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The report details the evolution of the Environmental Integrity Group (EIG) from its founding in 2000 to its role in the Paris Agreement. It highlights how the EIG's unique composition—including both developed and developing nations—enables it to facilitate compromises on technical and political issues such as climate finance, transparency, and carbon markets. The document also examines the individual contributions of member states like the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Monaco, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Georgia to global climate science and policy.

The report identifies a critical gap between current energy policies and the requirements for limiting global warming to 1.5°C. Based on 26 'feasible' IPCC pathways that limit reliance on unproven carbon capture and removal technologies, the authors argue that no new oil and gas fields should be developed and that global production must drop by 30% by 2030. Simultaneously, wind and solar capacity additions must double current forecasts, requiring an annual investment of over USD 830 billion by 2030. The report highlights a USD 450 billion annual investment gap and calls for the redirection of capital away from fossil fuels, noting that current oil and gas industry spending on undeveloped fields is inconsistent with climate goals.

The briefing reports that 2030 climate target updates have stalled since COP26, leaving the world on track for 2.4°C of warming based on current targets and 2.7°C based on current policies. Despite the Glasgow Climate Pact's request for governments to strengthen their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by the end of 2022, no major emitter has updated its target. The report highlights a significant emissions gap, noting that global emissions in 2030 would be twice as high as the 1.5°C limit allows without increased action. It suggests four pathways for governments to update targets: full NDC updates, expanding NDC coverage (specifically for China regarding non-CO2 gases), participating in new sectoral initiatives, or implementing policies to overachieve existing targets.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) dismissed an appeal by 37 youth claimants who argued that the EU's climate regime violated fundamental rights and international obligations. The court rejected the claims on standing grounds, ruling that the applicants did not meet the 'individual concern' requirement under Article 263 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The court maintained that the general effects of climate change do not grant individual standing to challenge measures of general application.

The document details the legal challenge by Plan B Earth and others against the UK Government's Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS) supporting a third runway at Heathrow Airport. The central dispute was whether the Secretary of State failed to account for the Paris Agreement under the Planning Act 2008 and the SEA Directive. While the Court of Appeal initially found the designation unlawful due to a failure to consider the Paris Agreement as 'Government policy', the UK Supreme Court ultimately reversed this decision. The Supreme Court ruled that the Secretary of State had lawfully exercised discretion and that the Paris Agreement's obligations were sufficiently reflected in the Climate Change Act 2008.

The document details a legal challenge brought by six Portuguese children against Portugal and 32 other European states before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The applicants argue that the states' failure to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C violates their rights to life, privacy, and protection from discrimination. The ECtHR has fast-tracked the case and, on its own initiative, included Article 3 (prohibiting inhuman and degrading treatment) as a possible violation due to the severity of climate impacts on the applicants.

The Life After Coal/Impilo Ngaphandle Kwamalahle Campaign, represented by the Centre for Environmental Rights, groundWork, and Earthlife Africa, submitted comments on the Climate Change Bill, 2022. The submission argues that the Bill is insufficient to address the climate emergency and lacks the urgency, ambition, and enforcement mechanisms necessary to meet South Africa's international obligations under the Paris Agreement and protect constitutional rights.

Reclaim Finance criticizes Crédit Agricole for continuing to support oil and gas expansion despite its claim to be a "green bank" and its commitment to carbon neutrality by 2050. The organization highlights that the bank provided $33 billion to the 100 largest fossil fuel developers since the Paris Agreement and remains the primary financial supporter of TotalEnergies, including a recent $8 billion revolving loan. Reclaim Finance calls on the bank to use its general assembly and upcoming strategic plan to end support for new fossil fuel projects and to vote against incompatible climate plans of oil majors through its subsidiary Amundi.

Reclaim Finance reports a decline in shareholder support for ambitious climate resolutions and a contradictory tendency for investors to approve 'pseudo-climate plans' that are incompatible with a 1.5°C warming limit. The organization highlights specific voting trends at European oil and gas majors and calls for a shift toward voting against companies continuing fossil fuel development.

The Centre for Environmental Rights, representing the Life After Coal/Impilo Ngaphandle Kwamalahle Campaign, has requested urgent information from the South African government to inform public comments on the Climate Change Bill B9-2022. The request focuses on the proposed removal of Schedule 3 (the emissions trajectory), the status of the National Adaptation Strategy and Plan, the timelines for future regulations, and access to an updated socio-economic impact assessment.

