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This report, produced by the Environment and Security (ENVSEC) Initiative—a partnership between UNDP, UNEP, and OSCE—analyzes the intersection of environmental degradation and human security in the South Caucasus. It identifies priority risk areas in Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia, focusing on how resource scarcity, industrial legacy, and urban growth can exacerbate social tensions or, conversely, serve as catalysts for regional cooperation.

The report by Friends of the Earth International contends that IFIs, including multilateral development banks and export credit agencies, facilitate a destructive export-led development model. Through various case studies in countries like Peru, Colombia, and the Philippines, the document illustrates how these investments lead to environmental catastrophes, human rights violations, and the marginalization of indigenous peoples and women. It specifically highlights the contradiction between IFI funding of fossil fuels and global climate goals, ultimately recommending a phased withdrawal from extractive sectors in favor of decentralized renewable energy initiatives.

The IFC asserts that the BTC Pipeline and ACG Phase 1 projects comply with its environmental and social safeguard policies, rejecting claims from NGOs that the projects lacked proper alternatives analysis, failed to protect natural habitats, or violated involuntary resettlement and indigenous peoples' policies. The document details the IFC's due diligence, including the use of Resettlement Action Plans (RAPs), the implementation of a US$2.5 million Natural Habitats Offset Program, and the conduct of Multi-stakeholder Forum meetings with over 800 participants. It specifically defends the routing through Georgia's Modified Central Corridor and the use of 'expedited expropriation' under Article 27 of Turkey's Expropriation Act, arguing these measures were necessary and legally sound.

The report critiques the World Bank's renewed focus on high-risk/high-reward projects in extractive industries, forestry, and large dams. It argues that the Bank's history is marked by 'institutional amnesia,' where past failures—such as mass displacement and environmental devastation—are ignored in favor of an 'approval culture' that overstates benefits and understates costs. The authors highlight specific cases like the Sardar Sarovar Dam in India and the Chad-Cameroon pipeline to demonstrate how the poor and the environment bear the risks while private investors reap the rewards. The report recommends a shift toward low-risk, community-driven development and the establishment of reparations for past damages.

The document examines the proliferation of bilateral and regional investment treaties, highlighting how they limit the ability of host states to regulate for public health and the environment. It critiques the investor-to-state dispute settlement mechanism for its lack of transparency and the use of 'indirect expropriation' claims to challenge environmental laws. The author recommends that new governance principles for foreign direct investment in hazardous activities ensure public transparency in arbitration, public consultation on host government agreements, and a commitment by companies to abide by evolving environmental and health legislation.

The report by Friends of the Earth International details 22 campaigns against multinational corporations across various sectors—including mining, oil, logging, and biotechnology—that are accused of destroying biodiversity and harming local communities. It highlights the failure of corporate self-regulation and 'greenwashing' strategies, specifically criticizing the outcomes of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit and the approach of the 2002 Johannesburg World Summit. The document calls for the recognition of 'ecological debt' owed by Northern industrial nations to the Global South and demands a binding legal framework to ensure corporate accountability, including the right of communities to be consulted and to receive compensation for damages.

The document examines the 'peace pyramid' model of conflict management in Africa, where subregional organisations act as the base, the OAU as the linkage, and the UN as the apex. It argues that while subregional bodies like ECOWAS and SADC are often better motivated for intervention due to proximity, they lack institutionalised crisis management mechanisms and are built upon fragile states. The author suggests that effective regional security requires a focus on state-building, good governance, and the creation of permanent secretariats to ensure impartiality and reliability.

The document details the methodology for four distinct research areas: the analysis of the #ClimateScam hashtag and X's auto-complete function; the identification of 15 monetized websites sharing climate disinformation and the ad exchanges supporting them; the monitoring of Russian state media and diplomatic accounts on Facebook across four languages; and the collection of political advertising from major fossil fuel companies and petrostates via the Meta Ad Library.

The document highlights that just 1% of Azerbaijan's estimated superhot rock geothermal resource could provide 94 GW of energy capacity, far exceeding the country's 2021 electricity consumption of 27,885 GWh. This resource could theoretically replace all fossil fuels used in Azerbaijan's electricity production, reducing emissions by approximately 13 megatonnes of CO2eq, which represents 41% of the nation's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) goal. The report emphasizes the technology's low land footprint—requiring roughly 12 km² per 1 GW—and its ability to leverage existing subsurface expertise from Azerbaijan's oil and gas sector.

The document highlights that just 1% of Türkiye's superhot rock geothermal resource could provide 594 GW of energy capacity, potentially replacing all coal and gas used for electricity production and meeting the country's projected 2050 electricity demand of 609,503 GWh. It argues that this technology would enhance energy security by reducing dependence on coal (58% imported) and natural gas (98% imported), while requiring significantly less land (12 km² per 1 GW) than solar, wind, or biomass.

The Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) increasingly integrated climate change into its 2023 state reviews and released General Comment No. 26, which establishes the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment as implicit in the Convention. The CRC's work focused on state obligations for mitigation and adaptation, the regulation of private actors' contributions to environmental harm, and the protection of children's rights across various legal and procedural frameworks.

The document catalogues alleged human rights implications across numerous international projects in sectors such as mining, energy, and forestry. It organizes these cases by the specific right implicated, including the rights to adequate food, housing, health, and life, as well as freedoms from forced labor and torture. The case studies highlight recurring issues such as forced resettlement, environmental contamination of water and land, the use of military force to suppress protests, and inadequate compensation for displaced populations.

The report finds that while most International Financial Institutions (IFIs) commit to gender equality, their actual policies are often weak, understaffed, and poorly resourced. The African Development Bank and Asian Development Bank are identified as having the most receptive accountability mechanisms for gender-related complaints, whereas the IMF, EIB, and EBRD are noted for significant gaps in both policy and redress options.

The report examines the role of European Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) in bridging the global climate investment gap, which is estimated between USD 2.5 trillion and USD 4 trillion annually. It highlights the significant financing power of EU Member State public development banks, whose assets were estimated at EUR 3.2 trillion in 2020, and emphasizes the need for large-scale private capital mobilisation, particularly in emerging markets. The document notes a lack of standardized metrics and data regarding the efficacy of mobilisation tools, which hinders comparison across DFIs. It also positions the role of developed market DFIs within the context of the new collective quantified goal (NCQG) to be adopted at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The document argues that because the energy transition is already underway due to technological shifts, countries must proactively plan for a Just Transition to avoid economic dislocation. It highlights opportunities for economic diversification, such as Ghana's investment plan to generate 400,000 net jobs by 2060, and best practices like Brazil's reallocation of petroleum revenues to reforestation. However, it identifies critical barriers, including fiscal dependence on fossil fuels in countries like Azerbaijan (where oil and gas constitute 90% of exports) and a lack of granular data on workforce impacts in Indonesia. The author proposes actionable solutions including the repurposing of coal infrastructure, the expansion of local financing mechanisms, and the anchoring of transition policies in legal frameworks to ensure long-term stability.

The document examines how carbon pricing affects different household income levels across developed and developing countries. It argues that while carbon pricing can be regressive—disproportionately impacting low-income households who spend more of their income on energy—these effects can be neutralized or turned into net benefits through strategic revenue recycling, such as lump-sum rebates or targeted subsidies. The briefing highlights that in very low-income countries, carbon pricing can actually be progressive due to limited fossil fuel access among the poorest. It provides case studies from the EU ETS, the US Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), South Africa, and Iran to illustrate various implementation and mitigation strategies.

The document examines Azerbaijan's transition from a fossil-fuel-dependent economy to one incorporating renewable energy, highlighting the role of COP29 as a catalyst for climate ambition. It identifies key risks, such as the economic reliance on oil rents and the potential for renewables to merely supplement rather than replace hydrocarbons. The author recommends developing a targeted energy transition strategy, protecting vulnerable groups from subsidy removals, and increasing private sector competition to ensure a just and sustainable transition.

The document provides a framework for governments to assess how climate policies affect national budgets, focusing on the production side of fossil fuels and infrastructure. It details a five-step methodology: establishing a base case, developing scenarios, assessing policy impacts, allocating value between consumers and producers, and splitting value between government and commercial entities. The report applies this to Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Egypt, highlighting that oil assets are most sensitive to global demand shifts, while coal and gas are more influenced by regional dynamics and infrastructure. It recommends that governments reduce upfront capital commitments, adapt tax regimes, and diversify into low-carbon technologies to mitigate the risk of stranded assets.

Climate TRACE estimates that anthropogenic methane emissions in 2025 were just over 410 million tonnes, with agriculture, fossil energy, and waste accounting for 97% of the total. The report argues that slashing methane is the most impactful way to keep global warming under 2 degrees Celsius due to the gas's powerful near-term warming effect. It identifies specific actionable opportunities: reducing methane intensity in oil and gas production (particularly in the US and Mexico), capturing coal mine methane, targeting a small number of high-emitting landfills, and addressing enteric fermentation and rice cultivation in agriculture.

Carbon Market Watch argues that current Article 6.2 rules are too minimal, creating a "Wild West framework" for international carbon markets. The briefing recommends mandatory authorisation statements for cooperative approaches, stricter definitions of 'first transfer' to prevent delayed reporting, and the prohibition of authorisation revocations to avoid double counting. For Article 6.4, it urges the CMA to provide guidance to the Supervisory Body on minimum durability standards for removals, science-based risk assessments for reversals, and more robust additionality requirements, including mandatory common practice analysis.