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This guide outlines strategies for legal professionals to drive corporate climate action. It focuses on four key areas: enhancing corporate governance by tying executive pay to climate targets and diversifying boards; managing external counsel to ensure alignment with decarbonization; incorporating climate risk and emissions data into legal contracts and financial instruments; and navigating evolving environmental regulations.

The document provides a comprehensive overview of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), describing it as a strategic framework for Chinese foreign investment and global influence. It highlights a systemic lack of environmental and social safeguards, the dominance of Chinese state-owned enterprises, and the tendency of BRI financing to favor fossil fuel projects over renewables. The briefing also details the 'debt trap' risks for recipient nations and the efforts of civil society organizations to advocate for a 'Green BRI' and greater corporate accountability.

The document analyzes the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as a strategic tool for China to export industrial overcapacity and expand global influence. It highlights a systemic lack of transparency, the dominance of state-owned enterprises, and significant environmental risks, particularly through the financing of coal and hydropower projects. While China promotes a 'Green BRI' and 'ecological civilization,' the report argues that actual implementation often lacks rigorous safeguards, leading to 'debt traps' and biodiversity loss. It calls for international civil society to push for binding treaties on multinationals and the adoption of higher environmental and social standards.

The document details how BCP, through its subsidiary Attawfiq Micro-Finance, used a USD 25 million gender bond to provide micro-credits and non-financial services to women in Morocco. It highlights the barriers women face—such as lack of collateral, cultural norms, and limited financial literacy—and demonstrates how targeted micro-credit has enabled women in both rural and urban areas to expand businesses and escape poverty. While the initiative shows success in financial inclusion, the text notes that investor focus on yield over social impact and rigorous reporting requirements remain challenges for the growth of social bonds.

This report by the CIFAR Alliance Investors Working Group explores how fintech innovations—specifically in data and digital infrastructure, online marketplaces, and insurtech—can scale climate resilience solutions for vulnerable communities in emerging markets. It presents 11 case studies of ventures that address both acute weather-related disasters and chronic long-term climate changes affecting livelihoods.

The document outlines FSD Africa's commitment to integrating ES&I considerations into its financial operations to avoid harm and create positive development impact. It details a systems approach via an Environmental and Social Performance Management (ESPM) system, a gender-intentional lens for investing, and a comprehensive exclusion list for prohibited activities, including specific fossil fuel restrictions.

The report identifies a significant gap between the high demand for green financing driven by Morocco's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and the limited supply of tailored financial instruments for SMEs. While energy efficiency and renewable energy projects are well-covered, sectors like fisheries and sustainable housing are underserved. The study recommends improving the regulatory framework for ESCOs, introducing fiscal incentives, and designing new equity or guarantee mechanisms to catalyze green investment.

The white paper argues that African capital market regulators often face a dual mandate of both developing and regulating markets, which requires a proportional approach based on the market's maturity. It introduces a five-stage analytical framework—Foundational, Nascent, Emerging Early, Emerging Maturing, and Advanced—to help regulators determine whether to focus on building blocks, commodity markets, or sophisticated financial products. The report highlights that while some regulators like Morocco's AMMC are well-aligned, others face operational deficits or inefficiencies. It suggests a fluid funding mix of government and industry fees to ensure financial sustainability and independence.

The document serves as a practical resource for the issuance of gender bonds in Africa, detailing the process from preparatory work to post-issuance reporting. It defines gender bonds as mechanisms to channel funding toward projects reducing gender inequalities, categorizing them into use-of-proceeds (UoP) and performance-based structures. The guide emphasizes the importance of gender-disaggregated data, the role of external reviews (such as Second Party Opinions), and the support of Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) as anchor investors. It highlights emerging markets in Morocco, Rwanda, South Africa, and Tanzania, and provides specific criteria for eligible projects, particularly the financing of women-owned micro, small, and medium enterprises (WMSMEs).

The document argues that a successful green economy transition requires a fundamental overhaul of the global financial architecture to move away from short-termism and 'brown' investments. It advocates for the mainstreaming of natural capital accounting to better value ecosystem services and the adoption of inclusive policy processes that protect marginalised groups and workers. Additionally, it emphasises the critical role of SMEs and informal businesses in driving local innovation, noting that approximately 70% of MSMEs in emerging markets lack access to credit, creating a 'missing middle' financing gap.

