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The document identifies four critical areas for legal reform to prevent forest conversion: ensuring consistency between sectoral laws, establishing transparent land-title granting processes, formally recognizing customary land rights of local communities and indigenous peoples, and providing detailed implementation and enforcement mechanisms. It warns that legal ambiguity and a lack of stakeholder consultation lead to uncontrolled deforestation, land-tenure conflicts, and the potential for unfair evictions.

The document serves as an overview for a legal toolkit designed to help law-makers address the complexities of forest conversion laws. It identifies five key areas for legal attention: land allocation, clearing permits, timber rules, environmental protection, and community rights. The toolkit is based on an analysis of legal frameworks in nine tropical countries and focuses primarily on the regulation of large-scale projects to balance economic growth with environmental and social protections.

The 2018 Goal 10 Assessment finds that slow improvements in forest governance and the failure to implement existing laws contribute to ongoing deforestation. It highlights a critical gap between legal protections on paper and the practical security of land rights for indigenous peoples and local communities, noting an increase in land conflicts and violence against activists since 2014. While some Asian countries are introducing market restrictions on illegal commodities to complement EU, US, and Australian frameworks, the report emphasizes that local innovations for community empowerment require greater scaling and financial support.

The document reports on a June 2018 meeting between the Canadian government, academics, and civil society representatives regarding the reform of international investment law. Participants argued that traditional investment treaties often prioritize investor protection over sustainable development and can hinder the achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Canadian government expressed commitment to a progressive trade and investment agenda incorporating environment, labour, and gender equality standards. Proposed reforms include conducting cost-benefit and impact analyses before negotiations, shifting treaty focus toward sustainable development, balancing investor rights with obligations regarding corruption and human rights, and reforming or eliminating Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanisms to protect a state's right to legislate in the public interest, particularly regarding climate change.

COP23 was intended as a technical summit to establish the Paris Agreement Rulebook, but achieved only modest progress on these rules. Key breakthroughs included a first-time agreement to address climate challenges in agriculture and the establishment of a Gender Action Plan and a Local Communities and Indigenous People’s Platform. The conference launched the Talanoa dialogue to accelerate action and increase ambition. While official negotiations were slow, strong political support was demonstrated by non-state actors and an alternative US delegation. Additionally, the 'Powering Past Coal' alliance was endorsed by 28 countries and regional actors, though Germany was notably absent from the pledge.

The report reveals a systemic imbalance where community land formalization is burdensome, costly, and slow, while company land acquisition is relatively fast and flexible. It argues that this 'uneven playing field' threatens the livelihoods of 2.5 billion people and increases environmental risks, recommending reforms to make community procedures more accessible and transparent.

The report examines the use of community protocols in four countries to address the impacts of extractive industries. It finds that while the processes are time-consuming and context-dependent, they can empower communities through legal training, the formation of advocacy groups, and the creation of frameworks for free, prior and informed consent (FPIC). The report highlights that early engagement is generally more effective, though protocols can still yield results during active mining operations, as seen in Zimbabwe. Key challenges include internal community conflicts, power imbalances with corporations, and the need for strong local partnerships to ensure community ownership.

The report identifies significant gaps in the EU's implementation of the Nagoya Protocol, which differs from provider countries' laws by triggering obligations at the point of physical access rather than utilization. This creates legal uncertainty and allows for the potential misappropriation of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, particularly through an 'import loophole' where products developed outside the EU are sold within it. The authors suggest that provider countries should strengthen their national laws and Mutually Agreed Terms (MAT) to protect their resources and the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities.

The 2016 NYDF Progress Assessment indicates a complex trend where annual net forest loss is declining, but gross tree cover loss remains steady or increasing. While corporate commitments to deforestation-free supply chains are growing, particularly for palm oil and wood, cattle and soy remain under-addressed. Restoration pledges under the Bonn Challenge and UNFCCC have increased significantly, and the Paris Agreement has formally integrated land-use and REDD+ into global climate mitigation. However, financial disbursements for results-based payments lag behind pledges, and forest governance remains a critical challenge, evidenced by a record number of killings of land and environment defenders in 2015.

The document commemorates Andries Steenkamp, an outspoken leader from the Kalahari and the Khomani San community. He is recognized for his significant contributions to indigenous peoples in South Africa and his involvement in Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) cases concerning Hoodia, Scelletium, and Rooibos.

