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The Institute for Economic Justice argues that current South African renewable energy procurement, primarily through the REIPPP, has led to privatisation and temporary employment. It critiques the initial SAREM research for lacking analysis on trade dynamics and public ownership. The brief recommends a 'Green New Deal' approach featuring import tariffs, state-backed cheap debt, a formal technology transfer system, and the establishment of a municipal-based solar PV recycling industry to ensure a 'Just Transition'.

IISD conducted a series of internal brainstorms, stakeholder interviews, and literature reviews to identify gaps in Canada's sustainable food systems policy. The findings highlight a need for a holistic 'systems approach' that integrates social equity with economic and environmental goals. IISD identifies five priority areas for future work: emissions reduction strategies, incentives for sustainable practices, data tracking, fiscal analysis for agricultural resiliency, and the promotion of equitable food policy development.

The document argues that to meet the 1.5°C climate goal, new coal infrastructure must stop immediately and most existing plants must be retired by 2030. It provides a framework for financial institutions to assess corporate coal exit plans, emphasizing that credible plans must include facility-by-facility closure dates, a prohibition on selling assets to new owners, and a ban on converting plants to other fossil fuels or biomass. The briefing also highlights the necessity of funded just transition plans and the cessation of anti-climate lobbying and legal challenges via investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms.

The document argues that to meet the 1.5°C climate goal, the global coal industry must be phased out rapidly, with 80% of the global fleet and all facilities in the OECD, Eastern Europe, and the Former Soviet Union closed by 2030. It provides financial institutions with a ten-point framework to assess corporate phase-out plans, emphasizing that plans must include facility-by-facility closure dates, prohibit the sale of assets to new owners, and forbid conversion to fossil gas, biomass, or fossil-based hydrogen. The briefing also warns against using carbon capture and storage (CCS) or Science-Based Targets (SBTi) as substitutes for concrete closure plans and insists on funded just transition roadmaps and the cessation of anti-climate lobbying and investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) claims.

The document examines the limited role of African countries and LDCs in G20 decision-making and proposes mechanisms to enhance their agency. It highlights how the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated vulnerabilities in these regions, leading to the worst economic outcome in thirty years for LDCs. The author suggests creating a formal outreach mechanism with longer-term representation to ensure continuity and mainstreaming LDC inputs across G20 workstreams, including climate and finance. Key priority themes identified include rethinking vulnerability metrics beyond per capita GDP, ensuring a 'just transition' that balances green recovery with immediate social needs, and reforming the financial architecture to provide more fiscal space and fairer capital market access.

The document outlines a framework for South African climate diplomacy, emphasizing the need to move beyond the UNFCCC to engage with the G7, G20, WTO, and IMF. It argues that the current global climate finance architecture is unfit for the needs of emerging economies, particularly regarding coal phase-outs and adaptation. The authors recommend a whole-of-government approach to secure 'package deals' that link higher emission reduction targets to concrete financial support, debt relief, and intellectual property waivers for green technology.

The document analyzes how socio-economic vulnerabilities—including gender, age, disability, and minority status—increase the risk and impact of climate-related hazards in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It highlights that disadvantaged groups are more likely to live in hazard-prone areas and lack the resources to adapt. The brief argues for inclusive policymaking and warns that both adaptation and mitigation strategies can lead to 'maladaptation' or detrimental socio-economic effects if not carefully designed to protect the most vulnerable populations.

The report analyzes how multidimensional inequality and poverty in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) intersect with environmental risks and policy. It finds that marginalized groups—including Roma communities, women, the elderly, and persons with disabilities—face disproportionate exposure to pollution and hazards, while social norms limit their access to natural resources. The document argues that environmental policies can either exacerbate these inequalities (e.g., through energy taxes) or mitigate them (e.g., through energy efficiency in social housing). It recommends collecting disaggregated data, increasing the representation of disadvantaged groups in decision-making, and implementing gender-responsive budgeting to ensure a more inclusive and effective environmental strategy.

The report examines the application of just transition principles across various sectors in developing and emerging economies to ensure social justice and sustainable development. It specifically analyzes the impacts of policy instruments on employment and identifies ways for the German Development Cooperation to support these efforts. The study covers sectors including coal phase-out, fossil fuel subsidy reform, renewable energy, circular economy, and sustainable agriculture, utilizing case studies from countries such as Bangladesh, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, and South Africa.

The document examines the historical tendency of extractive companies in Africa to build exclusive 'island mode' infrastructure, which limits integration with host economies and reinforces the 'resource curse'. It advocates for a transition toward shared-use infrastructure—such as power, rail, and ports—to convert natural resource depletion into broader societal assets. The author suggests that while 70% of resource infrastructure investment could be shared among operators and another 30% with the public, achieving this requires stronger local governance, new internal corporate competencies in socio-economic development, and government incentives like tax offsets to compensate companies for the costs of open access.

