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In 2020, global coal-fired power capacity increased by 12.5 GW, driven primarily by China, which operated 38.4 GW of new capacity. This offset record closures in the US (11.3 GW) and EU27 (10.1 GW). While China's development grew as an economic stimulus during the pandemic, other Asian nations like Indonesia, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and the Philippines announced plans to cancel up to 62 GW of planned projects due to falling renewable costs and financing difficulties. The report concludes that current global trajectories remain far from the 1.5°C warming limit, with approximately 1,350 GW of capacity needing to be cancelled or closed to meet IPCC targets.

The report highlights a global divergence in coal power: while the US, EU, and parts of Asia are seeing record retirements and project cancellations, China's significant increase in new capacity in 2020 led to a net global growth of 12.5 GW. The document argues that current national trajectories remain far from the IPCC 1.5°C pathway, which would require the cancellation or retirement of 1,350 GW of capacity.

The report highlights a global divergence in coal power: while most of the world saw record closures and project cancellations, China experienced a significant boom in new capacity, offsetting global declines. In 2020, China's new coal capacity reached 38.4 GW, accounting for 76% of the global total. Conversely, the US and EU27 led in closures, with 11.3 GW and 10.1 GW retired respectively. In South and Southeast Asia, countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Bangladesh announced plans to cut up to 62 GW of planned coal capacity due to funding difficulties and the falling cost of renewables. The report also notes that global coal capacity is far exceeding the levels required to meet the IPCC's 1.5°C warming limit, with a projected 2,400 GW by 2030 compared to the required 1,100 GW.

The report analyzes how regional trade agreements (RTAs) can be used to scale the circular economy (CE) by integrating specific provisions into trade policy. It suggests that while the European Union is leading in including CE in its agreements, most RTAs remain embryonic in this regard. The authors propose a comprehensive framework for CE integration, including the front-loading of tariff elimination for circular goods, the liberalization of supportive services, the harmonization of technical standards to remove barriers to trade, and the reform of subsidies to discourage non-circular production. The report emphasizes that the legal effectiveness of these provisions depends on their drafting rather than their location within an agreement, though a dedicated CE chapter would signal strong political commitment.

The briefing argues that the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA) has failed to trigger a meaningful global coal exit due to significant loopholes in its declaration and a lack of monitoring. It highlights that many financial institution members continue to invest in coal, and co-chairs Canada and the UK are not leading by example, with Canada developing new coal mines. The document calls for a reform of the PPCA to align with climate science, requiring an immediate stop to new coal projects and a full sector exit by 2030 in OECD/European countries and 2040 globally.

The document argues that climate justice requires a rights-based approach to communication, ensuring that vulnerable populations—particularly Indigenous peoples and racialized communities—can share their local narratives to influence global policy. It highlights the role of community radio and citizen journalism in Australia, Colombia, Kenya, and Nepal as tools for documenting traditional ecological knowledge and building community resilience. The report also analyzes the systemic underrepresentation of women and marginalized groups in global news media via the GMMP 2020 findings and calls for a shift from 'doom and gloom' narratives toward values-based communication and 'adaptive coping' to foster collective action.

The report finds that the 60 largest global banks provided $3.8 trillion in fossil fuel financing from 2016 to 2020. Despite a 9% drop in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, financing levels remained higher than in 2016. JPMorgan Chase is identified as the world's worst fossil fuel banker, with $317 billion provided over the five-year period. The analysis highlights a significant gap between banks' 'net zero by 2050' pledges and their continued funding of fossil fuel expansion, particularly in sectors like LNG, offshore oil and gas, and coal. The report also details the human rights and environmental impacts of specific projects, such as the East African Crude Oil Pipeline and the Line 3 pipeline, and argues that current bank policies are insufficient to align with the 1.5C goal of the Paris Agreement.

The document advises journalists to treat COP26 with urgency, framing coverage around the 1.5 C temperature goal, climate justice, and the political barriers to solutions. It emphasizes the need for advance coverage and the localization of global climate impacts to make the summit relevant to diverse audiences.

Reclaim Finance assesses the March 2021 coal exclusion policy of UBS Asset Management, finding it insufficient due to the omission of the coal power sector and the exclusion of passively managed assets. The analysis highlights that UBS AM continues to support coal developers and companies below a 30% revenue threshold, such as Glencore and Adani, and lacks a defined global coal phase-out strategy aligned with IPCC-based deadlines.

The briefing outlines how the SCALE Act would drive the deployment of CO₂ infrastructure in the U.S. through cost-sharing for storage hubs, increased EPA permitting funding, and the creation of the CO₂ Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (CIFIA) for low-interest loans. It argues that shared 'hubs' are essential for decarbonizing emissions-intensive industries like steel and cement and for scaling Direct Air Capture. The author highlights a 'chicken-and-egg challenge' where capture projects cannot proceed without infrastructure, and infrastructure cannot be funded without committed capture projects. While other nations like Canada, Norway, and the UK have implemented significant funding for such networks, the U.S. currently lacks an equivalent policy, risking a loss of competitiveness despite the existence of the Section 45Q tax credit.

