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The document advocates for the introduction of wealth taxes in South Africa to combat inequality and fund socioeconomic rights. It challenges the notion that wealth taxes harm growth, arguing instead that redirecting wealth toward public spending can stimulate demand and investment. The brief recommends a combination of Financial Transaction Taxes (FTTs), increased dividend taxes, and a progressive net wealth tax, citing successful international examples from countries like France, Argentina, and Colombia.

The Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region generates 19% of its electricity from wind and solar, exceeding the global average. While nearly half of the 33 LAC countries have pledged net-zero emissions by 2050, an implementation gap persists. The region possesses a third of global lithium, copper, and silver reserves, though investment has historically favored extraction over local manufacturing. Recent trends show a rise in electric vehicle sales and a shift in Venezuela toward solar generation to improve grid stability.

The statement warns that social media and generative AI are being used by far-right groups and authoritarian leaders to normalize racism, misogyny, and misinformation. It highlights the fragmentation of the media landscape into echo chambers and argues that while regulation is necessary, the primary solution must be a 'whole-of-society approach' to digital media and information literacy for all ages to protect the rule of law and democratic integrity.

The IAI Directorate has advanced several strategic mandates between June 2025 and January 2026, including the expansion of its Associate network with the WMO and AGU, and the operationalization of the Indigenous Peoples Advisory Committee (IPAC). Key efforts focused on science diplomacy in preparation for UNFCCC COP30, the launch of transdisciplinary research programs on climate-health and ocean science, and the development of the IAI Science Diplomacy Center. The Directorate also expanded its educational reach through virtual courses on remote sensing and health adaptation, while pursuing new member state adhesion, specifically with El Salvador.

The report examines how the insurance and reinsurance sectors are responding to intensifying climate disruptions in global supply chains. It identifies critical structural, market, and modelling limits that undermine the industry's ability to absorb systemic risk, noting a trend toward 'un-insurability' in high-risk regions. The author argues that without a shift from simple risk transfer to a stewardship model integrated with long-term adaptation and public-private coordination, the sector may amplify rather than stabilize economic volatility.

The report finds widespread concern about climate impacts across the political spectrum, with a strong public demand for government-led adaptation efforts. Respondents primarily link climate change to economic risks, such as the cost of living and job security, and view adaptation as a necessary complement to, rather than a replacement for, emissions reductions.

The document outlines Australia's position as a major global mining hub, specifically highlighting its dominance in iron ore and its growing role in critical minerals like lithium. It details the sector's significant contribution to national GDP and government revenue, while noting the industry's heavy reliance on fossil fuels for energy. The report also examines the social dimensions of the workforce, including gender disparities, and the regulatory environment, particularly in Western Australia.

The NAP Global Network's 2025 report details its efforts to move developing countries from adaptation planning to implementation. Key achievements include supporting 18 countries in this transition, delivering 24 short-term technical assistance requests via the Country Support Hub, and managing 13 long-term In-Country Support Programs. The Network emphasizes the importance of monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL), gender equality and social inclusion (GESI), and the integration of nature-based solutions. A new strategic plan to 2030 prioritizes Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS), with a focus on accountability, civil society engagement, and the alignment of adaptation planning with peacebuilding and the Global Goal on Adaptation.

The report identifies key pillars for integrating non-conventional renewable energy (NCRE) in Latin America and the Caribbean, emphasizing the need for long-term state policies, proactive system planning, and updated regulatory frameworks. It highlights successful models in Uruguay, Chile, and Brazil, while contrasting these with challenges in Colombia, particularly regarding the lack of multi-party political consensus and coordination between generation and transmission planning.

The report provides a comparative analysis of how 16 countries and territories are operationalising OECMs through five primary legal and policy pathways: ministerial instruments, national guidelines, administrative procedures, sector-based recognition, and mechanisms for areas beyond national jurisdiction. It finds a high degree of global convergence and alignment with the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Decision 14/8 criteria, while noting that countries adapt these standards to fit their specific governance and legal contexts. The document highlights the rapid growth in OECM reporting between 2021 and 2025 and provides recommendations for scaling these frameworks globally.

The report analyzes how 16 reporting jurisdictions and several others in development operationalize OECMs through five primary pathways: ministerial instruments, national guidelines, administrative procedures, sector-based recognition, and mechanisms for areas beyond national jurisdiction. It finds a strong global convergence toward the terminology and criteria of CBD Decision 14/8, while noting that most countries prefer non-legislative policy tools over new laws to achieve conservation outcomes.

