Search Climate Insights Directory
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If It’s Not Feminist, It’s Not Just.
The document critiques the current global energy system as a driver of climate change and systemic oppression, particularly affecting women in the Global South. It warns against 'false solutions'—such as greenwashing and 'purplewashing'—where corporations adopt environmental or feminist rhetoric without challenging underlying power structures. The report advocates for a 'Feminist Just Energy Transition' based on energy democracy, public ownership, and the centrality of care work and life sustainability over profit accumulation.
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Document type: Report
Setting a structural agenda for a green economic recovery from COVID-19
The document argues that COVID-19 recovery efforts have remained largely piecemeal and short-term, missing the opportunity for deep structural reform. It proposes a nested framework of green structural measures—ranging from green fiscal reform and natural capital investment to green skills and governance—and categorises prioritisation criteria into conventional, advanced, and systemic/political brackets. The authors highlight significant gaps in current recovery agendas, particularly regarding gender integration, nature-based solutions, and the financing challenges faced by the global south.
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Document type: Research paper
The South African Renewable Energy Master Plan: Emerging Actions Discussion Document
The South African Renewable Energy Master Plan (SAREM) aims to industrialise the renewable energy value chain to drive economic recovery and a just energy transition. The plan identifies market certainty as the most critical factor for attracting manufacturing investment, proposing a shift from a percentage-of-CAPEX local content model to a points-based scoring system in the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (REIPPPP). Key targets for 2030 include an annual GDP contribution of R141-164 billion, the creation of 32,500-35,000 new jobs, and achieving 70-90% localisation of key components. The strategy emphasizes integrating industrial opportunities into 'Just Transition hotspots' like Mpumalanga to reskill coal sector workers and diversifying procurement through private sector engagement and export promotion to regional markets, particularly within Africa via the AfCFTA.
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Document type: Report
Apoyos públicos a los combustibles fósiles en cuatro países latinoamericanos en el contexto de COVID-19
The document identifies a regional trend where Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico have used the COVID-19 economic recovery as a justification to expand fossil fuel extraction and subsidies, often framing natural gas as a 'bridge fuel' or citing 'energy sovereignty'. This approach creates a 'carbon lock-in' that contradicts their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and increases the risk of stranded assets. The report highlights the central role of state-owned enterprises (such as PEMEX, YPF, and Petrobras) in maintaining this fossil-fuel dependency and notes a general absence of concrete just transition plans for affected workers and communities.
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Document type: Policy brief
The Data Is in—Governments Must Green Their COVID-19 Recovery to Keep Global Temperature Rise to 1.5°C
Research organizations tracking global recovery spending report that current green recovery spending represents only 10%–20% of global totals, which is insufficient for a low-carbon transition. The statement urges governments to adopt 'do-no-harm' principles, eliminate public finance for fossil fuel production, and increase support for nature-based solutions and low-income economies to ensure a just and green recovery.
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Document type: Statement
Climate Risks to Trade and Food Security: Implications for Policy
The document highlights the critical and unrecognized nature of transboundary climate risks to the trade of maize, rice, wheat, soy, sugar cane, and coffee. It asserts that traditional risk management strategies like diversification are insufficient against accelerating climate impacts and warns of potential geopolitical tensions as producers struggle to maintain market shares. The authors call for a global systemic view and increased international coordination to implement fair adaptation, particularly to protect low-income, import-dependent countries.
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Document type: Policy brief
“Net-Zero” Is A Dangerous Distraction
The document characterizes "net-zero by 2050" pledges as a "dangerous greenwashing gimmick" that allows polluters to maintain a facade of climate action while protecting profits. It argues that net-zero is fundamentally different from "zero emissions" and relies on "unjust offsetting schemes," unproven technologies, and geoengineering. The authors contend that these schemes perpetuate environmental racism and injustice, particularly in BIPOC and low-wealth communities. The document demands that the United States, as a major historical polluter, achieve absolute greenhouse gas emissions reductions by 2030, keep fossil fuels in the ground, eliminate industrial wood biomass and factory farming, and provide international finance and technical assistance to developing countries.
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Document type: Statement
Industrial and Trade Policy Questions Confronting Africa in a Just Transition to a Lower Carbon Economy
The document examines the industrial and trade policy challenges Africa faces during the transition to a lower carbon economy. It emphasizes that for the transition to be 'just,' Africa must move beyond exporting primary products and importing green technology to becoming a manufacturer of value-added lower-carbon products. The author highlights the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as a key mechanism for creating regional value chains for renewable energy components. The paper warns against premature trade liberalization and unilateral carbon-based import restrictions from developed nations, which it characterizes as 'green-washed protectionism.' It concludes that Africa should advocate for a Global Green New Deal that explicitly recognizes the right of developing countries to industrialize and receive real resource transfers for climate adaptation and mitigation.
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Document type: Research paper
Fragen der Industrie- und Handelspolitik für Afrika (EN)
The document examines the intersection of industrial and trade policy with the green transition in Africa. It argues that for the continent to avoid becoming a 'net loser' in the shift to a low-carbon economy, it must move toward higher value-added production of green technologies rather than remaining an exporter of primary products. The author highlights the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as a key mechanism for establishing regional value chains for renewable energy products. The paper also emphasizes the need for 'policy space' to protect nascent industries, warning against premature trade liberalization and unilateral 'border adjustment taxes' from developed nations. Additionally, it stresses the urgency of 'climate proofing' infrastructure to create jobs and mitigate the inevitable extreme weather events predicted by the IPCC. Finally, the paper calls for African nations to advocate for a Global Green New Deal that respects the right of developing countries to industrialize and includes meaningful resource transfers.