The report argues that carbon dioxide removal (CDR) should be treated as a public service, similar to sewage treatment, because most CDR technologies do not generate independent revenue. It identifies a massive implementation gap between projected removal volumes and current policies, noting that while nature-based solutions are cheaper, they lack the permanence of technological options like Direct Air Carbon Capture and Storage (DACCS) and Bio-energy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS). The authors recommend a mix of public subsidies for research, design, development and demonstration (RDD&D), carbon pricing, and the use of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement to create a credible investment environment. It also highlights the role of voluntary private sector commitments, though it warns of a 'wild west' situation in the voluntary carbon market due to inconsistent monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) standards.

The report asserts that the Great Barrier Reef's Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) is deteriorating due to climate change, with the IUCN assessing its outlook as "critical" in 2020. It argues that Australia is fueling this crisis by maintaining inadequate emissions targets, expanding fossil fuel exports, and failing to align its Reef 2050 Plan with a well-below 1.5°C warming pathway. The document concludes that site-level mitigation is insufficient and calls for the World Heritage Committee to require Australia to implement national-level decarbonization and legislative commitments to protect the Reef.

The document is an annotated bibliography compiled by the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF) to map resources on gender in large-scale mining governance. It covers a wide range of themes, including women's employment, gender-based violence, community engagement, and impact assessments. The bibliography highlights the systemic underrepresentation of women in mining leadership—with less than one-fifth of global leadership positions held by women—and the disproportionate negative impacts of mining on women in affected communities. It identifies tools for gender-responsive due diligence, the importance of intersectional analysis (particularly for Indigenous women), and the correlation between gender diversity on corporate boards and improved company performance.

The Green Central Banking Scorecard evaluates G20 monetary and prudential authorities across four categories: Research and Advocacy, Monetary Policy, Financial Policy, and Leading by Example. The findings reveal a significant gap between rhetoric and action, with most institutions scoring high in research but failing to implement high-impact policies that restrict financial flows to fossil fuels. China, Brazil, and France are the top-ranked countries, though no G20 institution has implemented a 'high impact' policy as defined by the report's criteria.

The document identifies systemic barriers to nature-positive infrastructure, including a lack of decision-relevant biodiversity data, limited technical capacity among engineers, and financial models that prioritize short-term returns over long-term ecosystem benefits. It argues for a paradigm shift toward nature-based solutions (NbS) and ecological connectivity, recommending the adoption of standardized metrics like the European Taxonomy and the Task Force for Nature-Related Disclosure (TNFD). The report emphasizes that 'upstream' policy and spatial planning are the most effective levers for change, urging governments to redirect COVID-19 recovery stimulus packages away from fossil-fuel reliant sectors toward sustainable, decarbonized infrastructure.

The document argues that wood forensic science—a suite of identification technologies—can reveal the true species and origin of timber, exposing the fraud and corruption that facilitate illegal logging. While these tools can support law enforcement and due diligence in consumer and producer countries, their effectiveness depends on political will, institutional capacity, and the expansion of global reference data sets.

The paper examines Canada's pandemic response, highlighting how a strategy of virus mitigation over suppression, combined with the privatization of long-term care and a lack of workplace protections, disproportionately harmed racialized people, women, and Indigenous communities. It further critiques Canada's international conduct, specifically its hoarding of vaccine doses and opposition to waiving intellectual property rights for vaccines in the Global South.

The report highlights the critical link between the fast-fashion business model and the extraction of fossil fuels, noting that polyester is found in over half of all textiles. It warns that synthetic fibre production is projected to grow to 73% of total global fibre production by 2030, significantly increasing greenhouse gas emissions. The document dismisses current recycling efforts as a 'red herring' because less than 1% of clothes are recycled into new clothes, and most recycled polyester comes from plastic bottles rather than garments. It concludes that voluntary industry commitments are insufficient and calls for urgent legislative action, such as the EU strategy for textiles, to decouple fashion from fossil fuels and mandate producer responsibility.

The report 'Fossil Fashion' details how the fast-fashion industry is fundamentally dependent on cheap synthetic fibres, primarily polyester, which are derived from oil and gas. This reliance drives overconsumption and a waste crisis, as synthetic textiles are difficult to recycle and release toxic microfibres. The document highlights the role of the petrochemical industry in betting on plastic production for future growth and criticizes industry-led sustainability metrics and 'recycled polyester' from PET bottles as greenwashing. It concludes with recommendations for the EU to implement mandatory due diligence, eco-design measures, and taxes on virgin plastics to decouple fashion from fossil fuels.

The report argues that ENGIE's transition strategy is not aligned with the Paris Agreement due to the lack of confirmed shutdown dates for 70% of its remaining coal fleet and a reliance on converting coal plants to fossil gas and biomass. While ENGIE aims for renewables to provide 58% of its power by 2030, the document identifies significant financial and regulatory risks associated with its gas and biomass assets, including the potential for stranded assets and high methane emissions from shale gas procurement.