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The report criticizes Sumitomo Corporation for its continued investment in coal-fired power plants and its role as a leading importer of wood pellets for biomass energy. It argues that these activities drive deforestation in the US, Canada, and Vietnam, and cause severe air pollution and human rights violations in Southeast Asia. The document calls for Sumitomo to commit to a full exit from coal by 2030 and adopt a 'zero deforestation' policy for its biomass supply chain.

The Land and Environment Court of New South Wales dismissed an appeal by Gloucester Resources Limited, upholding the Minister for Planning's refusal to grant consent for an open cut coal mine. The court determined that the project's estimated 38 million tonnes of carbon emissions were contrary to the public interest and the goals of the Paris Agreement. Notably, the court rejected the argument that the project's emissions were too small to be significant globally, asserting that climate change must be addressed through cumulative local actions.

The briefing identifies four key priorities for COP25: increasing national climate ambition (NDCs), finalizing rules for international carbon markets and common time frames, reviewing the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage, and advancing climate finance and capacity-building. It emphasizes the need for environmentally sound rules for carbon trading and the importance of integrating social equity into climate policy to ensure a just transition.

The document details the progress of the GCF accreditation process, reporting that 88 entities have been decided for accreditation, with 52 having fully completed the process via effective Accreditation Master Agreements (AMAs). It outlines the pipeline of 112 submitted applications and the support provided to direct access entities, including USD 11.68 million committed through 61 grants. The report specifically recommends the accreditation of seven new applicants (APL090 to APL096) with varying fiduciary and environmental and social (E&S) risk categories, most of whom are subject to specific conditions to close institutional gaps. Additionally, it tracks the status of existing accredited entities in addressing their accreditation conditions and proposes extending the prioritization of entities to the end of the twenty-fifth Board meeting.

The report assesses the current state of the Fiji Meteorological Service (FMS), identifying critical gaps in infrastructure, staffing, and financial sustainability. It proposes a four-phase roadmap to modernize observation networks, automate data management, and implement cost-recovery mechanisms, particularly for aviation services, to reduce dependency on external donors.

The production of industrial metals accounts for over 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, a figure likely to rise as declining ore grades increase the energy required for extraction. Using copper as a flagship example, the report demonstrates that mining operations can achieve 45% renewable electricity while improving financial performance and resilience. RMI's modeling across 25 sites in five countries shows that a 'one-size-fits-most' approach—combining large-scale solar with other renewable technologies or utility buyback programs—can maintain internal rates of return (IRR) while increasing net present value (NPV). The report identifies market, structural, organizational, and behavioral barriers to adoption and suggests financing mechanisms like Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) to mitigate high upfront capital costs. To reach net-zero emissions by 2050, the report advocates for further electrification, energy productivity reforms, and new metallurgical processes.

The Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) investigates the drivers of disaster displacement, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, where the majority of such displacement occurs. SEI's work focuses on the vulnerabilities of poor populations, the impacts of both slow and rapid-onset risks, and the evaluation of displacement policies like planned relocations. Key projects include studying the effects of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, analyzing flood-induced mobility in Southeast Asia, and researching the specific challenges faced by people with disabilities during displacement. SEI also collaborates with international bodies such as the IOM and UNCCD to address the links between land degradation, desertification, and forced migration.

The World Resources Institute acknowledges the $9.7 billion in pledges to the Green Climate Fund's first replenishment as a positive step, noting that 11 countries at least doubled their previous contributions. However, the statement argues that significantly more finance is required to address the climate emergency, calling for contributions from the United States, Australia, wealthy oil-producing states, and other large emitters to support vulnerable countries.

The position paper proposes a structural overhaul of how senior administrative officials are appointed and removed in South Africa to insulate the public service from unlawful political interference. It advocates for a four-stage generic appointment process—process planning, process administration, short listing, and appointment—to create a system of checks and balances. For the national and provincial public service, it suggests leveraging the Public Service Commission as an independent administrative check. For municipalities, it proposes the creation of independent personnel committees comprising professional associations and civil society. To ensure feasibility, the paper recommends a 'covering in' mechanism, allowing the President to incrementally apply these reforms to specific departments or municipalities via proclamation.

ClientEarth warns that the current ISDS system may be used by fossil fuel companies to delay energy transition policies or shift stranded asset risks to taxpayers, creating a 'regulatory chill' that threatens the achievement of Paris Agreement temperature targets.

The report examines the 'Fourth Industrial Revolution' in mining, identifying key technologies such as AI, automation, and IoT that improve productivity and safety but threaten low-skilled jobs. It highlights the disproportionate impact on Indigenous communities and men, and suggests policy responses including STEM-focused skills development, revised local content requirements, and new fiscal arrangements between governments and mining firms.