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Document type: Research paper
Lessons from the pandemic: environmental health requires government action
The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) asserts that the government must shift from risk management to a hazard prevention paradigm to protect public health. Key recommendations include eliminating fossil fuel subsidies, reforming the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA), implementing a just transition for workers and Indigenous peoples, and adopting a planetary health lens to integrate climate adaptation and mitigation.
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Document type: Statement
An African Climate Finance Agenda for COP26
The document presents recommendations from African stakeholders to improve the quantum and quality of climate finance. Key priorities include establishing a global goal for adaptation finance, streamlining access to the Green Climate Fund (GCF), and creating national regulatory environments to unlock private investment. It emphasizes the need for grant-based finance to avoid exacerbating debt crises and calls for a broader definition of return on investment for adaptation projects.
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Document type: Research paper
Navigating the Opportunities and Risks of the European Green Deal for Africa
The European Green Deal (EGD) aims to reduce EU net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent from 1990 levels by 2030, creating significant spillovers for Africa in sectors such as energy, agriculture, and critical raw materials. The document argues that to avoid replicating past dependencies, the EU must align its policies with African development priorities and provide concessional climate financing focused on adaptation. Simultaneously, African nations are urged to articulate their own climate transition agendas, update resource mapping to attract foreign direct investment, and strengthen local content laws to ensure technology transfer and job localization.
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Document type: Briefing
South Africa must walk the talk at COP26
The Life After Coal campaign calls for South Africa to adhere to the lower bound of its updated NDC (350 to 420 Mt CO2eq) to align with the 1.5°C pathway. This requires cancelling all new coal and gas projects, accelerating the retirement of the coal fleet to reach zero fossil fuels in electricity by 2040, and building at least 4 GW of renewable capacity annually. The campaign also advocates for a just transition that prioritizes workers and communities and urges South Africa to lead at COP26 in demanding increased finance for adaptation and loss and damage from wealthy nations.
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Document type: Statement
Trade ministers must pull their weight on climate action
The author contends that the lack of a formal, ministerial-level 'climate and trade' agenda at the WTO or UNFCCC leads to policy silos and trade tensions. To address this, the document proposes a coalition of approximately 40 trade ministers, including G20 members and diverse developing nations, to align trade flows with the Paris Agreement and ensure a just transition.
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Document type: Statement
State aid CEEAG revision - NGO letter on fossil fuels
A coalition of climate, environmental, and health NGOs calls on the European Commission to revise the draft CEEAG to ensure it supports the Paris Agreement and the European Green Deal. The authors argue for a strict 2030 deadline for coal plant closures, a transparent methodology for assessing plant profitability to avoid fossil fuel subsidies, and the removal of preferential treatment for fossil gas to prevent infrastructure lock-in.
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Document type: Statement
COMMENTS ON THE PROPOSED REGULATIONS PERTAINING TO FINANCIAL PROVISION FOR THE MITIGATION AND REHABILITATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE CAUSED BY RECONNAISSANCE, PROSPECTING, EXPLORATION OR PRODUCTION OPERATIONS, 2021
The document argues that the draft regulations fail to sufficiently protect the state and affected communities from the costs of mine abandonment. It calls for a shift from 'agreed' to 'approved' closure objectives, the inclusion of 'sustainable end use' to address socio-economic inequality and land reform, and the removal of high-risk financial vehicles like parent company guarantees. It specifically highlights regulatory gaps in tailings reprocessing and the environmental risks of seismic surveys in the oil and gas sector.
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Document type: Statement
The Not-Zero Asset Owners Alliance: Pushing offsetting only undermines climate action
The statement criticizes the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance (AOA) for its 'The Net in Net Zero' paper, which encourages asset owners to scale investment in offsets and negative emissions technologies. The author contends that this focus shifts attention away from the necessary deep decarbonization and the phase-down of fossil fuel production. The text highlights the failure of previous offsetting schemes, such as the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and argues that current efforts by the AOA and the Task Force on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets (TSVCM) will replicate these flaws. It concludes that asset owners should follow the International Energy Agency's (IEA) 'Net Zero by 2050' report by stopping investments in new oil and gas projects.
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Document type: Statement
The South African Youth Climate Action Plan
The South African Youth Climate Action Plan (SA YCAP) is a comprehensive framework developed by young people aged 13-30 to advocate for an intersectional and just transition to a decarbonised economy. It calls for the integration of youth in policymaking, the implementation of a national climate education plan, and a shift from fossil fuel dependency to decentralised renewable energy. The plan emphasizes the need for good governance to combat corruption in climate finance and proposes specific nature-based solutions and sustainable agricultural practices to protect South Africa's biodiversity and food security.
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Document type: Report
Framework for Sustainable Finance Integrity
The Framework for Sustainable Finance Integrity provides a technical set of 'Necessary Action' metrics across three categories—targets and objectives, implementation, and metrics and transparency—to align the financial sector with the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement. It identifies significant gaps between current leading practices of major financial coalitions and the scientific requirements for a viable net zero pathway, particularly regarding short-term emissions targets, the phase-out of all fossil fuel finance, and the integration of social justice and biodiversity into financial mandates.
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Document type: Report
Cero neto y la COP26
The document critiques the 'net zero' narrative promoted by the UK presidency of COP26, arguing that it ignores historical responsibility and relies on scientifically flawed assumptions about carbon removal. It warns that 'net zero' acts as a 'Trojan horse' for dangerous geoengineering and allows polluters to use carbon offsets to maintain business-as-usual emissions. The author calls for a shift toward 'real zero' targets, absolute emission reductions by the Global North, and the exclusion of corporate polluters from COP26.
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Document type: Briefing