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MENU OF VOLUNTARY ACTIONS
The Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate has established a framework of voluntary actions to integrate trade policy with climate goals. Key priorities include fostering dialogue between trade, climate, and finance ministers, engaging with the WTO on sustainable development, and providing technical assistance to vulnerable developing countries. The menu also emphasizes cooperation on green technologies, decarbonisation standards, and private sector engagement to build resilient supply chains.
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Document type: Briefing
Mujeres, empleos verdes y pueblos indígenas: construyendo el camino para una recuperación justa y resiliente en América Latina
The document analyzes how the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated structural inequalities in Latin America, specifically affecting women's labor participation and health, the vulnerability of indigenous populations regarding food security and healthcare, and the slow integration of green jobs into economic recovery plans. It provides detailed case studies for Mexico, Chile, and Colombia, highlighting gaps in public spending and the need for intersectional policies, improved data collection, and a transition toward a sustainable, low-carbon economy that ensures decent work and social justice.
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Document type: Policy brief
Oportunidades para fortalecer los esquemas de gestión de riesgo climático en los bancos de desarrollo nacionales
The document argues that Colombian national development banks, specifically Finagro and Findeter, have a significant opportunity to incorporate climate risk and stranded asset analysis into their existing financial management frameworks. While current regulations from the Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia (SFC) require asset valuation and risk management, they do not explicitly mandate the inclusion of climate variables. The report highlights that in the Global South, stranded assets can extend beyond the energy sector to include agriculture, road infrastructure, and construction. Case studies of Finagro and Findeter reveal that while both comply with SFC standards and report low credit risk, they do not publicly detail how climate-related risks or potential stranded assets are identified or managed, creating a gap in their long-term financial sustainability planning.
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Document type: Policy brief
COMMON SENSE ON CLIMATE CHANGE
The document advocates for immediate action to combat climate change using existing technologies. It identifies fossil fuel combustion and deforestation as the primary drivers of CO2 increase and proposes five 'common sense' solutions: increasing vehicle fuel efficiency, modernizing the electricity system with renewables, improving energy efficiency in buildings, protecting forests, and increasing federal R&D for clean energy. It emphasizes that these steps would reduce emissions while saving consumers money and enhancing energy security.
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Document type: Guide
Cooler Smarter Trivia Night Kit
The Cooler Smarter Trivia Night Kit is a guide designed to help individuals host educational trivia events to encourage a 20% reduction in personal carbon footprints. It includes a sample agenda, planning tips, and five rounds of trivia questions covering energy efficiency, transportation, diet, and climate policy. The kit emphasizes science-based advice to help participants navigate conflicting messages about emissions and identifies specific high-impact changes, such as improving home insulation and reducing meat consumption.
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Document type: Guide
Cover Crops Public Investments Could Produce Big Payoffs
The document outlines the environmental and economic benefits of cover crops, such as reducing nitrate leaching by 40 to 70 percent and increasing soil fertility. It identifies significant barriers to adoption, including direct costs (ranging from $62 to $107 per acre for certain varieties in Kansas) and risks related to crop insurance and land tenure. The Union of Concerned Scientists recommends expanding USDA cost-share incentives through the CSP and EQIP programs, reforming crop insurance, and increasing technical assistance and research.
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Document type: Fact sheet
FACT SHEET FORESTS AND PEATLANDS AT RISK
The document examines the environmental impact of palm oil production, specifically focusing on the release of carbon dioxide from the deforestation of tropical forests and the drainage of peatlands. It highlights Indonesia and Malaysia as the primary producers and discusses the resulting loss of biodiversity and increased greenhouse gas emissions. The text suggests that global demand can be met without further ecosystem destruction by improving yields, utilizing degraded lands, and implementing stronger government policies and corporate commitments.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Purchasing Power
The report argues that large-scale institutional food procurement can drive systemic change in the US food system by leveraging collective buying power to demand sustainable, healthy, and fair food production. It highlights the Good Food Purchasing Program (GFPP), which uses five value categories—local economies, environmental sustainability, nutrition, valued workforce, and animal welfare—to guide procurement. A case study of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) demonstrates that adopting these standards can lead to significant local economic gains, reduced carbon and water footprints, improved student health outcomes, and industry-wide shifts, such as the increased production of antibiotic-free chicken in the US.
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Document type: Report
STRONG POLICIES CAN ACCELERATE BUSINESS ACTION ON THE JUST TRANSITION
The document argues that a just transition—maximizing economic and social benefits of climate action while minimizing risks—is essential for business productivity and community wellbeing. It presents 12 policy asks for governments, organized into five pillars: Governance and Frameworks, Skills and Workforce Transition, Stakeholder Engagement and Protection, Financing Just Transition, and Monitoring and Metrics. Key recommendations include integrating just transition frameworks into national climate strategies, investing in green job creation and reskilling, protecting marginalized groups and informal workers, providing government-backed financing to derisk private investment, and harmonizing sustainability disclosure standards.
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Document type: Policy brief
Faces of Restoration Patrick Assumpção: Using Agroforestry to Restore Paraíba Valley to Glory
Patrick Assumpção is implementing agroforestry systems in the Paraíba Valley, Brazil, to reverse centuries of soil degradation caused by unsustainable agriculture. By combining native hardwoods like guanandi with food crops and unconventional food plants (PANCs), he aims to restore 40,000 hectares of land. Supported by a 2018 study using the Restoration Opportunities Assessment Methodology (ROAM), the initiative suggests that full restoration could increase the region's agricultural GDP by 32% and reduce soil erosion by 19%. To ensure economic viability, Assumpção is developing markets for these sustainable products by partnering with chefs and processing perishable native fruits into value-added goods.
