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The document argues that Ghana's cocoa sector is plagued by high deforestation rates, poverty-driven child labour, and a lack of transparency in pricing and governance. It highlights that cocoa is the "single most important commodity driving deforestation in Ghana," with a loss rate of 3.2% per annum in the cocoa forest landscape. The briefing recommends clarifying forest conversion laws, reforming tree and land tenure to incentivise agroforestry, and establishing a mandatory national legality and traceability system to comply with emerging EU and UK due diligence regulations. It also calls for legislative reforms to the definition of child labour and greater transparency in the management of the Living Income Differential (LID) and the Producer Price Review Committee (PPRC).

The 2022 Forest Declaration Assessment finds that global forest governance is currently insufficient to meet 2030 targets. While some countries have successfully reduced deforestation through moratoria and strengthened enforcement, these gains are often fragile or being reversed by legislative rollbacks. The report highlights persistent tenure insecurity for Indigenous Peoples and local communities, widespread corruption in the timber trade, and significant gaps in the implementation of demand-side regulations in importing nations.

The document calls for the EU to address administrative bottlenecks and improve spatial planning to speed up renewable energy permitting, while maintaining strict adherence to environmental safeguards like the Birds and Habitats Directives to avoid legal uncertainty and ecological harm.

The Centre for Environmental Rights, on behalf of Fair Finance Southern Africa (FFSA), has requested information from Investec Group concerning a US$ 140 million loan provided by a syndicate of four banks to Karpowership. The letter highlights that Karpowership SA's proposed floating gas-to-power projects in Coega, Richards Bay, and Saldanha face significant opposition due to environmental impacts and the risk of prolonging fossil fuel reliance. FFSA argues that the projects would emit substantial methane, potentially totaling 80 to 142 million tonnes CO2e over 20 years, and may become stranded assets. The request asks Investec to clarify if the loan finances South African operations and how this aligns with its membership in the Net Zero Banking Alliance and its own net-zero carbon emission claims.

The Centre for Environmental Rights, on behalf of Fair Finance Southern Africa (FFSA), is questioning Türkiye İş Bankası A.Ş. (Isbank) about a US$ 140 million loan provided to Karpowership in March 2020. The letter argues that the Karpowership SA projects—consisting of three vessels with a total capacity of 1,220 MW in Coega, Richards Bay, and Saldanha—pose significant environmental and social risks. Specifically, it highlights the refusal of environmental authorisations by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) due to "procedural irregularities" and the potential for the projects to emit "80 to 142 million tonnes CO2e of greenhouse gas" over 20 years. The authors contend that these projects prolong reliance on fossil fuels and may become "stranded assets" as renewable energy becomes cheaper. The letter asks Isbank to clarify if the loan was intended to finance these South African operations and how this aligns with its membership in the Net Zero Banking Alliance.

The Centre for Environmental Rights, on behalf of Fair Finance Southern Africa (FFSA), is questioning the Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) about a US$ 140 million loan provided to Karpowership. The letter highlights environmental and legal concerns regarding Karpowership SA's projects in Coega, Richards Bay, and Saldanha, including the refusal of environmental authorisations by the DFFE and the potential for high methane emissions. FFSA seeks to clarify if MCB's financing ultimately supports these South African operations and how the bank assesses the associated material and climate risks.

The document is a formal request for information sent to Standard Chartered Bank by the Centre for Environmental Rights on behalf of Fair Finance Southern Africa, seeking clarification on the bank's role in financing Karpowership SA's floating gas-to-power projects in South Africa.

The report argues that land transport infrastructure is a primary driver of deforestation in the Amazon, noting that until 2006, approximately 95% of deforestation occurred within 5.5 km of a road. To address this, the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI/PUC-Rio) proposes a roadmap based on three pillars: anticipating socio-environmental analysis in decision-making, improving the quality of socio-environmental studies, and increasing transparency. Key recommendations include introducing a pre-feasibility phase, utilizing a 'market access' approach to define indirect areas of influence, and creating a single publicly available georeferenced database for infrastructure projects. The report highlights systemic failures, such as the fact that 57% of primary documents for ten analyzed federal concessions were unavailable and that no analyzed Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) completely complied with its terms of reference.

A coalition of civil society organisations condemns the UNDP's signing of an MoU with the Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone (MMSEZ) in South Africa. The letter argues that the MMSEZ is a coal-dependent project that would generate approximately 1 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent over its lifetime, jeopardising South Africa's Paris Agreement commitments and exacerbating water insecurity in the Limpopo region. The authors further claim that the UNDP's grievance mechanisms, specifically the Stakeholder Response Mechanism (SRM) and the Social and Environmental Compliance Unit (SECU), are inadequate because they are reactive and do not cover non-binding MoUs that lend legitimacy to flawed projects.

ClientEarth argues that the proposed amendments to the RRF Regulation to support REPowerEU create an unlawful 'preferential treatment' for fossil gas and oil infrastructure. The organization contends that the Commission bypassed the TEN-E Regulation's transparency requirements by relying on a 'wish list' from the industry-led ENTSOG, and that exempting these projects from the 'Do No Significant Harm' (DNSH) principle violates EU environmental law and the European Climate Law. ClientEarth further asserts that the lack of impact and climate assessments for the proposal is unjustifiable, regardless of the urgency of energy security needs.

