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In 2019/2020, Nigeria received an average of USD 1.9 billion annually in climate finance, representing only 11% of the USD 17.7 billion needed annually for its conditional NDC. Public finance dominated at 77% of total flows, primarily delivered as concessional debt. Mitigation finance (USD 1.1 billion) outweighed adaptation finance (USD 663 million), despite high vulnerability to climate shocks. Energy systems received the most investment, particularly solar, while sectors like waste and industrial processes remained severely underfunded. The report highlights a significant contradiction between climate finance flows and continued heavy investment in fossil fuels, noting one LNG project alone received USD 2.77 billion. Key barriers include limited private sector mobilization, capacity constraints in GHG reporting, and a lack of national climate budget tagging.

In 2019/2020, Nigeria received an average of USD 1.9 billion annually in climate finance, representing only 11% of the USD 17.7 billion needed to meet its conditional NDC target. Public finance dominated the landscape, accounting for 77% of flows, primarily through concessional debt. Mitigation finance (USD 1.1 billion) outweighed adaptation finance (USD 663 million), despite the country's high vulnerability to climate risks. Energy systems received the largest share of investment (41%), with a strong focus on solar technologies, while sectors like waste and industrial processes remained severely underfunded. The report highlights a significant contradiction between climate finance goals and continued heavy investment in fossil fuels, noting that a single LNG project received USD 2.77 billion—more than the total tracked climate finance for the period.

The waste sector is responsible for approximately 20% of human-driven methane emissions globally, primarily from the anaerobic breakdown of organic waste in landfills and dumps. With global waste generation projected to increase by 73% by 2050, the document argues that reducing methane is critical for slowing global warming and meeting Paris Agreement goals. It proposes a modified waste hierarchy focusing on food waste prevention, organic waste diversion (via composting and anaerobic digestion), and improved landfill design and dump rehabilitation. The brief highlights successful regional policies, such as South Korea's weight-based food waste collection and India's waste segregation rules, while noting that up to 60% of mitigation measures have low or negative costs.

The document examines the GHG footprint of the pulp and paper industry, noting that emissions range from 14 to 75 tCO2e/t paper (excluding biogenic forestry emissions). It highlights that pulping and papermaking are energy-intensive stages that dominate the footprint, while forest management—specifically deforestation and premature harvesting—represents a significant source of emissions and a major mitigation opportunity. The report emphasizes the need for standardized GHG accounting in the sector and suggests shifting to renewable energy and sustainable forestry to reduce impacts.

The report identifies a significant gap between the climate goals of WAEMU member states and their financial capacity to implement them. While there is interest in green bonds, the market is hindered by underdeveloped regional financial infrastructure, a lack of technical expertise in green eligibility and reporting, and a dominance of sovereign debt that crowds out corporate issuers. The document recommends strengthening regulatory frameworks, providing technical assistance for project pipeline development, and utilizing risk-mitigation tools like guarantees to attract a more diverse investor base beyond commercial banks.

The report finds that while there is interest in Green Bonds in the WAEMU region, the market is in a nascent stage due to underdeveloped financial infrastructure, a lack of government focus on climate regulatory frameworks, and limited technical capacity among stakeholders. It identifies energy, agriculture, and clean transportation as priority sectors and recommends sustained capacity building, the development of regional guidelines, and the use of technical assistance and risk-transfer instruments to attract investors.

The document examines the increasing legal vulnerability of companies regarding plastic leakage into the environment. It highlights significant settlements for plastic pellet spills in the US and Europe, the potential for lawsuits against consumer brands and producers for macroplastic waste, and the role of economic losses—such as those in the fishing and tourism industries—in driving future strategic litigation.

The document identifies key governance challenges for cities implementing circular economy (CE) models, such as administrative silos, lack of holistic visions, and insufficient data for monitoring. It proposes four strategic pillars for urban policymakers: creating shared visions with inclusive strategies, establishing supportive regulatory and financial instruments (particularly circular public procurement), facilitating multi-level collaboration, and utilizing Urban Living Labs to scale innovations from local pilots to city-wide implementation.

The author asserts that the plastic industry is set to double production by 2030 while only 9% of plastic has been recycled globally. The text highlights how companies like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo use voluntary targets to mask a lack of progress and lobby against deposit return systems in the US. Additionally, it criticizes European supermarkets for a lack of transparency regarding their plastic footprints and for employing greenwashing tactics to avoid systemic change.

The report finds that targeted methane abatement finance is severely underfunded, representing less than 2% of total climate finance in 2019/2020. While the fossil fuel and AFOLU sectors are the largest emitters, the waste sector received the majority of funding. The authors argue that a ten-fold increase in annual investment is required to meet climate goals and recommend stronger regulatory signals, improved emission measurement, and dedicated project pipelines to close the finance gap.

