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The Climate Bonds Initiative's methodology for the Social and Sustainability Bond Dataset (SSBD) establishes a rigorous screening process to identify credible social and sustainability bonds. To be included, instruments must be self-labelled debt, provide adequate public disclosure, and allocate 100% of net proceeds to social or environmental projects, with at least 90% meeting specific eligibility criteria. The framework emphasizes ex-ante impact confirmation for target populations and employs a strict list of absolute exclusions, including fossil fuel exploration and weapons production. Bonds are classified as aligned, non-aligned, or pending based on their adherence to these standards, with a two-year lookback period used for complex assessments.

The Just Transition Planning Masterclass provided practitioners from Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, and Namibia with frameworks to ensure nature-based solutions (NbS) are equitable. The program highlighted that while NbS are often seen as 'win-win', they can cause socio-economic disruptions, such as loss of employment in extractive industries or displacement of communities without formal land tenure. Participants explored the Climate Investment Fund’s Just Transition Planning Toolbox and identified strategies to mitigate negative impacts, including livelihood diversification, re-skilling, and social protection measures. The report also notes barriers to implementation, such as limited institutional capacity, financial constraints, and community mistrust.

The report identifies a systemic failure within the UNFCCC where justice efforts are fragmented across isolated mechanisms, allowing for symbolic recognition without the redistribution of power. It proposes an integrated justice framework—comprising distributive, procedural, recognitional, restorative, and transformative justice—to diagnose gaps and guide policy. The author argues that the JTWP risks becoming a 'talking shop' unless it is operationalised through binding commitments, a permanent coordination body, and sector-specific pathways beyond the energy sector. Key recommendations for COP30 include adopting ILO Guidelines as foundational principles and mandating integrated justice assessments in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

The 2025 Policy Dialogue on Just Energy Transitions highlights that the peak in global oil and gas demand is being accelerated by low-carbon technology rather than climate policy. It argues that producer countries must implement structural economic transformations, fiscal reforms, and new collaborative governance models with importers to ensure a just and orderly transition. The report emphasizes the role of regionally led economic modelling and the need to overcome financial bottlenecks to avoid stranded assets and fiscal contraction.

The South African Climate Finance Landscape 2025 reports an annual average of ZAR 188.3 billion in climate finance for 2022–2023, though this remains well below the estimated annual need of up to ZAR 499 billion. Investment is heavily skewed toward the energy sector, which receives 74.1% of total flows, primarily for renewable electricity generation. In contrast, adaptation finance is lagging, accounting for only 11.3% of tracked flows. While domestic sources provide nearly 60% of funding, international flows are dominated by public development finance institutions, particularly from Western Europe. The report highlights significant barriers, including grid bottlenecks, policy uncertainty, and a lack of concessional capital for high-risk or non-revenue-generating adaptation and just transition projects.

The document identifies 14 distinct tactics of climate obstruction used during UNFCCC negotiations, ranging from overt rejection to subtle procedural delays. It argues that obstruction is unevenly distributed, with wealthier and fossil-fuel-producing nations exercising disproportionate influence. The brief maps these tactics across negotiation stages and predicts their likely application at COP30 in areas such as the Global Goal on Adaptation, fossil fuel phase-outs, and climate finance.

The 2025 Impact Report details the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative's progress in securing diplomatic support, engaging subnational governments, and conducting research to create a 1.5ºC-aligned mechanism for phasing out fossil fuels. Key achievements include the announcement of the First International Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels for April 2026, the addition of Cambodia and Saint Kitts and Nevis to the participating nations, and a resolution in support of the treaty passed by the IUCN. The initiative has grown to include 18 participating countries from the Global South, over 140 cities, and 4,200 civil society organizations.

The document is a training guide designed to move beyond a simple replacement of fossil fuels with renewables, advocating instead for a systemic change based on energy justice. It structures learning into three phases: 'Discover' (focusing on energy sufficiency and extractivism), 'Define' (conceptualizing just transitions), and 'Develop' (exploring circular systems and community-owned energy). The manual highlights the risks of 'green extractivism' and 'narrative injustice,' where climate goals are used to justify the expropriation of land and resources in the Global South. It provides case studies of community energy projects in Gambia, Denmark, Brazil, and the UK to illustrate scalable models of popular power and energy sovereignty.

The document examines the integration of Alternative Service Delivery (ASD) within South Africa's Just Energy Transition (JET) framework. It highlights how decentralised, community-led models can address infrastructure and financial barriers to energy, water, and sanitation access, particularly in coal-dependent regions like Mpumalanga. Using the Nomzamo Agri Village as a case study, the brief demonstrates that ASD promotes decarbonisation and economic empowerment by replacing hazardous energy sources with clean alternatives.

The report outlines a shift in South Africa's renewable energy sector from public procurement to private off-taker agreements, driven by electricity market liberalisation and corporate decarbonisation needs. It estimates a total investment potential of R132 billion for private renewable energy development and R16 billion for local component manufacturing by 2030. Key barriers include severe grid capacity constraints in high-resource provinces and policy uncertainty regarding the future of public procurement programmes.

The report details a year of significant friction in global environmental governance, where geopolitical fragmentation and a UN liquidity crisis hindered consensus on critical issues like fossil fuel phase-out and a plastics treaty. Despite these setbacks, it highlights successes in ozone recovery, the growth of renewable energy, and the establishment of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Panel on Chemicals, Waste and Pollution. It emphasizes the need for synergies between multilateral environmental agreements and a shift toward more accountable, integrated national reporting to improve efficiency amid shrinking budgets.