The document outlines the accelerating degradation of the Earth's cryosphere and oceans due to climate change. It details the rapid loss of ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, the thawing of permafrost, and the warming, acidification, and deoxygenation of the global oceans. These changes drive sea level rise, threaten biodiversity, and disrupt essential services like freshwater supply from mountain glaciers and food security from fisheries. The briefing emphasizes that while some damage is irreversible, cutting emissions can reduce risks and facilitate adaptation for vulnerable coastal and indigenous populations.

IKEA aims to become climate positive across its value chain by 2030. The Ingka Group has set science-based targets to reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 emissions by 80% by 2030 and relative scope 3 emissions from travel and deliveries by 50%. The company is transitioning to 100% renewable energy in its buildings by 2020 and zero-emission last-mile deliveries by 2025. IKEA is also implementing circular economy principles, targeting 100% renewable or recycled materials for all products by 2030 and phasing out single-use plastics by 2020.

The document argues that while NDCs (short-to-medium term commitments) and LTSs (mid-century visions) serve different legal and functional roles, they should be developed synergistically. Aligning them prevents the 'lock-in' of carbon-intensive infrastructure and reduces administrative costs by sharing data, modeling, and stakeholder consultations. The authors suggest that ideally, an LTS should inform the NDC, though they provide options for countries developing both in parallel or those updating NDCs without a formal LTS.

The document advocates for Integrated Landscape Management (ILM) as a critical mechanism to overcome the limitations of siloed sectoral approaches to climate change adaptation. It defines ILM as a process where diverse stakeholders collaborate to manage natural resources sustainably at a local scale, typically ranging from 100 to 10,000 km2. The authors identify five key features of effective ILM: multi-stakeholder institutions, structured cross-sector planning, synergistic interventions, aligned public policies, and coordinated investment portfolios. Using the Imarisha Naivasha initiative in Kenya as a case study, the paper demonstrates how ILM can resolve resource conflicts and build resilience. It concludes with recommendations for the Global Commission on Adaptation to foster ILM platforms, improve inter-agency planning, mobilize private sector investment, and build research systems for climate-resilient landscapes.

The paper argues that government-led adaptation is insufficient and that individuals and households must be actively involved to reduce climate risks. It identifies six categories of adaptive behavior—information seeking, preparative measures, protective measures, evacuation/migration, insurance, and political action—and analyzes the psychological drivers of these actions. Key motivators include risk perception, negative emotions, self-efficacy, outcome efficacy, social norms, and perceived responsibility. The authors conclude that while communication campaigns are common, they are often ineffective if they only provide information; instead, they should target psychological antecedents. Furthermore, the paper advocates for genuine public participation in decision-making to empower citizens and improve policy effectiveness, while noting that individual action must be supported by systemic, large-scale governmental infrastructure.

The document provides a comparative analysis of the EU Sustainable Finance Taxonomy against two Chinese green frameworks: the NDRC Green Industry Guiding Catalogue and the PBC Green Bond Endorsed Project Catalogue. It highlights that while the EU Taxonomy is rooted in the Paris Agreement and employs a systemic approach with six environmental objectives and strict carbon thresholds, the Chinese catalogues focus more on pollution prevention and industry guidance without specifying carbon emission thresholds. The EU framework explicitly excludes fossil fuel activities without carbon capture, whereas the Chinese catalogues include them. The report also details the EU's 'Substantial Contribution' and 'Do No Significant Harm' (DNSH) principles, which require activities to benefit at least one environmental goal without harming others.

The document analyzes how human land use drives climate change and how climate change, in turn, degrades land. It highlights that while land currently acts as a net carbon sink, it could become a source of emissions. The brief emphasizes the role of agriculture and deforestation in land degradation and warns that current policy trajectories could significantly expand drylands and threaten global food security. It argues that sustainable land management, incorporating indigenous knowledge and gender-sensitive policies, is essential for limiting temperature rise to 1.5°C.

The 2019 Green Infrastructure Investment Opportunities report for Australia highlights a significant pipeline of projects in renewable energy, low carbon transport, sustainable water, waste management, and green buildings. While Australia has seen a boom in solar and wind investment and a growing green bond market, the report notes a continued reliance on high-carbon infrastructure and a lack of integrated national emissions reduction priorities. It argues for a greater role for the superannuation sector and the adoption of 'brown-to-green' transition strategies for carbon-intensive industries to meet Paris Agreement targets.

The report details a successful pilot study to extract high-quality mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from hawksbill turtle carapace samples, enabling the tracing of illegal tortoiseshell products back to their source populations. By comparing DNA from market products in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands against a nesting baseline, the study demonstrated that most products likely originated from the Solomon Islands stock. The authors emphasize the need for a comprehensive regional genetic database (the 'Shell Bank') to reduce the number of 'orphan' haplotypes and improve the accuracy of forensic investigations into the illegal wildlife trade.