The Clean Air Task Force asserts that carbon capture and storage (CCS) is essential for decarbonising foundational industries like cement, iron, steel, and chemicals, which account for approximately one-fifth of total emissions. While some national initiatives exist in the UK, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and Norway, the author argues that a centralized EU strategy is needed to resolve cross-border transport issues, close a projected €10 billion funding gap, and address a storage capacity deficit where available space by 2030 may only meet half of the captured CO2 volume. The proposed strategy would include setting milestone targets, developing strategically placed storage sites, and creating a regulatory platform for CO2 transport infrastructure.

The Forum on Trade, Environment & the SDGs (TESS) highlights the critical role of international trade in the global plastics economy, noting that trade in plastics exceeds USD 1 trillion. TESS argues that current trade policies are often disjointed and can undermine national efforts to curb pollution. The statement urges the INC to foster international cooperation to reduce trade in problematic plastics, end the trade of contaminated waste, and improve data transparency regarding 'hidden' plastic flows. It emphasizes the need for a just transition for developing countries and synergy with existing frameworks like the Basel Convention and WTO dialogues.

The United States is urged to lead negotiations for a comprehensive global treaty to end plastic pollution, with the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act proposed as a model for national action plans. Following a February 2022 consensus by over 175 UN Member Nations, negotiations are scheduled to proceed through 2024, with adoption and signing expected in 2025.

The briefing outlines the political and structural challenges Brazil faces in achieving net-zero emissions, focusing on land use, agriculture, transport, carbon markets, waste management, and industry. It argues that climate policies must be aligned with national development and income generation to overcome weak governance and industry opposition. The report highlights specific opportunities for international funding, such as supporting biomethane, nature-based solutions in carbon markets, and technology transfer for industrial decarbonization and waste sorting.

The report finds that European supermarkets generally exhibit low transparency and ambition regarding plastic reduction, often relying on voluntary commitments and recycling-focused strategies rather than systemic reuse. An analysis of 74 retailers reveals an average total score of only 13.1%, with significant disparities in performance between different countries where the same retail chains operate. The document highlights tactics used by retailers to delay legislative progress, such as lobbying against deposit return systems (DRS), and criticizes 'greenwashing' practices, including the mislabeling of single-use plastics as reusable.

The report finds that European supermarkets generally perform poorly in addressing the plastic crisis, with an average score of 13.1% across transparency, commitments, and policy support. While some UK and Irish chains score higher, most companies lack basic data on their plastic footprints and fail to implement systemic changes like reusable packaging. The analysis highlights a preference for voluntary commitments over binding regulations and warns against greenwashing practices, such as exporting flexible plastics to third countries like Turkey.

The Indian GSS debt market experienced significant growth in 2021, reaching a cumulative volume of USD 19.5 billion, with green bonds dominating the landscape. While the market is primarily driven by non-financial corporates and focused on utility-scale renewable energy, there is emerging activity in sustainability-linked bonds and potential for expansion into electric vehicles, waste management, and climate-smart agriculture. The Indian government is supporting this growth through the Ministry of Finance's Sustainable Finance Task Force and the planned issuance of a domestic sovereign green bond in 2022.

The report documents a cumulative environmental burden in North Denver and Commerce City, where industrial zoning and high-volume transportation infrastructure lead to significant pollution and health risks. Key findings include widespread EPA violations among local facilities, high levels of PM2.5 emissions from diesel traffic near schools, and systemic data gaps regarding freight rail and business impacts. The authors argue that while North Denver provides essential energy, goods, and waste services for the broader Denver Metro area, the local community bears the health costs, including higher rates of asthma and cancer risks.

The report details how North Denver serves as a critical hub for energy, goods production, and transport for the wider region while its residents bear the cumulative health and environmental costs. It identifies widespread EPA violations among local facilities and highlights significant data gaps that hinder community oversight.

The document argues that the current linear economy, driven by a culture of consumption and planned obsolescence, is unsustainable. It proposes a circular economy based on a systemic approach to maintain resource flows through regeneration and value retention. The authors emphasize that 100% circularity is physically impossible due to thermodynamics, but an optimum can be reached through a design mindset focused on extended life cycles and 'R' activities like remanufacturing and repair. Key barriers identified include outdated waste legislation, intellectual property laws, and consumer norms favoring ownership over access. The paper advocates for the use of public procurement as a lever to create markets for circular business models, such as functional sales where users pay for performance rather than product ownership.