The document argues that the COP29 finance goal of US$300 billion is insufficient, covering less than 4.3% of projected global needs, and that Africa receives less than 3% of total global finance for developing countries. It highlights a critical imbalance where only 36% of Africa's climate finance is dedicated to adaptation. The brief calls for African nations to transition from passive actors to co-creators at COP30, advocating for the 'Baku to Belém Roadmap' to reach US$1.3 trillion and demanding that finance be grant-based, accessible, and channeled through African institutions. It also notes the negative impact of the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and the need for more inclusive participation for least developed countries in UN negotiations.

Natural Justice assesses South Africa's 2025 draft NDC, acknowledging progress in absolute emissions targets but warning that these are undermined by over-reliance on international conditionality and a lack of concrete implementation plans. The submission argues that the draft fails to meet the 'highest possible ambition' standard set by the ICJ, citing gaps in adaptation financing, the exclusion of natural disturbance emissions from accounting, and the absence of a clear fossil fuel phase-out schedule. It recommends integrating a Human Rights-Based Approach (HRBA), establishing a grant-based Loss and Damage facility funded partly by a tax on fossil fuel profits, and mandating Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) for all climate projects.

The document outlines research and proposals for reforming South African local government, emphasizing the need to move from neoliberal cost-recovery models to 'democratic decommodification' and fiscal justice. Key themes include the use of digital platforms like fixlocal and MyRepresentative to bridge the information gap between citizens and councillors, the role of 'invented spaces' for community action on water rights, and the implementation of data-driven tools like Cape Town's Ease of Doing Business Index to improve service delivery. It also highlights failures in Performance Management Systems (PMS) in municipalities such as Polokwane and the need for gender-inclusive political communication and youth civic education to ensure meaningful participation in governance.

Reclaim Finance outlines a comprehensive framework for asset managers to drive real-economy decarbonization. It advocates for the adoption of robust transition plans based on five steps: decarbonization targets, strategy, engagement, reporting/governance, and just transition/biodiversity. The report sets specific phase-out dates for fossil fuel assets—including coal by 2030 in OECD/European countries and 2040 globally—and demands that asset managers use specific databases like the Global Coal Exit List (GCEL) and Global Oil & Gas Exit List (GOGEL) to implement restrictions. It further details an escalation strategy for engagement and strict voting principles, recommending that asset managers vote against director re-elections and executive remuneration if companies fail to publish science-based transition plans or continue fossil fuel expansion.

The report outlines a framework for banks to implement robust climate transition plans and sectoral policies to eliminate support for coal, oil, gas, and unabated power generation. It advocates for a shift in financial flows toward sustainable power supply, recommending a 6:1 financing ratio in favor of sustainable energy over fossil fuels by 2030. The document specifies strict exclusion criteria for 'coal developers' and 'gas power developers,' demands transparent reporting on 'real-world economy' GHG emissions, and calls for a responsible climate lobbying policy aligned with 1.5°C pathways.

The report outlines a comprehensive framework for (re)insurers to decarbonize their business models. It advocates for the adoption of Net Zero Transition Plans (NZTP) based on 1.5°C scenarios and establishes specific restrictions for the coal, oil and gas, and power sectors. Key demands include the immediate cessation of support for fossil fuel expansion, the implementation of time-bound phase-out dates for unsustainable power and hydrocarbons, and the use of rigorous engagement and voting policies to hold portfolio companies accountable.

The paper provides a comparative analysis of green industrial policies in Brazil and South Africa, focusing on solar photovoltaic (PV) and onshore wind energy. It argues that while market-based mechanisms like auctions attract investment, state-led industrial policies—including localisation requirements and concessional finance—are essential for domestic technological upgrading and job creation. Brazil is highlighted for its relative success in building a domestic wind turbine supply chain through the BNDES and PROINFA, whereas South Africa's progress via the REIPPPP has been hindered by institutional resistance from the state utility Eskom and grid infrastructure bottlenecks. The author concludes that a just transition requires aligning energy procurement with long-term industrial strategies, investing in grid modernization, and leveraging multilateral platforms like BRICS and the G20 to facilitate technology transfer.

The paper examines the challenges South Africa and Brazil face in transitioning to green economies and their shared vulnerability to the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). It argues that both nations perceive CBAM as a form of 'green protectionism' that violates WTO non-discrimination principles and the Paris Agreement's principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR-RC). The authors suggest that South Africa and Brazil can collaborate through BRICS and BASIC to advocate for fairer trade rules, technological support, and the integration of development needs into WTO climate provisions. Domestically, the paper recommends that South Africa accelerate its Renewable Energy Masterplan (SAREM) and reform its carbon tax, while Brazil should formalise a national carbon pricing regime and enforce its Forest Code to maintain export competitiveness.

The document examines the socio-economic challenges of the energy transition in South Africa and Brazil, focusing on the gap between decarbonisation goals and the actual reskilling of vulnerable workforces. In South Africa, the transition is complicated by a heavy reliance on coal for electricity and high unemployment, while Brazil faces challenges in balancing its clean energy mix with high emissions from agriculture and deforestation. Both nations struggle with structural inequality and the need for robust social protection systems to ensure that the shift to green industries does not exacerbate existing poverty or exclude informal workers.