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The 'Agua Sin Límites' initiative seeks to evolve water management beyond traditional Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), which the authors argue has failed to produce sustainable results. The initiative focuses on three pillars: analyzing water connections beyond the immediate basin, implementing multi-scale participatory approaches to address inequalities (including gender and poverty), and integrating ecosystem needs early in the planning process. These frameworks are being tested through pilot studies in the Mekong and Magdalena river basins, as well as reflecting on work in California.

The report examines the application of just transition principles in developing countries, highlighting the need for context-specific definitions and the inclusion of the informal economy. Through case studies in Indonesia, Ghana, and Colombia, it finds that while awareness of just transition varies—with Colombia being the only one to explicitly include it in its revised NDC—there is a general lack of practical application and cross-ministerial coordination. The document emphasizes that Covid-19 responses have not yet been linked to climate strategies and recommends a participatory, co-produced approach to policy development to ensure marginalized groups are not left behind.

The Clothing Bank, established in 2010 in Cape Town, addresses the dual problems of retail waste and poverty by collecting unsold or damaged clothing from corporate retailers and providing it to unemployed single mothers. Through a 24-month training programme, these women are equipped to run sustainable clothing sales businesses. As of May 2021, the initiative has diverted 13.7 million textile items from landfill and supported 229 women in Cape Town alone, who have generated R72.8 million in revenue. The model is largely self-funding, with a self-funding ratio of 89% in the 2019 financial year, and has scaled to five branches across South Africa.

The document argues that South Africa's social protection systems are inadequate to ensure a dignified standard of living, a crisis exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. It highlights the gap between the recommendations of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (UNCESCR) and the government's actual responses, noting that budget cuts and 'fiscal consolidation' threaten the realization of rights to food, housing, and social security.

The 2020 NYDF progress assessment finds that deforestation rates have increased since 2014, contrary to the goal of halving them. The report highlights significant risks from accelerating infrastructure development and extractive industries in tropical forests, noting a lack of transparency and accountability among governments, corporations, and financial institutions. While some grassroots movements and community-led management models show promise, systemic barriers—including political instability, power imbalances, and insufficient funding for REDD+ and poverty alleviation—hinder progress toward sustainable development and forest conservation.

The Stockholm Environment Institute's Water Beyond Boundaries (WBB) initiative aims to evolve water planning beyond the traditional Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) framework, which the authors argue has not yet yielded sustainable outcomes. WBB focuses on three pillars: analyzing water connections beyond the immediate watershed, integrating ecosystem needs throughout the planning process, and employing multi-scale participatory approaches to address inequalities related to gender, poverty, and marginalized groups. The initiative is being piloted in the Magdalena River Basin in Colombia and the Mekong region in South East Asia, while drawing on previous work in California, USA.

The Institute for Economic Justice argues that allowing COVID-19 special grants to expire in October 2020 would plunge over 5.8 million South Africans into hunger. The report highlights that 37% of people ran out of money for food in June 2020 and that 2.8 million jobs remained lost by the end of that month. It recommends extending the R350 Social Relief of Distress grant and the R500 Caregivers Allowance until March 2021 and increasing both to the food poverty line of R585 per month, estimating a combined cost of R37.3 billion for current recipients.

The report finds that electricity subsidies in Jharkhand are regressive, with a significant portion of benefits accruing to wealthier households. Using survey data from over 900 households, the authors analyze the current subsidy incidence and simulate three targeting options: using poverty ration cards, revising volumetric consumption slabs, and implementing a proxy means test (PMT). The analysis suggests that revising volumetric slabs offers the most significant potential for fiscal savings and improved targeting without excluding the most vulnerable, while the PMT approach based on existing SECC variables shows high inclusion and exclusion errors.

The report concludes that the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to reverse recent progress in poverty reduction and hinder the achievement of the 2030 SDGs and Agenda 2063. While health impacts are expected to worsen, the primary driver of suffering in Africa is projected to be the economic consequences of the pandemic. To prevent a 'lost decade', the author recommends strengthening health systems, improving water and sanitation, leveraging digital technologies for economic transformation, and securing substantial debt relief.

A coalition of experts and civil society leaders has submitted a request to the South African government to revise its COVID-19 social relief package. They argue that the current allocation of the child support grant (CSG) increase—applied to the caregiver rather than per child—will leave an estimated 2 million more people below the food poverty line. The coalition demands that the CSG increase be attached to each grant and that unemployed caregivers be eligible for the R350 Covid-19 grant, particularly as 10 million children lost daily meals due to school closures.