The UN High-level Dialogue on Energy (HLDE) resulted in the first-ever global roadmap for accelerating Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) and the announcement of over 160 Energy Compacts. These voluntary commitments from governments, businesses, and civil society include more than USD 400 billion in new finance and investment to address energy poverty and decarbonize energy systems. The dialogue established specific milestones for 2025 and 2030, including the phase-out of coal and the tripling of global renewable power capacity.

The document analyzes the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) as a shift in climate policy toward trade and economic levers. It highlights the growth of carbon pricing globally, including the EU ETS and China's national ETS, and suggests that COP26 should be used to establish a 'green window' for preferential treatment of green goods and a mechanism to allocate CBAM revenues to vulnerable countries to ensure a just transition.

Over 200 civil society organizations are urging world leaders to stop international public finance for fossil fuels, noting that G20 members provide USD 77 billion annually to fossil fuels compared to USD 28 billion for clean energy. The statement calls for an immediate end to support for the entire fossil fuel value chain, the closure of financial loopholes, and increased climate finance for low-income countries in the Global South to ensure a just energy transition ahead of COP 26.

The Russian coal sector provides a low economic contribution to the national GDP but maintains high social and political significance, particularly in regions like Kuzbass. Despite this, the sector is heavily reliant on indirect state subsidies and faces a deteriorating infrastructure, with the average age of coal power plants reaching 53 years. The report highlights a disconnect between the Russian government's expectations of export growth and the reality of decarbonization trends in key markets such as the EU, China, and India. It argues that Russia lacks an official decarbonization scenario and that conservative views currently dominate policy, ignoring the risks of stranded assets and the impact of the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). The authors propose a 'just transition' framework consisting of social programs for workers, regional economic diversification, and the introduction of an internal carbon price.

The Russian coal sector provides a negligible contribution to the national GDP but remains politically significant due to regional employment and historical stability concerns. While the Russian government continues to anticipate growth in coal exports, particularly to Asia, the report argues that this is unrealistic given the global low-carbon transition, the obsolescence of Russia's coal-fired power fleet, and the increasing competitiveness of renewable energy. The document highlights that the sector is heavily reliant on indirect government subsidies, such as reduced rail tariffs. It proposes a three-part just transition framework consisting of social re-employment programmes, regional economic diversification (especially in the Kuzbass region), and the implementation of a domestic carbon price to internalize environmental costs.

The document proposes that Indonesia generate approximately IDR 261 trillion per year by reforming fossil fuel subsidies and introducing new taxes on coal and transport fuels. These funds could cover COVID-19 health and social protection expenditures while supporting a transition to renewable energy. The authors recommend a phased approach to price reform, including targeted social safety nets to protect vulnerable populations from rising energy costs.

The report argues that the REIPPPP's centralised, top-down approach reproduces structural disempowerment for rural municipalities. Using eMthanjeni Local Municipality as a case study, it finds that local governments are excluded from early planning and procurement, leading to deteriorating infrastructure and minimal revenue gains. While the programme promises 'green jobs' and community development, the report highlights a skills deficit, the prevalence of short-term construction labour over long-term operational employment, and the failure of community trusts to provide immediate relief due to long loan repayment periods. Furthermore, it notes that land lease benefits primarily accrue to white minority landowners, while the municipality struggles with significant debt to Eskom despite hosting renewable energy infrastructure.

The policy brief outlines a framework of seven principles to manage the socio-economic disruptions caused by decarbonization. It argues that a transition perceived as fair is essential for effective global cooperation and the success of climate goals. The framework emphasizes that decarbonization must be accelerated while simultaneously implementing support for affected workers, diversifying regional economies, remedying environmental damage, and ensuring inclusive planning. Drawing on historical cases of industrial decline, the document warns against government inaction and the risk of 'carbon lock-in,' suggesting that international financial and technical support should prioritize regions with low capacity or high carbon dependency.

The paper surveys 29 long-term climate strategies (LTSs) submitted to the UNFCCC, representing 42 countries and 28% of global emissions. It finds a growing trend toward net-zero targets, an increasing focus on the fundamental economic and societal shifts required for transition, and a reliance on both natural and technological carbon removals. The analysis highlights that while most strategies include midcentury goals and modeling, the level of detail regarding adaptation and just transition varies, and some parties acknowledge gaps between their most ambitious scenarios and their final targets.

The study finds that new coal generation is unnecessary for energy security, more expensive than renewable alternatives, and incompatible with the Paris Agreement. Modelling shows that forcing 1.5 GW of new coal into the power system increases total discounted costs by R23 billion in a reference scenario and R109 billion in a climate policy scenario, while reducing GDP and employment.