Search Climate Insights Directory

The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) submitted a statement to the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development urging the passage of Bill C-230, which aims to develop a national strategy to redress environmental racism.

This fact sheet describes the development of the Environmental Strategy and Action Plan of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH ESAP 2030+), a project supported by the Stockholm Environment Institute and funded by the Embassy of Sweden to align the country's environmental frameworks with European Union policies.

A statement by Alexey Miroshnichenko of VEB.RF detailing the development of a Russian Green Finance Standard designed to attract private investment for environmental projects, specifically to support the government's "Ecology" national project.

This technical note by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) and PUC-Rio analyzes Provisional Measure (MP) 910/2019, which modifies Law 11.952/2009 regarding the land regularization of federal public lands in Brazil. The authors argue that the MP rewards criminal activities such as land grabbing (grilagem) and illegal deforestation by expanding the spatial and temporal scopes for regularization and simplifying the process through self-declaration, thereby benefiting large landowners over traditional communities and family farmers.

This research paper examines the compatibility of the planetary boundaries framework with democratic decision-making in earth system governance, proposing a deliberative approach to balance expert scientific warnings with democratic legitimacy.

This technical note by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) and NAPC/PUC-Rio analyzes the changes introduced by Decree No. 9,760/2019 to the rules for converting environmental fines into environmental services in Brazil. The document details the evolution of federal legislation, the specific modifications to the conversion process, and the remaining regulatory gaps that hinder the full implementation of the conversion program.

This report, commissioned by the European Environment Agency and authored by the Stockholm Environment Institute, applies the 'SDG Synergies' approach to analyze interactions between environmental targets and the broader 2030 Agenda within the European Union. Using a semi-quantitative network analysis, the study identifies which environmental targets have the highest synergistic potential, maps direct trade-offs and synergies, and explores indirect 'ripple effects' across the SDG network to support more coherent policy-making.

A letter dated November 15, 2018, signed by representatives from various environmental and health organizations, urges Premier Doug Ford to maintain the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario (ECO) as an independent office and to reject proposed revisions in Bill 57 that would eliminate it.

The PRINCE Final Report describes the development of a hybrid model designed to track the environmental impacts of Swedish consumption, specifically to monitor the Generational Goal ensuring domestic improvements do not cause environmental or health issues abroad.

This article analyzes a decision by the Brazilian Supreme Federal Court (STF) regarding the 2012 Forest Code (Law No. 12,651/2012), specifically focusing on how contradictory rulings regarding the Environmental Reserve Quote (CRA) create legal uncertainty and potentially weaken this market-based mechanism for environmental regularization.

This technical note by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) and the NAPC/PUC-Rio argues that estimates of land 'amnesty' granted by the new Brazilian Forest Code (Law No. 12,651/2012) may be lower than previously reported by Imaflora, as some rules were already present in the previous legislation.

This policy brief by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) and PUC-Rio analyzes the Environmental Reserve Quote (Cota de Reserva Ambiental - CRA) as a mechanism for compensating Legal Reserve deficits in rural properties under Brazil's Forest Code (Law 12.651/2012). The document evaluates the CRA against other compensation alternatives, identifies institutional and legal barriers to its implementation, and provides recommendations for federal regulation to ensure market security and lower transaction costs.

This briefing by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) evaluates the environmental record of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and its side agreement, the North American Agreement for Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC). It examines the role of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) in generating environmental data and managing shared ecosystems, while critiquing the effectiveness of the citizen submission process. The document concludes by proposing seven options for the environmental framework of a renegotiated NAFTA, ranging from maintaining the status quo to integrating provisions from the TPP or CETA.

This policy brief explores the application of the Planetary Boundaries framework to EU policy-making, proposing an equal-per-capita allocation method to translate global limits into EU-scale benchmarks. It finds that the EU exceeds its fair share of the global safe operating space in several key areas and suggests that while EU policy instruments offer entry points for mainstreaming these boundaries, they currently fail to address process interactions or the EU's international environmental footprint.

A statement by Lisa Anne Hamilton of the Center for International Environmental Law criticizing the Trump administration's early actions to remove climate change references from government websites and freeze environmental research grants, framing these actions as a form of censorship and climate denial.

A statement from Friends of the Earth U.S. President Erich Pica pledging to resist the administration of President-elect Donald Trump to protect the environment and address systemic issues of equality, race, and class.

This research paper analyzes the risks facing the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) in its role of overseeing Agenda 2030, arguing that it may repeat the failures of the now-defunct Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) due to its structural subordination to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The author suggests that the HLPF's success depends on meticulously preparing debates and streamlining the vast flow of national, regional, and intergovernmental reporting to avoid being overwhelmed by undigested information.

This policy brief by the Climate Policy Initiative describes the 2012 Brazilian Forest Code, detailing its mechanisms for protecting native vegetation on private lands, the creation of the Rural Environmental Registry (CAR), and the special legal regime for regularizing properties with environmental liabilities prior to July 22, 2008.

This research paper by the Stockholm Environment Institute explores the process of translating the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into a national agenda for Sweden. Through a screening of 169 targets, the authors argue that the SDGs are universally applicable and require significant domestic policy changes even in high-income countries. The paper identifies key challenges in target interpretation, such as ambiguous wording and the need for political judgment, and recommends a government-led, cross-sectoral approach to implementation to ensure the SDGs become a real policy agenda rather than a mere reporting exercise.

This research paper, produced by the Stockholm Environment Institute for the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (Naturvårdsverket), examines policy instruments and interventions to reduce the negative impacts of Swedish consumption on health and the environment in other countries. It focuses on the international dimension of Sweden's 'generational goal' (generationsmålet), identifying key 'hotspots' such as electronics from China and soy from Brazil, and proposing a mix of economic, administrative, informative, and collaborative measures to drive systemic change toward sustainable consumption.