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The paper finds that integrating REDD into global carbon markets significantly reduces tropical deforestation emissions and lowers overall climate policy costs by 10-25%. While it slightly decreases investments in some renewable energy and nuclear R&D (by 1-10%), it may marginally increase investments in carbon capture and storage (CCS) and integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) technologies. The study highlights that 'banking' credits enhances these cost savings and provides policy flexibility for future more stringent targets.

The document outlines a 'menu' of 'must have' and 'nice to have' actions for municipal governments, utilities, civic groups, and businesses to facilitate the transition to plug-in vehicles. It uses a hypothetical city modeled on Denver, Colorado, to estimate that achieving a goal of 10,000 plug-in vehicles (2% of registered vehicles) over five years would result in a net cost of approximately $10 million and create 250 net new jobs, while avoiding 2 million gallons of oil annually by 2014.

The authors argue that traditional country-level conflict analysis fails to account for spatial and temporal variations, as conflicts often occur in peripheral regions and are triggered by sudden events. By combining a global logit regression model with a subnational risk index—incorporating population, socioeconomic status, ethno-political exclusion, distance from the capital, and conflict history—the study maps latent conflict risk across twelve Asian countries. The results demonstrate significant internal variation, highlighting high-risk areas in India, Nepal, and the Philippines, while suggesting that irregular regime changes and previous conflict history are powerful predictors of future violence.

The report finds that Bilateral Finance Institutions (BFIs) play a major role in global climate finance, with four participating institutions (AFD, JICA, KfW, and EIB) collectively disbursing €8.09 billion in 2008. The majority of this funding (85%) is delivered as Official Development Assistance (ODA), with a heavy concentration on mitigation (72%) and the energy sector. Geographically, Asia and Oceania receive the largest share of finance. The document highlights a significant gap in adaptation funding, which is heavily concentrated in the water sector, and calls for better definitions of adaptation finance and increased coordination among BFIs to enhance effectiveness.

The review finds that AWM interventions generally produce positive impacts across five capitals—financial, natural, social, physical, and human—with projects employing multiple interventions yielding more positive results. However, it highlights a critical lack of systematic monitoring and evaluation, particularly regarding negative externalities and long-term sustainability.

The report examines the challenges of financing climate change adaptation in developing countries, focusing on the gap between estimated needs and available resources. It argues that an agreement on adaptation finance is essential for the success of broader climate negotiations. The authors advocate for a consolidated, country-driven governance model that devolves decision-making to the national level and suggests a multiplicity of funding sources, including nationally assessed contributions and international levies, to ensure predictable and additional financial flows.

The report details the inception phase of the Swedish International Agricultural Network Initiative (SIANI), initiated by Sida. A scoping assessment involving 142 people from 91 organizations identified significant sectoral fragmentation and a decline in the recognition of agricultural competence within Swedish development cooperation. The document outlines four controversial key issues: agricultural systems for the 21st century, trade and markets, land use conflicts, and food safety and security. To address these, it proposes a network structure featuring six key functions, including facilitating inter-sectoral initiatives and providing policy implementation feedback. The proposed design includes Cluster Groups, a Steering Committee, and a Secretariat, utilizing implementing mechanisms such as Strategic Initiatives and Dialogues on Sustainable Agricultural Development to operationalize the Policy for Global Development (PGD) in Sweden.

The document outlines the outcomes of a 2004 expert roundtable focused on renewable energy cooperation between Europe and Asia. It highlights the synergy between the EU's leadership in technology deployment and Asia's role as the primary growth region for energy consumption. The text emphasizes the need for institutional frameworks to move renewable technologies from research and development to large-scale commercialization, while stressing the importance of capacity building, education, and the link between renewables and sustainable development.

The document analyzes the 'Global Europe' strategy, which shifts the EU from multilateralism toward 'WTO+' bilateral free trade agreements. It argues that this approach focuses on 'competitiveness' and securing raw materials, often at the expense of social and environmental protections in the Global South. The report details negative impacts in Central America, Africa, the Caribbean, and Asia, specifically highlighting threats to food sovereignty, the displacement of peasant communities for agrofuels, and the erosion of domestic policy space through the liberalization of services and government procurement.