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Document type: Case study
A Practical Framework for Aligning NDC Enhancement and COVID-19 Recovery: Detailed Forest and Agriculture Sectoral Approaches
The document argues that green economic recovery packages can simultaneously address the climate crisis and food insecurity by investing in nature-based solutions and sustainable agriculture. It highlights the role of natural capital spending, payment for ecosystem services, and remote monitoring technology in protecting forests. Furthermore, it emphasizes that securing indigenous land rights is a critical strategy for supporting vulnerable populations and slowing forest loss.
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Document type: Briefing
Glossary of Financing Instruments
The document serves as a reference guide defining various financing instruments—including loans, equity, and de-risking tools—designed to leverage private capital for low-carbon markets in developing countries. It is derived from a larger WRI working paper and focuses on how public donors, development finance institutions, and international mechanisms can mobilize investment into sectors such as renewable energy and energy efficiency.
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Document type: Guide
Faces of Restoration Silvany Lima: Cultivating "Money Trees" in Brazil's Dry Forest
In the semiarid Caatinga region of Brazil, farmers are adopting agroforestry by integrating native trees, specifically the umbu (Spondias tuberosa), into livestock pastures. This transition is driven by severe climate impacts, including a 50% decline in rainfall in the Jacuípe Drainage Basin since 1962 and increasing desertification. The establishment of the Ser do Sertão cooperative and its Delícias do Jacuípe factory has created a commercial market for umbu pulp, providing farmers with supplemental income that can exceed dairy revenues during the harvest season. Beyond economic gains, these practices help retain soil moisture and provide animal feed during droughts, offering a scalable model for restoring degraded landscapes and ensuring the livelihoods of subsistence farmers.
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Document type: Case study
Faces of Restoration Soares Family: Making Agroforestry in the Amazon a Family Affair
The Soares family in Juruti, Brazil, is transitioning from traditional slash-and-burn agriculture to an agroforestry system to diversify income and restore the landscape. Originally focused on cassava production, the family is now integrating native tree species and fruit trees to increase food security and climate resilience. This transition is part of a pilot project involving 22 farmers, designed to provide a sustainable economic alternative to deforestation in the Amazon region.
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Document type: Case study
Building a Climate Resilient Future for Costa Rica’s Coffee Farming Communities
The document examines the vulnerability of coffee cultivation in the Coto Brus region of Costa Rica, where up to 50% of suitable land may be lost by 2050. It identifies a gap between the awareness of sustainable practices and their implementation, particularly among resource-limited smallholders. The report argues that current short-term incremental adjustments are insufficient and advocates for 'transformative adaptation,' which includes diversifying incomes, replanting with resilient varieties, and potentially shifting livelihoods for farmers in areas where coffee is no longer viable.
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Document type: Case study
Powering Agrifood Systems: Review of Enabling Policies in Kenya, Uganda, and India
The study examines the extent to which agrifood policies in Kenya, Uganda, and India incorporate electricity needs for mechanization, water access, and postharvest processing. It argues that integrating electricity infrastructure can increase crop cultivation and income while reducing food loss. To improve policy effectiveness, the paper recommends establishing time-bound mandates, interministerial coordination, financial incentives, and public-private partnerships to align agrifood systems with sustainability and climate resilience goals.
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Document type: Research paper
Ensuring Crop Expansion is Limited to Lands with Low Environmental Opportunity Costs
The paper argues that while a sustainable food future ideally requires no further conversion of natural ecosystems, current yield trends and demand may make some cropland expansion inevitable. It critiques the vague concept of 'degraded lands' and instead proposes a strict four-part biophysical criteria to identify lands with 'low environmental opportunity costs'—those not already supporting crops, having minimal impact on biodiversity, low carbon loss ratios, and a low blue water footprint. To implement this, the author suggests a three-pronged approach: mapping these lands, providing legal and financial incentives for their use, and enforcing moratoriums or deforestation-free commitments to discourage expansion into high-cost natural ecosystems.
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Document type: Research paper
Global Dialogue on Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic and Economic Crisis: Building Back Better Aligned to the SDGs and the Paris Agreement
The document argues that the COVID-19 crisis is a critical window to shift from 'snapshot to transition thinking,' urging governments to use stimulus packages to accelerate future technologies like renewable energy while phasing out fossil fuels. It highlights a concerning trend where approximately 30% of global fiscal stimulus is directed toward high-environmental-impact sectors, often without sustainability conditions. The report advocates for a 'One Health' approach to prevent future zoonotic pandemics by protecting biodiversity, and calls for the integration of informal workers and urban poor into city-level recovery planning. Key recommendations include the elimination of fossil fuel subsidies, the implementation of 'do no harm' standards for bailouts, and increased financial support and debt restructuring for developing countries to facilitate a just transition.
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Document type: Executive summary
esr_case_study_yves_rocher-a9ba14be45622891.pdf
This case study describes how the French cosmetics company Yves Rocher used the Corporate Ecosystem Services Review (ESR) framework in 2009 to develop a corporate-wide biodiversity strategy. The process led to the creation of an action plan focused on supply chain resilience, facility management, and customer communication to secure raw material inputs and enhance brand value.
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Document type: Case study
Inspiring businesses to restore farms and forests
The Land Accelerator South Asia is a 16-week program launched in 2020 by WRI India to support entrepreneurs developing sustainable business models for the restoration of forests and farmlands in South Asia. The program provides mentorship, grants, and networking opportunities to help restoration businesses scale their environmental and social impacts.
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Document type: Guide