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Albania's revised NDC aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20.9% by 2030 compared to a business-as-usual (BAU) scenario. The plan expands its scope to include all IPCC sectors, with significant mitigation efforts focused on energy efficiency, renewable energy, and sustainable forest management. The document also provides a comprehensive vulnerability assessment and prioritized adaptation measures for the Albanian coast and the AFOLU sector, emphasizing the need for climate-proofing infrastructure and enhancing ecosystem resilience.

The report calculates the ecological footprint (EF) of the North West region of England, finding it to be 6.2 global hectares (gha) per capita. This level of consumption would require more than three planets if adopted globally. The study identifies food consumption, construction, and transport as the primary drivers of the region's environmental impact, with food being the largest single EF component. It proposes 'Factor Four' efficiency scenarios to reduce these impacts by 2020 and 2050.

The briefing identifies that city governments could reduce annual GHG emissions by up to 8 Gt CO2e by 2050 through coordinated action with national governments. It proposes a framework where cities lead in areas like spatial planning and transit (20% of potential), implement national standards in buildings (40%), and act as strategic partners for technology adoption like electric vehicles and solar PV (40%). The report emphasizes that national governments must remove financial, technical, and legal constraints to unlock this potential, providing specific examples of opportunities in China, the United States, and Brazil.

The document outlines the process for non-Annex I Parties to assess and report greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation measures. It defines mitigation as interventions that reduce emission sources or enhance sinks and provides a structured approach to creating baseline and mitigation scenarios. The guide reviews sectoral options across energy, transport, buildings, industry, agriculture, forestry, and waste, while identifying technical, economic, and institutional barriers. It further evaluates bottom-up modeling tools such as LEAP, MARKAL/TIMES, and ENPEP to help countries quantify mitigation potentials and report results using standardized formats like 'jaws' charts.

The document profiles Martin, Co-Founder and Co-Director of Relic Plastic, a small recycling company that transforms low-value plastic waste into handmade products. Drawing on a background in Earth and Environmental Science and the 'Precious Plastic' movement, Martin emphasizes the importance of tangible recycling and education to promote a circular economy over a linear one. The case study highlights the operational challenges of running a social enterprise, the role of ethical funding from trusts and universities, and the belief that individuals can influence the ethics of their professional roles regardless of the organization's size.

The document outlines a framework for operationalizing human health protection in a future global plastics treaty. It proposes four complementary sets of provisions: addressing health impacts across the plastic life cycle, improving information availability, supporting effective implementation, and enabling progressive treaty development based on evolving science. It specifically advocates for a dedicated article on human health to foster international cooperation and protect vulnerable populations, such as informal waste workers and fence-line communities, from the neurotoxic, carcinogenic, and endocrine-disrupting effects of plastic chemicals and pollution.

The Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs (TESS) provided a statement at the WTO Dialogue on Plastic Pollution (DPP) pre-plenary meeting on 13 June 2024. TESS advocates for narrowing the DPP's scope to achieve concrete, actionable outcomes, specifically focusing on harmonizing definitions of single-use plastics, reforming HS nomenclature for better visibility of problematic plastics, and promoting trade in environmentally sound waste management technologies.

The report documents systemic failures in the development and operation of the Bantaeng Industrial Area (KIBA), highlighting severe environmental degradation, labor rights violations, and the marginalization of local communities. It argues that the project was established through deceptive land acquisition and lacks meaningful community participation, leading to the destruction of local livelihoods such as seaweed farming and brick-making. The findings detail illegal groundwater extraction, toxic pollution, and a dangerous working environment with multiple fatalities, while noting that local government oversight has been insufficient.

The document details a pilot project involving the Episcopal Church in the Philippines (ECP) to measure GHG emissions across various assets. The survey categorized assets into five types—including churches and schools—and analyzed emissions from energy, water, waste, and refrigerants. Findings revealed that schools have the highest per-individual-asset emissions (153.78t), primarily from refrigerants, while churches have the lowest (6.31t), primarily from energy. The ECP intends to repeat the survey annually to track emission reduction targets. The paper also offers a step-by-step guide for other faith actors to adapt the model, recommending the use of asset inventories, internal communications, and coordinator training.

The World Resources Institute (WRI) employs a comprehensive greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting methodology covering Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions. The inventory uses an operational control consolidation approach and has established 2019 as its base year for 2030 reduction targets. Scope 1 includes direct emissions from diesel generators and office refrigerators. Scope 2 utilizes both location-based and market-based methods for purchased electricity, incorporating renewable energy certificates for US operations. Scope 3 is the most extensive, covering purchased goods and services (Category 1) via a spend-based USEEIO model, fuel- and energy-related activities (Category 3), waste (Category 5), business travel (Category 6), employee commuting (Category 7), and endowment investments (Category 15). The methodology emphasizes the use of regional emission factors and annual staff surveys to estimate impacts across WRI's global network.