Mongolia's progress toward a green economy was ranked 3 out of 10 in a 2018 report. The country faces significant environmental hurdles, including air pollution, land degradation, and water mismanagement, with 70% of its land lacking groundwater access. While the government has implemented the National Green Development Policy and Sustainable Development Vision 2030, a gap remains between official narratives and actual implementation. Transition efforts involve tax exemptions for renewables, the operation of 12 renewable energy sites (wind, hydro, and solar), and international support from entities like the Green Climate Fund and ADB to develop low-carbon eco-districts in Ulaanbaatar.

The document outlines the necessity of reforming financial systems to meet climate targets and support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It advocates for a shift away from short-termism and 'brown' investments toward a system that serves society's long-term needs. Key proposals include the use of 'blended' finance to de-risk investments, decentralized financing to reach local organizations, and the implementation of a 'brown penalising factor' to discourage unsustainable lending. The brief also highlights the role of the 2019 PAGE Ministerial and initiatives like the UNEP Finance Inquiry in shaping this transition.

The report highlights the transformative potential of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that operate with a 'triple bottom line' approach to benefit local environments and communities. It identifies systemic barriers to growth, including a lack of formal definitions for 'green enterprises,' prohibitive collateral requirements for loans, and a lack of financial literacy among entrepreneurs. Through case studies in India, Mongolia, Peru, Senegal, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uganda, the document demonstrates how LGEs—ranging from organic farming and waste recycling to sustainable fisheries—are often excluded from public and private investment. The report concludes with recommendations for public finance institutions, private investors, and national policymakers to implement global taxonomies, support clustering models, and develop specific financial products for informal and micro-scale green businesses.

The report introduces a framework for 'Inclusive Green Economies' (IGE) designed to decouple economic growth from resource consumption while ensuring social equity. It outlines five guiding principles—Wellbeing, Justice, Planetary Boundaries, Efficiency and Sufficiency, and Good Governance—and suggests ten catalytic activities to accelerate this transition. The document emphasizes that the transition is an adaptive process likely taking 10-20 years, requiring collaboration between governments, businesses, and civil society to move from awareness and pressure to policy decisions and behavioral change.

The report analyzes India's steel industry, which accounts for 12% of the country's CO2 emissions, and argues that transitioning to green hydrogen-based steelmaking is the most viable path to net zero by 2070. It identifies significant barriers, including the high cost of green hydrogen, the lack of a legal definition for 'green steel', and the young age of existing blast furnace fleets. The authors recommend government intervention through carbon pricing, mandatory green steel procurement in public projects, and the implementation of green hydrogen purchase obligations to make low-carbon technologies commercially competitive.

The document highlights how EU-based financial institutions, including banks and pension funds, invest in projects that cause land grabs and environmental damage, often in violation of their own policies. It argues that voluntary measures are insufficient and that the EU is falling behind countries like Brazil and China in implementing social and environmental risk management. The text asserts that a lack of robust regulation increases financial risks for investors, noting that community opposition can increase operating costs by 29 times. It calls for mandatory due diligence, a broader sustainability taxonomy beyond climate risks, and harmonised public reporting requirements.

The report alleges that Brookfield Asset Management oversaw the deforestation of approximately 9,000 hectares of the Brazilian Cerrado between 2012 and 2021 across eight farms, subsequently selling these assets in a 'slash and sell' strategy. It further details a case where a Brookfield-controlled firm was fined R$800,000 for slave labour offences at Fazenda Colorado and an attempt to evict the Kayabí Indigenous community from ancestral lands in the Amazon via the company Agropecuaria Vale do Ximari. The document highlights a contradiction between these actions and the public roles of Brookfield Chair Mark Carney, a co-founder of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), and the firm's ESG policies. It argues that voluntary initiatives like GFANZ are insufficient and calls for mandatory government legislation on environmental and human rights due diligence for the financial sector.

Financial institutions representing £2.7 trillion in assets are calling for the UK to introduce mandatory due diligence for the financial sector to prevent the financing of deforestation, aligning with the Environment Act 2021 and global biodiversity targets.

The document outlines several deceptive strategies used by corporations at COP to appear environmentally friendly while continuing harmful practices. It specifically critiques the promotion of natural gas and 'blue' hydrogen as low-carbon solutions, the use of 'net zero' and 'nature-based solutions' to mask continued pollution, and the use of 'green finance' and voluntary anti-deforestation pledges by banks to hide ongoing investments in fossil fuels and deforestation.

NGO directors are calling on EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders to maintain the ambition of the CSDDD during final negotiations on December 15th. They argue the law must enable victims of corporate abuse to seek justice, prevent banks from investing in harmful projects, and protect the climate to achieve a transformative effect.