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The GCF Water Project Design Guidelines offer a framework for creating climate-resilient water projects, covering domains from water conservation to climate-resilient WASH. The guidelines include actionable insights for addressing climate risks, reducing emissions, and integrating sanitation with socioeconomic goals, alongside step-by-step proposal development guidance.

The brief evaluates 62 of 95 water investments established between 2013 and 2018 in Kenya's ASAL regions, finding that functionality generally declined between 2019 and 2023 due to poor maintenance funding, governance gaps, and insufficient climate data. It recommends integrating indigenous knowledge, securing dedicated operations and maintenance budgets, and adopting landscape-level management to ensure long-term resilience.

The COP29 South African Youth Statement outlines five main mandates for climate justice, emphasizing human rights, gender equality, and the needs of marginalized communities. It calls for a shift in climate finance toward grants and debt cancellation for the Global South, the integration of renewable energy into the national grid, and the empowerment of youth and community-based organisations in policymaking. The statement specifically highlights environmental injustices in water sanitation, waste management, and the health impacts of coal mining in Mpumalanga, while advocating for agroecological farming and the regulation of AI and the 'fast-fashion' industry.

The report argues that ecological disruption is an underappreciated security threat and advocates for the integration of strategic foresight tools—such as horizon scanning, futures wheels, and scenario planning—into national security architecture. It identifies land/sea-use change and global atmospheric/oceanic warming as the primary drivers of ecological instability. Through four plausible mid-century scenarios, the document illustrates how these drivers can lead to systemic collapses, such as Amazon dieback or the failure of the Lake Victoria Basin, resulting in famine, pandemics, and geopolitical conflict. The author recommends that security stakeholders shift their risk calculus to include ecological decline and prioritize locally-led, indigenous stewardship in resource management.

Costa Rica is addressing climate-driven water deficits in the Reventazón River basin by constructing farm-level water reservoirs. This initiative, part of the National Climate Change Adaptation Plan 2022–2026, aims to protect vegetable production and hydroelectric generation by improving irrigation efficiency and rainwater harvesting. The project emphasizes interinstitutional coordination and community participation, with plans to scale from a pilot to approximately 100 reservoirs over the next three years to secure livelihoods and national food security.

The guide establishes a standardized framework for tracking climate mitigation, adaptation, and biodiversity finance. It provides detailed lists of eligible activities for mitigation, a three-step validation process for adaptation, and specific criteria for biodiversity finance. The document emphasizes the use of ex-ante GHG emission reduction assessments and offers methodologies for quantifying finance through incremental or proportional approaches to ensure transparency and avoid double-counting.

The briefing highlights three priority areas for the 79th UN General Assembly and Climate Week: the High-Level Meeting on Sea-Level Rise, climate finance negotiations, and the Summit of the Future. It emphasizes the security implications of sea-level rise for Pacific Island states, the critical funding gap for developing nations facing debt crises, and the potential for the 'Pact for the Future' to address the climate-security nexus in UN peace operations.

The document details a climate adaptation initiative in Costa Rica's Reventazón River basin, where changing precipitation patterns have created water deficits of up to 30%. To combat drought and ensure food security, the government and local partners are implementing the National Adaptation Plan (PNA) 2022–2026, specifically through the construction of water reservoirs on agricultural farms. These reservoirs allow farmers to maintain year-round production, optimize irrigation, and reduce agrochemical use. The project emphasizes inter-institutional coordination and community participation, with plans to scale the model to approximately 100 reservoirs over the next three years using public and international funding.

The document examines Zambia's water security challenges, noting that despite abundant freshwater resources, the country faces crises driven by climate change, population growth, and poor governance. It highlights the severe impact of contaminated water on public health, the vulnerability of rain-fed agriculture to droughts, and environmental degradation caused by mining pollution and deforestation. The brief argues that current legal frameworks, such as the Water Act 198, are insufficient, particularly regarding groundwater and shared watercourses. Key recommendations include establishing a National Water Resources Authority, investing in irrigation and infrastructure maintenance, and addressing gender inequalities in water access.

The report assesses gender inequalities and diversity challenges in the Amazon Basin, highlighting disparities in land tenure, political representation, and access to water and sanitation. It emphasizes the critical role of indigenous women in biodiversity conservation and the disproportionate impact of climate change on vulnerable populations.

The Kham River Restoration Initiative in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, India, has transformed a polluted seasonal river into a community asset. Through a coalition of municipal leadership and community groups, the project implemented an Urban River Management Plan, restored 54 acres of riparian zone, and integrated informal waste pickers into formal municipal employment. These efforts have reduced flood risk, improved public health, and restored the city's cultural connection to the waterway.