The report argues that land transport infrastructure is a primary driver of deforestation in the Amazon, noting that 95% of forest conversion occurred within 5.5 km of roads up to 2006. To decouple infrastructure from deforestation, the authors propose three pillars of reform: reforming the public administration's decision-making flow to anticipate socio-environmental analysis, improving the technical quality and scope of socio-environmental studies (specifically the delimitation of indirect influence areas), and increasing transparency through open georeferenced databases. The report identifies significant gaps in current practices, such as the lack of available approval minutes for Technical, Economic, and Environmental Viability Studies (EVTEA) and the failure of Environmental Impact Studies (EIA) to fully comply with their terms of reference.

The report argues that land transport infrastructure is a primary driver of deforestation in the Amazon, noting that until 2006, approximately 95% of deforestation occurred within 5.5 km of a road. It identifies critical failures in the current project life cycle, including a lack of linear decision-making, poor quality of socio-environmental studies, and a severe lack of transparency. To address this, the authors propose a roadmap based on three pillars: anticipating socio-environmental analysis, improving study quality, and increasing transparency. Key recommendations include introducing a pre-feasibility phase, requiring Technical, Economic, and Environmental Feasibility Studies (EVTEA) to precede Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA), and implementing a georeferenced database (GIS) to track projects and their impacts on conservation units and indigenous lands.

The document critiques the REPowerEU proposal's attempt to accelerate renewable energy permitting, claiming it bypasses essential environmental assessments and violates EU administrative procedures.

The document examines the high socio-environmental costs of logistics infrastructure in the Legal Amazon, such as deforestation and carbon emissions. It proposes replacing inconsistent geographic-based delimitation of a project's 'area of influence' with a 'market access approach' based on international trade literature. Using the BR-319 highway as a case study, the report demonstrates how this method more accurately identifies affected populations and environmental risks, including impacts on 49 indigenous territories and 49 conservation units. It concludes with policy recommendations for the Brazilian Ministry of Infrastructure to mandate early risk assessments and transparent, public-domain methodologies for delimiting influence areas.

The document analyzes India's offshore wind potential, primarily off the coasts of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, noting that while the country has a target of 30 GW by 2030, no projects are currently operational. It identifies critical barriers including high capital costs, lack of specialized port infrastructure, and regulatory uncertainties. By comparing India to existing markets like the UK and Denmark and emerging markets like Taiwan and South Korea, the paper recommends updating the National Offshore Wind Energy Policy 2015, implementing competitive procurement mechanisms such as Contracts for Difference, and developing a government-led 'plug-and-play' power evacuation model to reduce investor risk. It also emphasizes the need for detailed Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) and the integration of offshore wind with green hydrogen or hybrid RTC (round-the-clock) renewable projects to enhance economic viability.

The document details two court cases aimed at halting Shell's seismic surveys off South Africa's Wild Coast. While one urgent interdict was dismissed, another was granted on 28 December 2021, based on potential harm to the constitutional, spiritual, and cultural rights of local communities. The applicants argue that Shell lacked necessary environmental authorizations under the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA), failed to properly consult stakeholders, and ignored climate change impacts. They seek to set aside the exploration rights granted to Impact Africa and Shell, and to establish a legal precedent that an Environmental Management Programme (EMPr) under the MPRDA is not a substitute for a NEMA environmental authorization.

The report highlights that animal welfare is largely absent from sustainable development governance, despite evidence that current animal treatment hinders the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals. It identifies critical links between industrial livestock farming and public health threats like antimicrobial resistance and zoonoses, as well as environmental degradation. The authors propose three pathways for mainstreaming: incorporating animal welfare into international legal instruments, adopting national policies to support sustainable practices (including economic and regulatory tools), and enhancing knowledge, capacity, and representation for animals.

The document argues for the necessity of specific regulatory updates to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) framework to ensure federal agencies adequately assess how proposed actions contribute to climate change and how climate change impacts those actions.

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), representing several environmental and community organisations, has requested the urgent intervention of the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) regarding the environmental authorisation of the Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone (MMSEZ) project. The CER argues that the Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (LEDET) is not the lawful competent authority due to a conflict of interest and that the project's scale and transboundary implications require national-level oversight under the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA).

The report analyzes the regulatory disparity between industrial mining and 'garimpo' (artisanal mining) in Brazil, specifically focusing on how cooperatives use the lenient 'Permissão de Lavra Garimpeira' (PLG) to conduct industrial-scale gold mining in the Amazon. It highlights that Presidential Decrees 10.965/2022 and 10.966/2022 further incentivize this by simplifying bureaucracy and providing development support to these cooperatives. Data shows that some cooperatives hold larger mining areas than Vale S.A., yet avoid the rigorous prior mineral research required for industrial concessions, which hinders socio-environmental impact assessments and the fight against financial laundering.