green finance' for near-zero emission technologies and 'transition finance' for hard-to-abate sectors that lack immediate green alternatives. The document identifies critical gaps in the supply of finance, noting a lack of standardised taxonomy and an underdeveloped corporate bond market. On the demand side, it analyses the decarbonisation needs of the steel, cement, transport, power, and agriculture sectors, highlighting the high capital costs and technical risks of transformative technologies like Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS). The report proposes a five-pillar roadmap covering scope and definition, transparency, cooperation, supply chain support, and financial innovation, while recommending the establishment of a Prime Ministers Net Zero Council (PMNZC) to coordinate inter-ministerial efforts.

The We Mean Business Coalition argues that for NDCs to be 'investible', they must move beyond ambitious targets to include concrete implementation policies. The document proposes a three-pillar approach: setting ambitious economy-wide and sector-specific targets, developing consistent national and international policy frameworks, and establishing transparent dialogue between governments and businesses. It highlights that while renewable energy and electric vehicle adoption are accelerating, sectors like heavy industry and aviation require more targeted government intervention to overcome investment barriers. The report provides illustrative examples of successful policy-driven investments in India, Brazil, Sweden, the EU, and the US.

The U.S. transportation sector, responsible for nearly one third of national greenhouse gas emissions, is undergoing decarbonization through a combination of federal strategies, such as the U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization, and significant funding from the IIJA and Inflation Reduction Act. While progress is evident in the buildout of EV and hydrogen corridors and the growth of clean energy manufacturing jobs, the document argues that the U.S. is not yet on track to meet its goal of cutting all transportation greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Regional efforts are concentrated in the West Coast (hydrogen and EV corridors), Midwest (battery manufacturing and freight networks), Gulf Coast (low-emissions shipping and hydrogen trucking), and East Coast (EV manufacturing and I-95 freight corridors). To accelerate progress, the document recommends a federal clean fuel standard, improved inter-agency coordination, and stronger community engagement.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has driven significant clean energy investment and job growth in the US, particularly in Republican-led areas, despite political efforts to repeal it and general public unfamiliarity with the law's specific provisions.

The report compares a pathway aligned with U.S. climate commitments against the energy and climate provisions of Project 2025. It finds that Continued Climate Leadership would lead to significant emissions reductions, job growth, and public health improvements, while Project 2025 would increase emissions, reduce GDP, and cause additional premature deaths.

RMI supported Washington State in creating the Transportation Electrification Strategy (TES) using a two-stage analytical approach. The first stage assessed EV adoption pathways and identified that reaching the 2030 goal of 100 percent zero-emissions passenger vehicle sales would result in 13.6 MMT of on-road emissions, which exceeds the target of less than 10 MMT CO2e needed to meet broader climate goals. To bridge this gap, the TES recommends point-of-sale rebates and low-cost leasing programs. The second stage utilized the GridUp tool's hyper-local travel data to forecast EV load and identify where grid investments are necessary to prevent bottlenecks and maintain affordability during the transition to electrified transportation and heating.

The report examines the strategic importance of critical raw materials (CRMs) for OACPS member states, highlighting their significant global production shares in minerals like cobalt, platinum-group metals, and manganese. It identifies a critical gap in local beneficiation capacities, noting that most CRMs are exported as raw ores, which results in lost economic value. The document analyzes the impact of new industrial policies from the US, EU, and China—such as the US Inflation Reduction Act and the EU Critical Raw Materials Act—which emphasize reshoring and 'friendshoring' and may conflict with OACPS industrialization goals. It concludes that OACPS countries must move beyond extractive 'pit-to-port' models through regional cooperation, strategic partnerships, and robust regulatory frameworks to maximize socio-economic benefits while managing environmental and social risks.

The document examines the tension between African developmental goals for critical minerals and the geopolitical priorities of external powers, specifically the US-led G7 and China. It highlights China's early-mover advantage in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zimbabwe, while noting that G7 counter-initiatives often prioritize supply chain security over African local value addition. The authors argue that African nations must develop comprehensive national and regional strategies to avoid repeating colonial extraction patterns and to leverage their resources for sustainable industrialisation.

The document argues that Sweden's transition to fossil-free transport risks disproportionately harming approximately 40% of the population, particularly those in low-density areas with high car dependency and lower incomes. It proposes a four-part policy framework focusing on structural infrastructure investments, group-specific support, addressing non-transport vulnerabilities, and continuous evaluation to ensure social acceptance and equity.

The report highlights a significant gap in emissions reporting among Indonesia's ten largest coal mining companies, where six fail to include coal mine methane (CMM) in their inventories. Despite national regulations and international standards, CMM emissions are often overlooked in favour of carbon dioxide reductions, potentially doubling the reported emissions of some companies. The document warns that increasing coal production quotas amidst declining global demand creates stranded asset risks and environmental impacts. It recommends that companies adopt comprehensive GHG inventories, re-assess investment risks in light of global methane pricing trends, and implement technical abatement measures such as pre-mine drainage.

Africa possesses vast untapped renewable energy resources, including 60% of global solar resources, yet accounts for only 1.6% of global installed renewable capacity. The continent faces significant barriers to energy transition, including a massive financing gap—requiring $557 billion by 2030—and a heavy reliance on imported technologies, with Africa contributing less than 1% of global clean energy patent applications. While the region holds 40% of global critical mineral reserves essential for green technologies, it primarily serves as a raw material supplier. The document advocates for strengthened partnerships with the G20 and Global North to improve climate finance, facilitate technology transfer, and develop local green value chains to move beyond the export of primary commodities.

China has positioned itself as a leader in green technology transfer to the Global South, utilizing the Belt and Road Initiative and the South–South Climate Cooperation Fund to deploy renewable energy, green agriculture, and electric vehicle technologies. While achieving significant scale—including exporting photovoltaic modules to over 100 countries—the brief identifies critical challenges: a gap between environmental commitments and actual impacts, deficiencies in ESG disclosure, geopolitical tensions, and limited local operational capacity. To improve sustainability, the document recommends enhancing transparency, aligning with global ESG standards, and fostering locally led innovation ecosystems through active partner ownership and capacity building.