The We Mean Business Coalition calls for global consistency in corporate sustainability reporting to support the Paris Agreement and the Glasgow Climate Pact. The coalition argues that misalignments in terminology and definitions between the SEC, EFRAG, GRI, and ISSB risk undermining the impact of these standards and increasing reporting burdens for companies. Specifically, the coalition urges the CSRD to align with ISSB and GRI on impact materiality, calls on the US SEC to allow the use of ISSB standards to meet reporting obligations, and encourages the ISSB to establish itself as the global baseline for sustainability-related financial disclosures.

Reclaim Finance identifies BNP Paribas as a leading European supporter of fossil fuel expansion and calls for the bank to cease funding new oil and gas fields and infrastructures to align with a 1.5°C scenario.

Reclaim Finance asserts that Shell's climate strategy is fundamentally flawed, predicting the company will overshoot its 1.5°C carbon budget by 40.9% by 2050 and exhaust it entirely by 2034. The organization criticizes Shell's reliance on carbon intensity metrics, nature-based offsets, and continued expansion into new oil and gas fields, including unconventional sectors like the Arctic and fracking. Consequently, it recommends that shareholders vote against the company's climate resolution, support a shareholder-led resolution for Paris-aligned targets, and vote against the reelection of 10 Board Directors.

The document analyzes the intersection of the AfCFTA and climate action, arguing that while the agreement has minimal environmental references, it can be adjusted to eliminate barriers to environmental goods and services. It emphasizes the need for a phased decarbonization approach for fossil-fuel-dependent nations and suggests that instead of adding a new Environmental Protocol, existing continental climate strategies should be reinforced. The text calls for increased climate financing, technology transfer from partners like the EU and US, and the promotion of a circular economy to ensure that increased intra-African trade does not lead to higher greenhouse gas emissions.

The document critiques the IFC's Green Equity Approach (GEA), noting that while it commits to ending equity investments in financial institutions without a plan to phase out coal by 2030, it contains loopholes that allow continued fossil fuel support. It proposes ten specific reforms, including ending support for new oil and gas projects, scaling up renewable energy, and adopting a rights-based approach with full transparency.

An open letter from multiple environmental and industrial organisations calling for the EU ETS to be strengthened by increasing reduction factors, eliminating free allowances for industry and aviation, and reinvesting auction revenues into the green transition. The authors argue that free allocation creates market failures and windfall profits while slowing decarbonisation, and they specifically oppose the creation of a Carbon Leakage Protection Reserve in favour of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).

In Q1 2022, the cumulative GSS+ labelled debt market reached USD3tn, though quarterly issuance fell nearly 30% year-on-year to USD202.2bn due to market volatility and rising interest rates. While green and social bond volumes declined, sustainability and sustainability-linked bonds saw growth. The period was marked by the first sovereign sustainability-linked bond from Chile and the first public sector sustainability-linked bond from the City of Helsingborg. The report also highlights the role of the IPCC WG3 report and the war in Ukraine in underscoring the urgency of the energy transition, while noting the emergence of transition bonds in Japan.

A coalition of NGOs argues that releasing 200-250 million allowances from the Market Stability Reserve to generate EUR 20 billion for REPowerEU would increase atmospheric emissions and fund fossil fuel infrastructure, thereby undermining the European Green Deal and the Paris Agreement.

The briefing asserts that the EU's current 55% emissions reduction target for 2030 is insufficient and that the proposed reforms to the EU ETS will fail to meet even their own targets. Based on research from Climact and the Öko Institute, the document advocates for a 65% overall reduction target by 2030 and an EU ETS target of at least 70%. To achieve this, it proposes a 'three-stage rocket' approach: a one-off reduction of 350 million allowances, increasing the Linear Reduction Factor to 4.4%, and revising Market Stability Reserve thresholds downward to zero by 2030.

The report contends that natural gas expansion in Africa contradicts the Paris Agreement and poses significant economic and environmental risks. It argues that renewable energy is more cost-effective and creates more sustainable employment than the fossil fuel industry. Through case studies of Egypt, Nigeria, and Senegal, the document demonstrates that shifting from gas-based power to high-renewable scenarios would increase job creation and, in the case of Egypt, significantly reduce premature deaths from air pollution. It concludes that developed nations must stop financing fossil fuels and increase climate finance to support Africa's transition to zero-emissions energy systems.