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The report, submitted by the Budget Justice Coalition to the Select and Standing Committees on Finance, examines budgeting trends over five years and their specific effects on the social wage, particularly health and education. It evaluates the role of Parliament in budget oversight and proposes measures to enhance public engagement in budgetary decision-making.

The paper examines Zambia's experience in coordinating diverse international public funds for climate adaptation and mitigation. It identifies that while multilateral donors have helped establish early coordination frameworks, competing approaches between major donors like the World Bank and UNDP have led to institutional fragmentation and 'turf' struggles. The study highlights that coordination practices often evolve from previous development aid structures and identifies critical knowledge gaps, including the lack of a geo-located project database and insufficient coordination with international NGOs and domestic financing sources.

The report examines how 38 African countries are measuring and reporting on SDG 16. It finds high political commitment but significant gaps in financial resources and data quality. It highlights innovations in 'data sovereignty' through national statistical offices (NSOs) and the use of multi-stakeholder partnerships to overcome data gaps.

The report analyzes Indonesia's public finance levers for clean energy, finding that while IDR 12.4 trillion was provided between 2012 and 2016, this is insufficient to meet the 2025 target of 23% renewable energy in the primary energy mix. It identifies key barriers to private investment, including high financing costs and a lack of long-term debt, and argues that capital injections into local development financial institutions (DFIs) like SMI and the use of guarantees are more effective at leveraging private capital than direct budget appropriations. The report recommends adjusting tariff structures to ensure project viability and expanding the role of DFIs to bridge financing gaps.

The report updates global climate finance estimates for 2015 and 2016, finding an annual average of USD 463 billion. While private investment remains the dominant source, particularly in renewables and the growing electric vehicle sector, the report highlights significant data gaps in tracking adaptation and energy efficiency. It also discusses the challenges of operationalizing Article 2.1(c) of the Paris Agreement to ensure all financial flows are consistent with low-emission and climate-resilient development.

The document examines the scale of public money supporting fossil fuels in G20 countries and presents case studies of reforms to align these flows with the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals. It highlights the use of consumption and production subsidy removals, increased taxation, and the diversification of state-owned enterprise investments. The paper argues that shifting these resources can create fiscal space for social protection, health, and clean energy, while recommending that G20 nations adopt ambitious reform timelines and protect vulnerable groups during the transition.

The report examines how G20 countries can shift public funds away from fossil fuels through subsidy reform, increased taxation, and the redirection of state-owned enterprise investments. It highlights specific national examples, such as Indonesia's consumption subsidy reform and the EU's transition funds, while arguing that the current scale of public support for fossil fuels hinders decarbonization and sustainable development.

The research concludes that South Africa does not need a dedicated state-owned export-import bank because its current trade finance market, comprising both private banks and state entities like the IDC and ECIC, is robust and sufficient. The authors argue that establishing a new ECA would be unfeasible due to severe fiscal constraints and would result in unnecessary market duplication. However, the paper identifies a significant gap in trade finance access for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and recommends that the IDC and ECIC prioritize streamlined solutions for this sector.

The policy brief contends that South Africa's financial sector fails to fund productive investment in labour-intensive manufacturing because these sectors are high-risk and offer low short-term profits. It argues that existing DFIs, specifically the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), are too small and constrained by commercial funding models to fulfill their developmental mandates. The author proposes recapitalising these institutions with public funds, providing a stable low-cost funding line, and establishing an export-import (EXIM) bank to compete with other emerging markets like China and Brazil. These measures are intended to support sectors such as capital equipment exports, automotive subcomponents, and textiles to drive job creation.

The G7 Fossil Fuel Subsidy Scorecard reveals that G7 governments continue to provide substantial financial support to fossil fuels despite commitments to phase them out by 2025. Analysis shows that in 2015 and 2016, G7 nations provided at least USD 100 billion annually in subsidies and public finance, failing to implement mechanisms to document the full extent of this support or ensure accountability.

The research paper advocates for a systems approach to climate finance to move beyond linear data tracking and address the complexities of developing country financial markets. It introduces a framework that categorizes actors into public finance, private finance, systemic enablers, and service providers, mapping their interrelationships through financial flows, mandates, and information. The paper identifies systemic trends in developing countries—such as bank dominance, short-termism, and capital volatility—and demonstrates how specific systemic actions (like ESG disclosure mandates) can catalyze private finance. Finally, it uses social network analysis of 2013-2014 data to identify key influencers and connectors within the international public finance sub-system to improve coordination.

