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INSIDER: What Can Paris Achieve on Adaptation?
The briefing advocates for the Paris agreement to establish a global goal for adaptation to strengthen international cooperation and resilience. It proposes an 'adaptation cycle' consisting of regular national adaptation communications and a global stock-take every five years to identify gaps and mobilize support. The author emphasizes that this process should minimize the burden on developing countries by utilizing existing planning frameworks like National Adaptation Plans.
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Document type: Briefing
Transitional Justice in the Climate Context?
The paper explores the analogy between transitional justice—typically used to transition societies from periods of deep injustice to peace—and the climate change context. It identifies four key similarities: unavoidable interdependence, the inadequacy of current judicial processes, disagreements over the link between past actions and future obligations, and the importance of socio-economic human rights. The author suggests that climate policy could adopt specific transitional justice practices, such as guarantees of non-recurrence, reparations, limited liability, and formal peace processes, to move beyond political stalemates regarding historical responsibility. However, the paper also notes significant limitations, including the fact that climate injustices are ongoing rather than past, the lack of a unified global 'society', and the risk of co-optation by powerful actors.
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Document type: Research paper
Global Climate Policy Conference 2015
The Global Climate Policy Conference 2015 explored innovative research-driven approaches to climate action, focusing on the intersection of development, adaptation, carbon pricing, and state accountability. Key discussions highlighted the need for a 'club' approach to carbon pricing and technology, the importance of microfinance and local capacity in adaptation, and the role of basic energy research in breaking the link between emissions and economic growth.
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Document type: Report
Aligning Sustainable Development Goals with Climate-Resilient Growth
The policy brief examines the intersection of the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the COP 21 climate negotiations, and the Financing for Development agenda. It advocates for a 'bottom-up' approach to climate mitigation through INDCs that are integrated with domestic socio-economic priorities to create co-benefits in sectors like agriculture and energy. The author emphasizes that African nations should leverage clean energy and the energy-food-water nexus to leapfrog fossil-fuel-based development, while highlighting South Africa's green economy strategies as a model for job creation and GDP growth.
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Document type: Policy brief
Strategic Plan for the Green Climate Fund (Progress Report)
The document evaluates the Green Climate Fund's (GCF) current standing by analyzing its strengths, such as its international credibility and USD 10 billion in pledges, against internal challenges like a lengthy decision-making cycle and a lack of defined portfolio targets. It draws comparative lessons from other climate funds (GEF, AF, CIFs) and global health funds (GAVI, Global Fund), suggesting that a 'vertical programmatic approach' could help mobilize stakeholders around tangible results. Key recommendations include strengthening country ownership through readiness support, standardizing investment criteria to improve comparability, and leveraging the Private Sector Facility to potentially become a leading green bond fund.
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Document type: Report
Raising the level of ambition towards a COP 21 outcome through Nationally Determined Mitigation Pledges
The paper examines the role of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) in bridging the gap between political ambition and the goal of limiting global temperature rise to below 2°C. It describes INDCs as voluntary, bottom-up climate planning tools that allow countries to define their own mitigation and adaptation targets based on domestic capabilities. The author emphasizes that INDCs should be integrated with broader sustainable development goals, particularly for African nations, and calls for a 'virtuous cycle of rising ambition' supported by predictable international finance to ensure global emissions peak by 2030.
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Document type: Research paper
Key Issues on the Road to Paris: A briefing note on COP 21 for the members of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP)
The document outlines the goals of COP 21, specifically the adoption of a new international climate agreement to limit global temperature increases to 2°C. It describes the role of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) in setting greenhouse gas targets and identifies critical negotiation areas including adaptation, loss and damage, climate finance, technology transfer, and capacity building in developing countries.
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Document type: Briefing
DEVELOPING A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR SOUTH‐SOUTH CO-OPERATION
The report, developed by the Network of Southern Think Tanks (NeST), addresses the lack of a common definition and reporting system for South-South co-operation (SSC). It distinguishes South-South development co-operation (SSDC) as a subset of SSC and argues that it is broader than the OECD-DAC's Official Development Assistance (ODA) definition. The document proposes a comprehensive set of indicators to assess the quality of partnerships across seven dimensions, including national ownership, horizontality, and transparency. It also explores methodological approaches for impact evaluation, suggesting a shift toward 'double-sided' results-based management that recognizes mutual benefits for both provider and recipient. Finally, it outlines a roadmap for NeST to establish a global statistical hub for SSC data in collaboration with UN agencies.
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Document type: Report
A GUIDE TO INDCS INTENDED NATIONALLY DETERMINED CONTRIBUTIONS
The document offers a comprehensive framework for LDCs and SIDS to develop INDCs, emphasizing that these countries may communicate strategies and plans for low greenhouse gas emission development reflecting their special circumstances. It provides detailed templates for national context, mitigation contributions (both action-based and outcome-based), adaptation plans, planning processes, and means of implementation. The guide highlights the importance of identifying conditional contributions dependent on international finance, technology transfer, and capacity-building, while encouraging the capture of synergies between mitigation and adaptation to build political momentum and attract international support.
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Document type: Guide
GUIDE DE PRÉPARATION DES INDC CONTRIBUTIONS PRÉVUES DÉTERMINÉES AU NIVEAU NATIONAL
The document serves as a practical toolkit for LDCs and SIDS to formulate INDCs, offering a modular template that covers national context, mitigation, adaptation, planning processes, and implementation means. It emphasizes the flexibility allowed for these nations under the Lima Call for Climate Action, suggesting both measure-based and outcome-based approaches to mitigation. The guide highlights the importance of identifying synergies between adaptation and mitigation to attract international support and demonstrate political ambition ahead of the 2015 Paris COP.
