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This guide outlines the roles, responsibilities, and appointment processes for national representatives to the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI). It details the governance structure of the IAI, including the Conference of the Parties and the Executive Council, and specifies the tasks national representatives must perform to bridge the gap between the Institute and national governments, scientific communities, and stakeholders.

This policy brief summarizes a UNEP foresight workshop held in Bangkok in December 2023, where 42 academics and practitioners from 15 countries in Asia and the Pacific discussed plausible future scenarios for the region leading up to 2050. The discussions focused on the interplay between human activities and the environment, specifically examining the roles of technology, cultural values, and power relations in shaping planetary health and human well-being.

This policy brief by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI/PUC-Rio) analyzes the regulatory and governance challenges of legal deforestation in Brazil, with a specific focus on the Matopiba region. It examines the issuance of Vegetation Suppression Authorizations (ASV) and the effectiveness of the National System for the Control of the Origin of Forest Products (Sinaflor), concluding that current tools are insufficient for monitoring and controlling legal deforestation.

This fact sheet by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) analyzes different structures of international legal instruments—substantive, hybrid, and framework conventions—to provide recommendations for the development of a future plastics treaty.

This report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) promotes the use of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) in the mining sector to enhance sustainable development. It distinguishes SEA from project-level Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIA), highlighting how SEA integrates environmental, social, and economic considerations into high-level plans, policies, and programs (PPPs). Through international case studies, the document outlines the benefits of SEA for governments, companies, and communities, identifies common implementation obstacles, and provides recommendations for integrating SEA into national and regional mining planning, particularly for critical minerals.

This fact sheet describes the STAND Initiative (Unidos y Unidas por las Personas Defensoras del Medio Ambiente y del Territorio), a collaborative effort between the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the Alliance for Land, Indigenous, and Environmental Defenders (ALLIED) to support environmental and territorial defenders in six countries.

This case study describes a partnership between the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and the Estonian government to develop a unified methodology and emissions factor database for assessing the environmental and carbon footprints of the public sector.

A notification from the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) announcing the election results for the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) and the Science-Policy Advisory Committee (SPAC) following the 30th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP-30).

This notification from the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) announces the election results for the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) and the Science and Policy Advisory Committee (SPAC) following the 30th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP-30) held on June 14-15, 2022.

This briefing from the Stockholm Environment Institute outlines five principles designed to ensure that nature-based solutions (NbS) are just and equitable in their design, governance, and implementation, and provides a case study from Kenya to illustrate their application.

This research paper by Nazareth and Ghosh examines the intersection of structural inequality and climate change, arguing that current economic systems based on extractive resource use reinforce power imbalances and hinder climate action. The authors advocate for a restructuring of global environmental governance to be more inclusive and highlight the disproportionate impact of the wealthiest individuals on the global carbon budget.

This document provides a detailed comparison between the draft Rules of Procedure for the intergovernmental negotiating committee (INC) tasked with creating a global legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution (RoPsEPP) and the Rules of Procedure used for the Minamata Convention on mercury (RoPsM). It highlights key modifications in the draft, including expanded membership definitions, provisions for online participation, and changes to the accreditation and participation of non-governmental organizations.

This report, authored by early-career researchers at the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), presents a youth-led vision for a healthy planet by 2030. Based on a survey of 1,050 young people across 89 countries, the document advocates for systemic change, the replacement of economic growth with community-focused metrics of prosperity, and the formal integration of youth into political and economic decision-making processes.

A study commissioned by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) for the 2022 UNEA Ministerial Meeting and Multi-stakeholder Dialogue, focusing on the opportunities and challenges of a green recovery following COVID-19.

This policy brief examines the evolution, effectiveness, and challenges of science-policy interfaces (SPIs) in global environmental governance since 1972. It analyzes existing models like the IPCC and IPBES, evaluates proposals for new SPIs focused on chemicals, waste, and food systems, and provides a three-pronged design framework to ensure future interfaces are credible, inclusive, and policy-relevant.

The 'State of Global Environmental Governance 2022' report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) reviews the progress of multilateral environmental negotiations in 2022. It highlights a significant rebound in face-to-face diplomacy following the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in landmark agreements on biodiversity and the establishment of a loss and damage fund for climate-vulnerable nations. The report also examines the integration of human rights into environmental policy and the impact of geopolitical conflicts, specifically the war in Ukraine, on global environmental governance.

This report by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI/PUC-Rio) and WWF-Brasil analyzes the impact of Decree No. 9,760/2019, which introduced a mandatory environmental conciliation stage in the administrative process for environmental infractions in the Amazon. The study finds that this new system has led to a severe paralysis of punitive actions, with 98% of relevant infraction notices stalled by May 2021 due to Ibama's inability to conduct the required hearings. The report also highlights a broader trend of weakening environmental control since 2015 and significant transparency gaps in Ibama's open data portal.

This case study by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI/PUC-Rio) analyzes the governance, areas of influence, and environmental risks associated with four federal transport infrastructure projects in the state of Pará: Ferrogrão, BR-155/158, BR-163/230/MT/PA, and BR-230. Using a 'market access approach' to quantify deforestation risks, the study finds that these projects collectively threaten nearly 7,000 square kilometers of native Amazon vegetation, with over half of that impact occurring in Pará. The report highlights significant transparency issues regarding project documentation and argues that the state government should engage in earlier dialogue with the federal government to incorporate mitigation costs and deforestation control into project designs.

This report by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI/PUC-Rio) analyzes the governance, influence areas, and environmental risks of four federal transport infrastructure projects in the state of Pará: the Ferrogrão railway and the BR-155/158, BR-163/230/MT/PA, and BR-230 highways. The study highlights a systemic lack of transparency in socio-environmental documentation and uses a market-access methodology to quantify the risk of deforestation associated with these projects.

This executive summary analyzes the impact of Decree No. 9,760/2019 on the administrative enforcement procedures of IBAMA, Brazil's federal environmental agency. It argues that changes to the sanctioning process, combined with a shift toward military-led operations and the dismissal of technical staff, have weakened the state's ability to combat illegal deforestation and fires in the Amazon.