The report identifies the Swedish development research community as highly fragmented and dispersed across various universities and disciplines. While the field has expanded from traditional social sciences into natural sciences and medicine, this growth has led to increased competition for limited, short-term funding, primarily from the Swedish Research Council (VR) via the Uforsk instrument. The study highlights a significant gap in institutional support and a lack of formal networking platforms, which undermines research relevance and collaboration with practitioners. It recommends the institutionalization of the Swedish Development Research Network (SweDev) and the creation of specialized funding lines to bridge the gap between academia and policy.

The document outlines how carbon pricing instruments (CPIs) can create varied socio-economic impacts across different households and regions, noting that risks are higher in developed countries or areas with high existing poverty where low-income groups rely on fossil fuels. It argues that these negative impacts can be offset through policy design and the strategic use of carbon revenues, while emphasizing that such mitigations must not compromise the primary objective of reducing emissions.

The report finds that South Africa is on a pathway of economic divergence from its middle-income peers due to poor human capital, lack of investment, and an electricity crisis. It proposes the 'Thuma Mina' scenario, which suggests that targeted structural interventions in five key sectors could increase average incomes by 60% by 2044 compared to a 24% increase on the current path. Key recommendations include solving the electricity crisis, improving the quality of health and education, and revitalising manufacturing through increased foreign and domestic investment.

The document examines Rwanda's engagement with the G20 Compact with Africa (CwA), arguing that Rwanda's 'reform culture capital' makes it an ideal candidate for the initiative. It details Rwanda's transition from a post-genocide foundation stage (1994-2004) to a development stage (2005-2018), leading up to Vision 2050. The brief highlights the CwA's role in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) through public-private partnerships (PPPs) to address infrastructure deficits, such as the $1.3 billion Isaka–Kigali rail project. While noting early successes in tax-to-GDP ratios and FDI, the author warns that the CwA still reflects the interests of developed nations and that Rwanda's small economy limits its ability to drive CwA adoption across East Africa.

The document assesses South Africa's adherence to the ICESCR during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting failures in revenue generation and expenditure allocation. It argues that austerity measures have undermined healthcare, education, and social security, and proposes specific fiscal reforms—such as wealth taxes and a universal basic income grant—to ensure the progressive realisation of human rights.

The document argues that while Africa has seen improvements in health indicators, it is falling further behind the rest of the world in average income and economic productivity. It identifies a 'unproductive structure' of economies dominated by low-end services and a slow demographic transition as primary barriers. To ignite a 'growth revolution' by 2040, the author advocates for a 'bottom-up' approach prioritizing basic infrastructure, a reduction in birth rates to achieve a demographic dividend, and the revitalization of the manufacturing sector to support agriculture and high-value services.

The report examines the high cost and regressive nature of India's energy consumption subsidies, which totaled INR 87,830 crore (USD 13.1 billion) in 2017. It highlights a critical knowledge gap, as the last comprehensive distributional analysis is based on 2011 census data. The document proposes several targeting mechanisms, including opt-out schemes, volumetric quotas, categorical targeting based on social or geographic criteria, and the use of proxy means testing via income and asset data. It specifically analyzes the Ujjwala scheme's success in connection targeting and the challenges of sustained LPG usage among the poor due to ongoing consumption costs.

The report argues that the bioeconomy—the use of bio-based feedstocks and processes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions—requires context-specific sustainability monitoring across environmental, economic, social, and governance pillars. It highlights that while the bioeconomy can support UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it risks deepening existing social inequalities if not managed through a lens of feminist political ecology and multidimensional poverty frameworks. The authors propose a monitoring system that integrates socio-economic indicators, such as the Human Development Index (HDI) and Gini Index, to ensure benefits reach vulnerable groups in the global South.

The report examines the drivers of basic-needs deforestation, such as subsistence farming and woodfuel collection, and evaluates interventions like formalization, clean cooking technology, and REDD+ funding. It highlights the difficulty of measuring progress due to data gaps and emphasizes that successful interventions require social safeguards and good governance to protect livelihoods while reducing forest loss.

The paper examines how digitising financial services can expand access to formal finance for underserved populations. It highlights South Africa's success in achieving high account ownership rates but argues that the focus must shift from simple access to 'quality financial inclusion'—emphasising productive usage, financial literacy, and the reduction of cash dependency in the informal economy. The author recommends a coordinated national strategy and enhanced public-private partnerships to address structural barriers and digital divides.