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Document type: Guide
GUÍA PARA LAS INDCS CONTRIBUCIONES PREVISTAS Y DETERMINADAS A NIVEL NACIONAL
The document offers a structured approach for LDCs and SIDS to develop INDCs, emphasizing that these countries may use strategies, plans, or specific projects rather than absolute emission reductions. It provides templates for mitigation (action-based or result-based), adaptation, planning processes, and means of implementation, while highlighting the importance of transparency, national circumstances, and the pursuit of co-benefits such as poverty reduction and energy access.
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Document type: Guide
LIMA COP 20: ANOTHER SMALL STEP ON THE LONG ROAD TO PARIS
The Lima COP 20 summit focused on defining the instructions for a legally binding global agreement to be finalized in Paris in December 2015. Key achievements included the agreement that Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) be presented by October 2015 and the shift away from the Kyoto Protocol's industrialisation-based differentiation, with major emitters like the USA and China showing willingness to reduce emissions. The summit also saw new contributions to the Green Climate Fund, which reached US$10.2m, and progress on the REDD+ mechanism and gender-responsive climate policies. However, issues regarding the International Mechanism for Loss and Damage, market mechanisms, and the Technology Mechanism remained unresolved.
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Document type: Policy brief
A briefing note on COP 21 for the members of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP)
The document outlines the strategic priorities of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) for the 2015 Paris climate agreement, emphasizing the need for equity, adaptation, and financial support. It details the role of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) and the challenges of closing the 'ambition gap' to limit global warming to 2°C. The briefing highlights the importance of the Common But Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR) principle and the necessity of developed countries fulfilling their 100 billion USD annual climate finance pledge by 2020.
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Document type: Briefing
Note d’information sur la CdP 21 à l’intention du Parlement panafricain
The document outlines the Pan-African Parliament's (PAP) expectations for the 2015 Paris Agreement, emphasizing the need for equity, justice, and a legally binding framework. It highlights the critical role of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) and the necessity of closing the ambition and finance gaps. The PAP advocates for a strong focus on adaptation, the operationalization of the 'common but differentiated responsibilities' (CBDR) principle, and the fulfillment of the $100 billion annual climate finance commitment by developed nations. It also discusses the technical challenges of the negotiations, including the legal form of the agreement and the management of loss and damage.
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Document type: Briefing
No Justice in Lima Outcome
Friends of the Earth International and its signatories critique the Lima Conference for producing weak pre-2020 mitigation pledges and failing to secure binding commitments on finance, adaptation, and loss and damage. The statement asserts that the outcome shifts responsibility to the Global South, protects polluting corporations, and risks expanding carbon markets at the expense of land rights. It calls for a systemic transformation away from fossil fuels toward community-controlled renewable energy and agro-ecological solutions.
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Document type: Statement
Performance Requirements in Investment Treaties
The report examines the role of performance requirements (PRs) in foreign direct investment, analyzing how their prohibition in bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and the WTO TRIMs Agreement restricts the ability of host states—particularly developing countries—to achieve sustainable development goals. It contrasts traditional BITs, which are silent on PRs, with a growing minority of 'TRIMs+' treaties that impose broader prohibitions. Through the analysis of investment tribunal cases like Mobil Oil v. Canada and Lemire v. Ukraine, the document highlights the unpredictability of legal interpretations. It concludes by offering policy options for states to maintain their regulatory sovereignty, such as avoiding PR prohibitions in treaties or using specific carve-outs and grandfathering clauses.
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Document type: Report
Les prescriptions de résultats dans les traités d’investissements
The document examines performance requirements (PR)—stipulations imposed on investors to achieve specific development goals—and the legal constraints placed upon them by the WTO's TRIMs Agreement and various Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs). It highlights a growing trend, led by Canada and the United States, toward broader prohibitions of PRs (MIC+ clauses) that extend to pre-establishment phases. Through the analysis of cases like Lemire v. Ukraine and Mobil Oil v. Canada, the guide illustrates the unpredictability of investment tribunals in interpreting these prohibitions. It concludes by offering strategic options for developing nations to maintain their regulatory space, such as avoiding PR prohibitions in BITs or explicitly excluding certain sectors and mechanisms from such restrictions.
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Document type: Guide
Africa needs a fair and equitable global climate agreement
The author contends that Africa's future depends on the intersection of its youth demographics and climate change, asserting that the impacts of climate change threaten to undermine the 'demographic dividend' by devastating the agriculture sector, which is a primary source of employment for young Africans. The text calls for a global climate agreement based on distributive justice and equity, specifically demanding increased funding for climate change adaptation and the transfer of technology for climate-smart agriculture.
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Document type: Statement
The Way Forward in International Climate Policy: Key Issues and New Ideas 2014
The report explores diverse strategies to advance international climate policy, including the adoption of a 'green growth' narrative, the application of social psychology to fairness and equity, and the use of 'clubs' or public-private technology pools to bypass traditional negotiation impasses. It specifically examines the legal interpretation of 'common but differentiated responsibilities' (CBDR), the potential of green bonds to mobilize private finance, and the 'Quisqueya Platform' for creating synergies between mitigation and adaptation in developing countries.
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Document type: Report
The Way Forward in International Climate Policy: Key Issues and New Ideas 2014
The document explores diverse strategies to advance international climate policy, including the adoption of a 'green growth' narrative, the application of social psychology to fairness and equity disputes, and the use of 'clubs' or public-private technology pools to bypass traditional negotiation impasses. It specifically examines the legal interpretation of 'common but differentiated responsibilities' (CBDR), the potential of green bonds to mobilize private finance, and the 'Quisqueya Platform' for creating synergies between mitigation and adaptation in developing countries.
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Document type: Report