The report argues that transition indicators can bridge the 'ambition gap' and 'implementation gap' by articulating the tangible socio-economic benefits of climate neutrality and resilience. Through case studies in Germany, South Korea, China, India, Indonesia, Kenya, and the Netherlands, the authors propose specific metrics for the power, industry, transport, building, and agricultural sectors. These indicators are designed to facilitate inclusive social dialogue, improve governance by clarifying sectoral responsibilities, and encourage international mutual learning, particularly within the Global South.

The 'Resilient Puna' project is a 6-year initiative in the Southern High Andes of Peru (SHAP) designed to restore and conserve 23,914 hectares of Puna ecosystems (peatlands, wetlands, and grasslands). The project focuses on enhancing the resilience of 60,715 direct beneficiaries, primarily Quechua Indigenous Peoples, by integrating ancestral knowledge with modern science to implement EbA measures and develop Climate Resilient Value Chains (CRVC). A central feature is the 'Puna Facility,' a financial mechanism managed by Profonanpe that provides non-repayable and repayable grants to local initiatives. The project also aims to mainstream EbA into national and regional governance, improve water security for over 2 million indirect beneficiaries, and achieve a mitigation co-benefit of 407,657 tCO2eq.

The ATOM project seeks USD 12.5 million from the Green Climate Fund to enhance the Cook Islands' health system resilience against climate-sensitive health risks (CSHRs). The initiative focuses on three components: strengthening institutional capacity to integrate climate data into health operations, retrofitting health facilities in the Pa Enua for cyclone and water security, and implementing community outreach and food security programs. The project targets 15,040 direct beneficiaries and aims to reduce the climate-induced health burden, which is estimated to cost the country USD 3.7 million annually.

The document examines the intersection of South Africa's energy transition and the interdependencies of water, energy, and food security. It identifies significant barriers to policy coherence, including institutional silos, budget cuts to environmental departments, and the political influence of the coal lobby and agricultural sector. The brief concludes that without an integrated framework, the transition risks perpetuating unsustainable coal practices and exacerbating social inequalities, particularly in coal-dependent regions like Mpumalanga.

South Africa faces a projected 17% gap between water supply and demand by 2030, driven by climate change, population growth, and poor governance. The country's water infrastructure is at significant risk of failure due to reactive maintenance and maladministration, with 41% of municipal water classified as non-revenue water. Governance failures have led to critical risks in wastewater treatment and public health crises, such as the 2023 cholera outbreak in Hammanskraal. The document recommends implementing water conservation measures, developing climate adaptation plans, enhancing governance legislation, and prioritizing infrastructure investment in rural areas.

The report identifies agriculture as the most vulnerable sector in the Bekwai Municipality, primarily due to a high dependence on rainfed farming and exposure to flooding from the Odo River. Historical data from 1980-2020 shows an increasing trend in temperatures and wet spell durations. Future projections through 2100 suggest rising annual rainfall (reaching 1,500 mm by 2080) and increased daytime and nighttime temperatures, which are expected to exacerbate flooding, water scarcity, and the prevalence of tropical diseases. The assessment highlights that rural communities are less resilient than urban centers due to a lack of critical functions like health care and disaster evacuation points. Recommended adaptation measures include the introduction of drought-resistant seeds, modern solar-powered irrigation, and improved climate information services.

The Biocultural Community Protocol (PCB) for Niafrang, Senegal, serves as a guide for the sustainable use of natural resources and the protection of traditional knowledge. It details the village's diverse ecosystems—including a critical mineralized dune—and outlines traditional governance structures based on consensus. The document specifically highlights the threat posed by zircon mining projects, which the community opposes due to potential ecological damage to rice fields and water security. It also catalogs local biodiversity and medicinal plants, establishing a framework for 'prior informed consent' for any external access to genetic resources.

The Stockholm Environment Institute's 'Clean and Green' (L&V) framework moves beyond eliminating open defecation to integrate health risk management with the safe reuse of productive waste. The framework consists of a 'Clean path' to reduce pathogen exposure and a 'Green path' to recover nutrients (N, P, K) and organic matter from human and animal waste. Following pilot tests in Burkina Faso, the document argues for the framework's application in Bolivia, where rural poverty is high and agricultural productivity could be enhanced by recycling nutrients from human excreta, which is estimated to provide the equivalent of 40 kg of chemical fertilizer per household annually.

The proposal outlines a 36-month project implemented by the FAO to address Venezuela's high vulnerability to climate change. It focuses on creating a National Adaptation Plan (NAP) for agriculture, fisheries, and water resources by strengthening institutional coordination, producing a climate vulnerability evidence base, engaging the private sector, and establishing a long-term financing framework, including a dedicated National Adaptation Fund.