The 2017 Global Landscape of Climate Finance report finds that global climate finance peaked at $437 billion in 2015 before declining by 12% to $383 billion in 2016. The 2015 surge was primarily driven by private renewable energy investments in China, the U.S., and Japan. While solar and wind investments are largely on track for 2°C goals, other sectors like energy efficiency and adaptation remain significantly underfunded. Public finance is increasingly focused on energy efficiency, while multilateral development finance institutions (DFIs) are progressing toward their 2020 targets. The report highlights a strong preference for domestic investment, with 79% of finance remaining within the country of origin during 2015/2016.

The briefing argues that President Macron's 2017 climate summit should implement a public finance package to offset U.S. budget cuts to the Green Climate Fund and other programs. The proposed package includes approving the reuse of Clean Technology Fund (CTF) reflows, converting CTF debt from Germany, France, and Canada into equity, and securing new pledges for the Adaptation Fund and the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF).

The document traces South Africa's fiscal history, detailing how British colonial authorities introduced direct taxes like the Hut Tax in 1849 to raise revenue and force African men into wage labour. It examines the evolution of the tax state through the Union of South Africa, the apartheid era's regressive policies, and the post-1994 transition to a modern, integrated system under the South African Revenue Service (SARS).

The report assesses Mozambique's development outlook to 2040, arguing that while natural gas production will drive significant GDP growth from the mid-2020s, it will not automatically reduce absolute poverty without concerted investments in human capital and governance. Using scenario analysis, the authors demonstrate that integrated pushes in family planning, health, education, agriculture, and governance can significantly reduce extreme poverty and infant mortality, whereas stalled development and delayed gas production could lead to a sharp increase in the number of people living in extreme poverty.

The report examines Mozambique's development prospects through 2040, arguing that while natural gas reserves offer significant economic potential, they are not a 'panacea' for poverty reduction. Using the International Futures (IF) model, the authors analyze a 'Current Trajectory' and several alternative scenarios. They find that without concerted investment in human capital—specifically health, education, and agriculture—and improvements in governance, the absolute number of people in extreme poverty is projected to remain nearly stagnant at approximately 19 million by 2040, despite GDP growth. The report advocates for an 'Integrated Development Boost' across multiple sectors to achieve inclusive growth, while warning that a 'Stagnated Development' scenario involving governance decline and gas production delays could lead to a 61% increase in extreme poverty.

The document details the methodology for the Global Landscape of Climate Finance 2017, defining climate finance as capital flows for low-carbon and climate-resilient development. It specifies the inclusion of mitigation, adaptation, and dual-benefit finance while excluding fossil fuel-based lower-carbon generation and private R&D. The accounting scope focuses on annual financial commitments, covering grants, loans, equity, and balance sheet financing, while excluding risk management instruments and secondary market transactions to avoid double counting. It further defines the classification of public and private finance, the data sources used (such as BNEF and OECD), and the sectoral breakdowns for mitigation and adaptation activities.

The report examines the Mogalakwena Local Municipality as a site of 'perpetual instability' driven by cyclical factionalism within the ANC at local, regional, and provincial levels. It details how political battles over the appointment of the Municipal Manager (MM) and other senior officials led to a breakdown of the party-state interface, resulting in a complete municipal shutdown in 2014, the diversion of public funds toward 'lawfare' and private security, and a severe halt in basic service delivery. The study argues that the municipality's collapse reflects broader institutional fragility within the South African state under the Zuma administration.

The report argues that Zimbabwe's commitment to economic and political reform is largely a 'theatre of reform' designed to maintain ZANU-PF hegemony rather than address systemic issues. While the government has engaged with the IMF through a Staff Monitored Programme and proposed the 'Lima Strategy' to clear debt arrears, progress is stymied by endemic corruption, a ballooning civil service wage bill, and fierce factional battles over Robert Mugabe's succession. The document highlights critical failures in land reform transparency, the 'looting' of Marange diamonds, and a compromised voter registration process, suggesting that the country is on course for another disputed election in 2018.

The policy brief argues that G20 countries should accelerate the phase-out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies by adopting a clear timetable, increasing transparency through peer reviews, and ensuring targeted support for the poor. It highlights the success of voluntary peer review processes in APEC and the G20, and notes a growing international consensus—including commitments from G-7 countries to phase out such subsidies by 2025—to align fiscal policies with climate objectives.