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The Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) provides scientific research and technical support to reduce human vulnerability to natural hazards and climate change. Through its Initiative on Transforming Development and Disaster Risk, SEI works to ensure development does not create new risks but instead enhances resilience. The institute supports global frameworks like the Sendai Framework and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, while providing regional support to ASEAN in Southeast Asia and IGAD in Eastern Africa. SEI's capacity-building efforts include developing analytical tools (such as the BalticClimate Toolkit and RISC-KIT), hosting knowledge platforms like weADAPT.org, and sponsoring 'writeshops' for early-career scientists from developing countries.

The SEI Initiative on Low Emission Development Pathways (LED-P) provides tools and research to help governments, particularly in developing countries, simultaneously address greenhouse gas emissions, short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), and air pollution. A central output is the LEAP-Integrated Benefits Calculator (LEAP-IBC), which quantifies the health, vegetation, and climate benefits of specific mitigation measures. The initiative focuses on filling data gaps, building technical capacity, and developing policy frameworks to move beyond aspirational scenarios toward credible transition pathways.

The document outlines the challenges of rapid urbanization in the Global South, where a growing proportion of the poor live in cities with limited financial resources. It proposes a framework to categorize cities by economic productivity and population growth, focusing on 'struggling' and 'emerging' cities. The authors argue that prioritizing equitable access to core services—housing, water, sanitation, energy, and transportation—is a critical entry point for transformative urban change, citing the examples of Medellín and Surat as cities that achieved broad transformation through targeted reforms and strong political coalitions.

The document argues that the current trajectory of urbanization in the Global South—characterized by rapid population growth outpacing economic growth and the 'urbanization of poverty'—risks locking cities into unsustainable patterns. It proposes a new categorization of cities based on economic productivity and population growth, focusing on 'struggling' and 'emerging' cities. The authors contend that providing equitable access to core services (housing, water, sanitation, energy, and transport) is the essential entry point for broader transformative urban change. Using case studies from Medellín and Surat, the paper illustrates how solving a 'seminal problem' can trigger a virtuous cycle of improvement across governance, finance, and planning, ultimately enhancing the quality of life for all residents.

The research paper examines how China's 'one road-two belts' strategy, the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and increased UN peacekeeping commitments impact Africa. It highlights a shift toward regional development nodes on Africa's east coast and the Horn of Africa, while cautioning that Africa's strategic importance to Beijing is limited compared to China's immediate region and its interests in Asia and Europe.

The document outlines critical areas for climate finance at COP 21, emphasizing the need for developed countries to meet the $100 billion annual goal by 2020, increasing funding for adaptation, and improving transparency in reporting finance flows. It highlights recent pledges from various nations and argues for a shift in trillions of dollars from high-emissions to low-emissions activities.

The document examines climate information services in BRACED countries, noting that while access is increasing, end-users struggle with data quality, inappropriate spatial scales, and poor communication. It details regional weather drivers like the ITCZ in Africa and the monsoon in Asia, and argues for a service-oriented approach that integrates localized, two-way communication into resilience programming to improve decision-making at the community level.

The document examines Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) as tools for developing countries to achieve mitigation and sustainable development goals. It highlights a significant gap between the high interest in NAMA development and the actual financial support provided, noting that less than 2% of requested support has been offered. The brief argues that the lack of official UNFCCC guidelines for stakeholder consultation and the absence of sector-specific environmental criteria—such as 'negative lists' to exclude harmful technologies—risk promoting 'greenwashing' and locking countries into high-carbon infrastructure. It recommends adopting universal safeguards, harmonized sustainable development assessments, and mandatory guidelines for effective stakeholder engagement, including indigenous peoples, to ensure NAMAs drive true transformational change.

The report evaluates forest governance through three indicators: institutional policy scores, the rule of law (illegal logging and violence), and land tenure rights for indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs). While some progress is noted in policy frameworks and the total area of recognized IPLC rights, the report highlights a slowdown in tenure recognition since 2008, a rise in absolute volumes of illegal timber imports—particularly into China—and persistent violence against land defenders, especially in Latin America.

The document examines the rise of unsolicited proposals (USPs) in infrastructure, where private entities initiate projects rather than governments. It highlights risks such as lack of transparency, corruption, and the avoidance of competition. Drawing on a PPIAF report, it recommends that governments adopt formal frameworks—including competitive bidding mechanisms like 'Swiss challenges'—to mitigate these risks. The author further argues that USPs can distract from sustainable public procurement (SPP) by bypassing critical needs analyses and straining limited public sector capacity to manage long-term asset life cycles.

The Center for International Environmental Law and other organizations advocate for the AIIB to implement a transparent, independent, and accessible accountability framework. They specifically call for an Oversight Mechanism aligned with UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and caution against over-reliance on potentially weak Country and Corporate Systems for grievance redress.

