Search Climate Insights Directory

The report assesses a simulated agroforestry project in Welkenraedt, Belgium, covering approximately 100,000 m2 of hedges and trees. Using the SAVi tool and C3S climate data, the analysis demonstrates that the project is financially viable when environmental and social externalities are included. Key findings include estimated net benefits of 3.9 million euros over 20 years against an investment of 607,629 euros. The study highlights how agroforestry mitigates climate risks, such as reducing heat stress for livestock and preventing soil erosion and nutrient runoff, with benefits expected to increase under RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 climate scenarios.

Thailand is promoting a bioeconomy centered on cassava and sugarcane to drive economic growth and social equity, though the industrial sector is more advanced than community-based efforts. While integrated into policies like Thailand 4.0 and the 20-year National Strategic Plan, the transition faces regulatory hurdles, such as the Cane and Sugar Act (1968), and environmental pressures including land and water scarcity. Social challenges include wage inequality for plantation workers and food security risks for farmers shifting from rice to sugarcane.

The document details 15 on-the-ground projects in Brazil, Guatemala, Kenya, Madagascar, Mexico, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. These initiatives focus on improving water security through rainwater harvesting and irrigation, enhancing food security via conservation agriculture and school gardens, and diversifying livelihoods to reduce pressure on natural ecosystems. The projects are co-designed with local communities based on data collected through key informant surveys to address specific threats such as drought, erratic rainfall, and soil degradation.

The 2021 ESMP for the Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary (SWS) outlines mitigation strategies for four primary activities: restoring 20 hectares of alpine meadows, restoring 30 hectares of grassland, constructing 320m of river bank protection on the Keyjurong stream, and building a breast wall for staff quarters. The plan prioritizes worker health and safety, waste management, and soil erosion prevention, with a total budget of Nu. 3,528,813.00. Implementation is overseen by a BFL focal person and monitored through field reports and photographic evidence, ensuring compliance with both Royal Government of Bhutan laws and WWF's more extensive Social Safeguards Integrated Policies and Procedures.

The report examines the global soybean market, noting that production is highly concentrated in the US, Brazil, and Argentina, with demand driven by meat consumption and Asia. It highlights significant environmental and social risks, including deforestation in the Amazon and Cerrado biomes and the use of GM crops. While voluntary sustainability standards (VSSs) aim to mitigate these risks, their adoption remains low, representing only 1.8% of global production in 2018. The report identifies potential for VSS growth in LHDCs like Nigeria and Benin, though challenges such as mechanization and market competition persist.

The document examines the vulnerability of coffee production in Coto Brus, Costa Rica, where climate change threatens the viability of Arabica coffee. It identifies key resilience factors—such as producer cooperatives, peer-to-peer learning, and intersectoral alliances—and provides six recommendations for adaptation, including monitoring impact and exploring transformational shifts to alternative crops. It also highlights regional best practices from Colombia, Guatemala, and Mexico.

The report examines the potential for a sustainable bioeconomy based on quinoa in Bolivia, noting that while the country has high biodiversity and biocapacity, the sector remains heavily focused on the export of bulk seeds. It identifies a value network consisting of basic products, value-added food products, and high-value-added cosmetic products derived from saponins. Key challenges include a lack of public financing for industrial transformation, limited knowledge exchange between industry and research institutions, and environmental risks such as soil erosion and loss of crop biodiversity due to the market preference for white royal quinoa.

The program aims to strengthen the resilience of 1.2 million people in Rwanda's Upper Nyabarongo and Muvumba catchments through integrated landscape management, sustainable forestry, and modernized early warning systems. It seeks USD 50 million from the Green Climate Fund to complement AfDB financing for the Muvumba Multipurpose Water Resources Development Program. Key interventions include restoring 45,000 hectares of land, implementing agroforestry, and deploying LIDAR-based flood risk modelling to mitigate the impacts of floods, landslides, and droughts.

The report analyzes Bolivia's quinoa sector through a 'value web' lens, identifying that while the country has high biocapacity and biodiversity, the industry remains heavily reliant on exporting bulk seeds. It highlights the underutilization of quinoa biomass—specifically saponins and residual stems/husks—and identifies critical gaps in public financing and knowledge exchange between industry and research institutions. The authors warn that current policies favoring specific varieties like quinoa real and organic monocultures may threaten biodiversity and climate resilience.