The 2025 G20 presidency under South Africa served as a symbolic platform for African priorities, including debt sustainability and just energy transition, but faced significant challenges due to the absence of the US and a general lack of collective ambition on climate change. While the presidency successfully advanced discussions on critical minerals and disaster resilience, the Final Communiqué failed to mention transitioning away from fossil fuels, reflecting a broader trend of G20 paralysis on environmental leadership.

The paper examines the 'care crisis' in Africa, where unpaid care work—primarily performed by women—is economically invisible and underfunded due to debt burdens and austerity. It proposes a shift toward 'feminist fiscal justice' by adopting progressive taxation, wealth taxes, and integrated care systems, drawing on successful models from Uruguay, Colombia, and Costa Rica.

The document argues that wealth taxation is an appropriate tool for redistribution in South Africa due to extreme inequality, where the richest 0.01% owned 15% of wealth in 2017. It examines three primary instruments: Financial Transaction Taxes (FTTs), dividend taxes, and net wealth taxes. International evidence from France shows that increasing dividend taxes from 15.5% to 46% led to a 15% increase in investment. Net wealth taxes in countries like Argentina, Spain, Norway, Switzerland, and Colombia have raised between 0.2% and 1.5% of GDP. The brief highlights administrative challenges for the South African Revenue Service (SARS) but notes the existence of a High Wealth Individual Unit as evidence of feasibility. It recommends a combination of moderate net wealth taxes, increased dividend taxes, and the introduction of an FTT, supported by tighter capital controls and international cooperation via the UN Framework Convention on International Taxation and Cooperation.

The report examines the state of play for e-commerce at the WTO, focusing on the multilateral Work Programme on Electronic Commerce (WPEC) and the plurilateral Joint Statement Initiative (JSI). It details the ongoing conflict over the moratorium on customs duties for electronic transmissions, the substance of the proposed Agreement on Electronic Commerce (ECA), and the challenges regarding its legal incorporation into the WTO framework, particularly concerning the needs of developing countries and LDCs.

The report examines how activists and civil society in Latin America and the Caribbean use climate litigation to block fossil fuel expansion and promote policies aligned with the Paris Agreement. It highlights a predominantly rights-based approach, emphasizing the right to a healthy environment and the protection of Indigenous communities. The analysis identifies significant institutional barriers in the region, including high litigation costs, structural violence against environmental defenders, and a lack of specialized judicial training. While the region leads the Global South in climate litigation volume, it lags behind the Global North in lawsuits targeting private corporations directly. The document also warns of 'backlash' through investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanisms, where companies use international arbitration to challenge decarbonization policies.

The WWF-SASSI fact sheet is a consumer guide that classifies seafood species based on their sustainability and legal status in South Africa. It uses a traffic-light system—Green (Best Choice), Orange (Think Twice), and Red (Don't Buy)—to help consumers make informed choices based on species health, fishing methods, and management effectiveness. The guide highlights specific species, such as SA trawled hake as an example of MSC eco-labelled wild-caught seafood, and warns against purchasing 'no-sale' or specially protected species listed in red with a dark background.

The report analyzes methane emissions in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, and Costa Rica, comparing their national frameworks with EU regulations. It identifies significant emission sources—primarily oil and gas operations in energy, landfills in waste, and enteric fermentation in agriculture—and highlights a general lack of binding methane-specific targets and granular monitoring (MRV) in the LAC region. The document recommends aligning LAC policies with EU benchmarks and the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP 2.0) to enhance transparency, attract climate finance, and improve international market access.

The document defines climate disinformation as deliberately incorrect information used to manipulate or protect economic interests, and greenwashing as communication used by governments and companies to appear more sustainable than they are. It advises journalists to avoid 'false equidistance' by reflecting the scientific consensus that over 99% of specialized studies attribute climate change to human activity. Recommended reporting techniques include 'prebunking' (warning audiences about disinformation tactics) and the 'truth sandwich' method (starting and ending with facts while briefly addressing the myth). The guide emphasizes investigating the funding of science, particularly links to the fossil fuel industry, and examining the real-world impact of proposed climate solutions like carbon capture and plastic recycling, which it notes are often promoted by the fossil fuel industry despite limited impact. It highlights that while disinformation is a global phenomenon, its effects are most acute locally in regions with extractive projects and 'green transition' promises.

The research paper analyzes clean cooking policies across 43 G20 countries, finding that 50%–70% of public spending is directed toward direct fiscal support, primarily LPG subsidies. It argues that these subsidies often fail to reach the poorest populations, create fiscal burdens, and undermine energy security and climate goals. The author recommends that G20 nations phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies and implement national roadmaps prioritizing electricity, biogas, and solar energy to meet SDG 7 targets by 2030.