The report analyzes the 'Global Europe' strategy as a political and economic tool used by the EU to secure access to raw materials, energy reserves, and open markets in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. It argues that 'Association Agreements' go beyond trade in goods to include the liberalization of services, investments, and government procurement, which the author claims undermines the sovereignty of developing nations. The document highlights specific negative impacts, such as the promotion of agrofuels in Central America, the pressure on African nations to sign Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) to maintain tariff preferences, and the role of European financial institutions like the European Investment Bank in funding extractive projects. It concludes that the strategy prioritizes corporate competitiveness over human rights and environmental sustainability.

Hydroelectric power is a major source of emissions-free electricity that utilizes the hydrologic cycle to generate power via turbines. While it offers a flexible, renewable alternative to fossil fuels, it can cause significant ecological damage, such as blocking fish migration and emitting methane from reservoirs. The document details various turbine types, the role of pumped storage, and the potential for low-impact certification and new development in the U.S. and developing nations.

The document examines the 'education crisis' in Sub-Saharan Africa, arguing that the narrow focus on the UN Millennium Development Goals' target of universal primary education has compromised teaching quality and diverted funds from secondary and tertiary levels. It highlights critical barriers to progress, including the HIV/AIDS epidemic, severe teacher shortages, outdated colonial curricula, and gender disparities. The report contends that without systemic reforms—including better teacher training, increased investment in science and mathematics, and a shift toward vocational and secondary education—the region will remain economically marginalised and unable to compete globally.

The document argues that the global trade of lead and cadmium creates significant health and environmental risks that cannot be effectively managed by countries acting unilaterally, particularly in developing nations. It highlights the toxicity of these metals, the externalization of environmental costs to producing countries, and the failure of existing frameworks to cover the entire lifecycle of these substances.

The document examines the critical role of ecosystem services in buffering human populations against environmental disturbances and the risks posed by their decline. It highlights how the combination of climate change, biodiversity loss, and land-use change creates 'vulnerability complexes' that disproportionately affect poor and marginalised groups. The brief warns of 'tipping points' that could lead to catastrophic ecological shifts and massive population displacement, estimating that between 24 million and 700 million people could be environmentally displaced in coming decades. It calls for international climate policy to move beyond mitigation to include the monitoring of ecosystem health and the building of resilience to prevent humanitarian crises.

Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) demands that industrialized countries reduce emissions by at least 40% by 2020 and provide large-scale financial transfers to developing nations based on climate debt. The organization rejects carbon offsetting, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and the inclusion of forests in carbon markets, arguing that such mechanisms undermine real emission cuts and threaten indigenous land rights. FoEI advocates for the conservation of old-growth forests, the protection of climate refugees, and the removal of the World Bank from climate financing roles due to its undemocratic structure and continued investment in fossil fuels.

The document presents a dataset of 3,375 urban social disturbance events, including both violent and non-violent political activities, compiled from the Keesing’s Record of World Events. It details the selection of 23 cities in Sub-Saharan Africa and 32 in Asia, the coding scheme used to categorize event types and casualties, and the challenges associated with using news reports as a primary data source. Analysis shows an increasing trend in both total and lethal events over time, with a higher average number of events reported for Asian cities compared to African cities.

The Foundation Course on Air Quality Management in Asia is a six-module educational program for adult learners aimed at improving urban air quality. The document provides an overview of the course's goals and a comprehensive glossary of technical terms related to atmospheric chemistry, health effects, and regulatory standards. It highlights the severe impact of urban air pollution in Asia, noting it causes an estimated 537,000 premature deaths annually, with indoor air pollution causing more than double that amount.

The document details the methodology for creating emissions inventories using top-down and bottom-up approaches, categorizes pollution sources into stationary, area, mobile, and natural, and evaluates various technical control devices and policy strategies to reduce air pollution in urban Asian environments.

The weADAPT platform is a collaborative initiative designed to strengthen the capacity of practitioners and decision-makers in climate adaptation through knowledge sharing and innovative tools. Key components include wikiADAPT, an interactive space for sharing experiences and guidance on adaptation processes, and the Climate Change Explorer Tool, which allows users to analyze downscaled climate model data to develop robust adaptation strategies. The platform is supported by a network of international partners, including UNEP, UNITAR, and the University of Cape Town, and was recognized by an IISD review as a high-potential resource for development cooperation practitioners.

The ACCCA project, running from 2007 to 2008, implemented 19 pilot actions across 17 countries in Asia and Africa to build capacity for climate change adaptation. The project focused on multidisciplinary risk communication, stakeholder engagement, and the integration of adaptation strategies into policy and local action plans. Key activities included identifying climate risks, assessing knowledge gaps, and developing risk communication materials to support decision-making in sectors such as agriculture, water management, and public health.