The report identifies that 76% of Sidhi district's land area (over 363,000 hectares) has potential for landscape restoration through eight specific tree-based interventions. These include assisted natural regeneration, agri-horti-forestry (wadi), and trees on boundaries. Implementation could generate 3.75 million person-days of wage employment, resulting in INR 710 million in income, and sequester 7 million metric tons of carbon over 10–20 years. However, significant barriers exist, including insecure land tenure, poor market access, and a lack of technical knowledge. The authors recommend establishing 'accelerators' in policy, knowledge, technology, and business to coordinate stakeholders and scale restoration efforts.

The Umzimvubu Catchment Partnership (UCP), established in 2013, works to restore the Umzimvubu River system, a critical part of the Eastern Cape Drakensberg Strategic Water Source Area. The partnership addresses pressures from climate change, invasive species, and poor land management to ensure water security for over two million people and the preservation of biodiversity. Key achievements include the clearance of invasive wattle trees to restore spring flows, the creation of over 5,000 conservation and rehabilitation jobs, and the protection of 43 natural springs for human consumption.

The document examines how the consumption of Argentine soy in Europe and other regions externalizes environmental and social costs to Argentina, complicating the achievement of SDGs. It highlights significant land-use change, GHG emissions, and mixed social impacts, while recommending bilateral cooperation between Argentina and the EU to mitigate these spillovers.

The document examines the environmental and socioeconomic externalities of Argentine soybean production driven by global demand, particularly from the EU. It highlights that while soybean exports provide macroeconomic stability for Argentina, they cause significant environmental degradation, including deforestation and GHG emissions, and mixed social outcomes. The brief argues that achieving the SDGs requires coordinated international governance and shared responsibility between producing and consuming regions to mitigate these negative spillovers.

The document examines the soy value chain from Argentina to Europe, highlighting how environmental and social costs are externalized to the producer. It argues that achieving SDGs 12 and 17 requires consumption-based accounting and bilateral cooperation to manage these spillovers.

The document highlights the critical role of soil health in the US food system and the negative impacts of decades of short-sighted farm policies. It details the economic and environmental costs of soil erosion and degradation, including water pollution and increased vulnerability to extreme weather. The brief proposes a transition to practices such as cover cropping and no-till farming to sequester carbon and improve resilience, while recommending specific policy shifts in financial incentives, research funding, and technical assistance.

Jordan launched its National Adaptation Plan (NAP) process in February 2017, coordinated by the Ministry of Environment's Climate Change Directorate. The process aims to create a formal roadmap for sectoral adaptation plans, identify financial needs, and establish a national monitoring and reporting system. Priority sectors for adaptation include water, agriculture, health, gender, biodiversity, ecosystems, and protected areas, with a focus on addressing impacts such as severe water shortages, desertification, and extreme weather events.

Rwanda's National Adaptation Plan (NAP) process, led by the Ministry of Environment and Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA), employs an integrated approach to promote climate-resilient development with a focus on community- and ecosystem-based adaptation. The process has leveraged funding from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), including a USD 32.8 million GCF allocation for climate resilience in Gicumbi District. Priority adaptation sectors address impacts such as droughts, landslides, and food insecurity through measures like irrigation, afforestation, and disaster risk reduction.

The report examines the environmental impact of US grain production, specifically for breakfast cereals, and proposes that the four companies controlling 86% of the $8.5 billion US market can catalyze a shift toward regenerative agriculture. Through three scenarios based on Iowa State University research, the authors demonstrate that sourcing grains from sustainable rotations (including oats and cover crops) can significantly reduce soil erosion, nitrogen runoff, and nitrous oxide emissions. The document recommends a combination of corporate sourcing commitments and state/federal policy support to help farmers overcome the up-front costs of transitioning to these practices.

The project aims to support approximately 380,500 direct beneficiaries in the Kigoma region of Tanzania, focusing on Nduta, Mtendeli, and Nyarugusu refugee camps and surrounding host communities. It addresses risks including rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, and increased flooding, which threaten subsistence agriculture and ecosystem services. The proposed interventions include participatory climate-resilient land use planning, community-based forest management, agroforestry, and the promotion of climate-resilient agricultural practices and diversified livelihoods such as beekeeping and mushroom cultivation. The project will be executed by UNHCR and overseen by UNEP, with a total indicative cost of USD 31,985,328, requesting USD 18,835,253 from the Green Climate Fund.

The document details Burkina Faso's transition from the 2007 National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) to a comprehensive National Adaptation Plan (NAP) adopted in 2015. It outlines a multisectoral approach targeting water, agriculture, health, and energy, emphasizing a vision for climate resilience by 2050. The study highlights the institutional role of the Permanent Secretariat of the National Council for Sustainable Development (SP/CNDD) and identifies critical gaps in financing, inter-ministerial communication, and the need for reliable long-term scientific data.