The document argues that the EU's LULUCF proposal should establish a separate target for soils and forests to prevent carbon sequestration from being used to offset industrial emissions. It emphasizes the need for improved accounting rules, safeguards for bioenergy, and the protection of ecosystem integrity and food security, particularly for indigenous peoples and small-scale farmers.

The document establishes a framework of 14 conservation standards to prevent human rights abuses during site-based conservation interventions. It argues that while states are primary duty bearers, non-state actors—including NGOs and philanthropic foundations—have a 'responsibility to respect' human rights. The standards are divided into rights most likely to be directly infringed (such as self-determination, free, prior and informed consent, and land rights) and those indirectly infringed (such as education and non-discriminatory employment). The authors emphasize that these standards should serve as minimum requirements for all conservation activities to avoid forced evictions, cultural deterioration, and the marginalization of indigenous governance systems.

The report finds that the CIF provides a unique, programmatic approach to climate finance that differs from the project-by-project model of the GCF. It has been the largest source of external concessional finance for Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), particularly in high-risk technologies like geothermal and concentrated solar power. The authors recommend keeping the CIF operational to maintain momentum and bridge investment gaps, suggesting it work complementarily with the GCF.

The document defines vertical integration in the NAP process as the creation of intentional linkages between national and sub-national adaptation efforts to ensure local realities inform national plans and that NAPs enable local action. It identifies three core enabling factors: institutional arrangements, information sharing, and capacity development. The guide details how to integrate sub-national perspectives into planning, coordinate the implementation of adaptation options, and link M&E systems to capture local lessons. It emphasizes the importance of gender sensitivity, the inclusion of indigenous peoples and vulnerable groups, and the leveraging of existing decentralization processes and local funding mechanisms.

The document examines the fragmentation of social and environmental standards across UNFCCC instruments, including the CDM, REDD+, NAMAs, GCF, and AF. It finds that while some funds like the GCF and AF have robust safeguard policies, others like the CDM and NAMAs lack mandatory monitoring, universal guidelines for stakeholder consultation, or formal redress mechanisms. The author recommends that the Paris climate treaty explicitly mandate the protection of human rights and establish a centralized UNFCCC accountability mechanism and safeguards system to ensure climate actions do not cause adverse social or environmental impacts.

A coalition of civil society organizations urges the World Bank to avoid a truncated, web-based Phase 3 consultation process for its Environmental and Social Framework (ESF). The group recommends a minimum six-month timeline and a strategy combining general in-country consultations in all six Bank regions, thematic consultations on issues such as climate and human rights, and targeted web-based sessions. They call for greater transparency, including the publication of verbatim transcripts and a feedback matrix, to address failures in the first two consultation phases.

The assessment finds that while Uganda has established a comprehensive legal and policy framework for mining, its actual implementation readiness is medium to low due to severe capacity constraints in monitoring, inspection, and enforcement. Strengths include the public availability of geological data and a progressive variable tax rate for mining companies. However, critical gaps exist in mine closure planning, financial assurance for restoration, and the formalization of the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector, which accounts for 90% of national production but remains overwhelmingly informal. The report recommends prioritizing socioeconomic benefit optimization, improving post-mining transition frameworks, and increasing transparency in the distribution of mining revenues.

The document asserts that climate change is a major human rights challenge, threatening rights to life, health, and food security, particularly for vulnerable groups. It criticizes the UNFCCC for slow progress in operationalizing rights protections and recommends that the 2015 climate agreement include explicit human rights obligations, establish institutional safeguards, create a dedicated work programme on human rights and climate change, and implement a grievance mechanism to address harms caused by mitigation and adaptation activities.

The document positions climate change as a major human rights challenge, noting that environmental degradation threatens fundamental rights such as life, health, and food security. It criticizes the UNFCCC for failing to operationalize human rights protections despite recognizing them in 2010. The authors propose a human-rights-based approach to climate action, emphasizing the need to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, provide compensation for loss and damage, and establish institutional safeguards, including a formal complaints mechanism and a dedicated work program on human rights and climate change.

The document examines how extraterritorial obligations (ETOs), as clarified by the Maastricht Principles, are essential for holding states accountable for environmental destruction and climate change that impact human rights beyond their own borders. It highlights gaps in protection caused by globalization, specifically regarding transnational corporations and intergovernmental organizations. Using examples like tropical deforestation and shipbreaking in South Asia, the guide illustrates how state omissions and the failure to regulate non-state actors lead to severe human rights impairments. It concludes that a human rights-based approach to climate change is necessary to ensure equitable mitigation and protection for the world's most vulnerable populations.