The report details WRI's internal efforts to reduce its operational footprint, highlighting a waste diversion increase from 27% to nearly 80% in its U.S. office through behavioral science, the use of infrastructure and incentives to promote bike commuting in the U.S. and Brazil, and the integration of sustainability into endowment investment strategies.

The report argues that despite improvements in material efficiency, the total volume of waste entering the environment continues to increase because economic growth and consumer lifestyles offset efficiency gains. It highlights a critical gap in national accounting, noting that while financial transactions are tracked via GDP, there is no equivalent system for measuring the physical material requirements of modern economies.

The document outlines three mutually reinforcing transitions—decarbonization, circular economy, and decentralization—to guide a sustainable post-COVID-19 economic redesign. It emphasizes the need for robust net-zero commitments, a shift from recycling to reducing and reusing materials, and stronger coordination between national and subnational governments to enhance climate resilience and equity.

The paper presents the City Climate Policy Assessment Framework, which evaluates city-level climate policies across seven sectors: community-wide initiatives, building policy, transportation policy, energy and water utilities, waste management, local government operations, and green finance. Based on an analysis of 12 cities in China and abroad, the study finds that while cities often excel in government operations and utilities, gaps persist in transportation, building policies, and community initiatives. It highlights that many cities set goals more ambitious than national standards and recommends improving data transparency and strengthening financial instruments like tax incentives and climate investment funds to address funding gaps.

The Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories (GPC) provides a consistent international standard for cities and other subnational entities to account for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Developed by WRI, C40, and ICLEI, the GPC addresses previous inconsistencies in city-level reporting to enable credible comparisons and aggregation at national levels. The framework requires cities to define a geographic boundary and categorize emissions into three scopes: Scope 1 (territorial emissions within the boundary), Scope 2 (grid-supplied energy), and Scope 3 (emissions occurring outside the boundary due to city activities). It offers two reporting approaches: a 'Scopes framework' for total emissions and a 'City-induced framework' (with BASIC and BASIC+ levels) focusing on key emitting sources. The GPC covers six main sectors: stationary energy, transportation, waste, industrial processes and product use (IPPU), agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU), and other Scope 3 emissions. While it does not mandate specific calculation methodologies, it recommends alignment with 2006 IPCC Guidelines and suggests annual inventory updates to track mitigation progress.

The document argues that food waste reduction is an accessible and cost-effective opportunity for schools and communities. It highlights that up to 40% of food produced globally is wasted, contributing roughly 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Through examples from the US, such as the Olympia School District and Montgomery County, it demonstrates that simple interventions like bulk milk dispensers and share-tables can reduce waste and save money. The text promotes a hierarchy of food waste solutions, prioritizing source prevention and human consumption over composting.

The document outlines how pet owners can reduce their 'carbon pawprint' and protect biodiversity. Key recommendations include avoiding the release of exotic pets into the wild to prevent invasive species, sourcing pets legally to combat illegal wildlife trade, and restricting outdoor roaming for cats to reduce predation. It also suggests sustainable consumption choices, such as avoiding fresh/frozen pet foods due to transportation emissions, choosing deforestation-free food brands, and opting for biodegradable waste bags and toys made from recycled or natural materials.

The Coalition to Re-Imagine School Waste, supported by a WWF Food Waste Warrior grant, established composting and food recovery pilots in Montgomery County, Maryland, and successfully lobbied for the 'Grant Program to Reduce & Compost School Waste' through large-scale postcard campaigns. The group aims to expand these sustainability efforts to 150-250 more schools in the 2023-24 school year.

Post-disaster rebuilding often creates a massive spike in demand for construction materials, sometimes equivalent to 15 years of typical demand, which can lead to unregulated resource extraction and increased greenhouse gas emissions. The document highlights how the demand for cement and sand contributes to global CO2 emissions and ecosystem degradation, respectively. It advocates for the strategic recycling and reuse of disaster debris—such as concrete, metals, and wood—to reduce pressure on natural resources, lower costs, and create local jobs, thereby strengthening long-term community resilience.

The document outlines a 'build back safer and greener' framework for Nepal, focusing on minimizing environmental damage during post-disaster recovery. It provides sector-specific guidance on settlements, building construction, waste management, energy, infrastructure, WASH, agriculture, and education. Key strategies include the use of soil bioengineering for landslide stabilization, integrated settlement planning, and the promotion of renewable energy to reduce pressure on forests. The guide emphasizes cross-cutting issues such as gender equality, social inclusion (GESI), and climate change adaptation to enhance long-term community resilience.