The CDKN-ICLEI First Learning Workshop in Quito, Ecuador, brought together 51 participants from 16 projects to identify enablers and barriers to sub-national climate compatible development (CCD). The workshop focused on moving from planning to implementation, resulting in a revised set of assumptions about effective CCD and the identification of critical knowledge gaps in planning, scaling, and conceptualisation. These outcomes informed seven core learning questions that project partners will address through the creation of 'Inside Stories'—reflective, evidence-based analyses of their learning processes. Regional discussions highlighted that in Asia, CCD is often framed as 'climate-smart' or 'climate-friendly' and requires strong links to poverty alleviation and gender issues, while in Latin America and the Caribbean, local framing and political will are seen as key drivers for sustainability.

Earthjustice, representing a coalition of environmental and community groups, urges the City of Oakland to reject the development of a coal export terminal at the former Oakland Army Base. The letter asserts that the project would disproportionately burden the low-income, predominantly African American community of West Oakland with particulate matter and diesel pollution, while violating California's greenhouse gas reduction goals. It argues that proposed mitigations, such as covered rail cars, are ineffective and that the project is an economic risk due to declining global coal demand. Finally, the document claims the project lacks necessary environmental review under CEQA and NEPA and that the City possesses the legal authority to ban the terminal to protect public health.

The CAMA project combined weADAPT's semantic tagging with Gephi visualization software to analyze the landscape of climate adaptation. By mapping relationships between organizations, keywords, and geography, the project identified 'hot topics', research gaps, and the role of bridging networks like SUMERNET in Southeast Asia. The analysis demonstrated how ICT tools can reveal patterns in complex datasets to inform strategic planning and identify potential collaborations for the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) in Africa and Asia.

The SE4All Finance Committee report identifies a global annual investment need of over $1 trillion to meet 2030 sustainable energy goals, noting a significant funding gap of $654-862 billion. It argues that while capital is abundant, it is not automatically allocated to sustainable energy due to perceived risks, particularly in emerging markets. The report proposes four key investment themes—green bonds, DFI risk-sharing structures, new insurance solutions, and aggregation models—which could collectively catalyze an additional $120 billion in annual investment by 2020. It emphasizes the need for improved project preparation, the use of dedicated project preparation funds, and the strengthening of the governance and creditworthiness of power utilities in developing countries to create a pipeline of bankable projects.

The report evaluates National Climate Change Funds (NCCFs), finding that they currently play a limited role in global climate finance, accounting for less than 0.2% of total flows in 2013. It identifies key barriers to resource mobilisation, including weak institutional capacities and a lack of clear vision, and proposes a structured three-step approach—defining vision, building capacity, and engaging investors—to improve their sustainability.

The document argues that a high-ambition climate agreement, limiting global warming to 2°C, is essential for achieving the SDGs, particularly those related to poverty, inequality, and energy. Using global analysis and case studies from Dominica, Jamaica, Pakistan, and Uganda, the research indicates that a low-ambition agreement would significantly increase poverty levels in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean by 2030.

The 2015 Climate Knowledge Brokers (CKB) Group workshop, held in Copenhagen, aimed to refine the CKB Manifesto and explore how to better meet the diverse needs of climate information users. Participants identified five user categories—unaware, ignored, without access, without time, and overwhelmed—and discussed tailored brokering strategies for each. The workshop also featured 'Knowledge Sharing Clinics' for peer-to-peer problem solving and proposed the creation of 'nodes' (working groups) to advance specific themes like monitoring and evaluation (M&E). Future goals include expanding the network's geographic diversity, particularly in Africa and Asia, and developing a 'Climate Knowledge Grid' to reduce information duplication and improve decision-making support.

The report argues that the pharmaceutical industry is fueling the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) crisis through the unmonitored dumping of antibiotic-laden waste into the environment during the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). It highlights a 'three-tier chain' where raw materials from China are processed in India and then sold to global markets. The document identifies specific polluting factories in China—including NCPC, CSPC/Inner Mongolia Changsheng, and Sinopharm—and links them to major companies such as Pfizer, Teva, and McKesson. It concludes that current Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) are insufficient because they lack environmental criteria, and calls for greater supply chain transparency and the integration of environmental protection into global pharmaceutical standards.

The document provides a comprehensive introduction to Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs), distinguishing them from carbon offsetting mechanisms like the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). It details the NAMA lifecycle—from concept to implementation—and examines the financial landscape, including the role of the NAMA Facility and the Green Climate Fund. The guide highlights the current state of NAMA deployment, noting that while many are in the design phase, few have reached implementation. It emphasizes the critical role of civil society in ensuring sustainable development and accountability through stakeholder engagement and Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) processes.