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The report examines a variety of innovative forest finance instruments, including bonds, forest funds, debt reduction mechanisms, market-based tools, and community-led funds. It highlights the systemic gap between 'gray' finance (funding for deforestation-driving activities) and 'green' finance, arguing that current public funding is insufficient. The document provides case studies from countries such as Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, and Costa Rica to illustrate the practical application of these tools and proposes six principles to maximize the impact of forest finance by 2030.

The document analyzes South Africa's care regime, tracing the impact of the apartheid-era migrant labour system and post-apartheid neoliberal policies like GEAR on the distribution of care. It highlights the systemic undervaluation of both paid and unpaid care work, which predominantly falls on Black women and older persons. The paper critiques the 'familialist' approach of the White Paper on Social Welfare and the underfunding of social welfare services, leading to a bifurcated system where quality care is a private privilege. It concludes by advocating for a national care policy based on the '4R' framework (recognition, reduction, redistribution, and revaluation) to socialise care and dismantle intersectional inequalities.

The report examines border carbon adjustments (BCAs) as a tool to prevent carbon leakage, synthesizing views from stakeholders in five countries. It analyzes the risks of carbon leakage—specifically in Canada's heavy industry—and evaluates the design of the EU and UK CBAMs. Key discussions include the challenges of product-level emissions measurement, the need for revenue to support decarbonization in developing nations, and the potential for domestic carbon pricing as a strategic response to foreign BCAs.

The report applies tipping point theory to the energy transition, arguing that while solar and wind have reached cost parity with fossil fuels globally, systemic barriers persist in many emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs). It proposes a holistic policy framework to 'force' tipping by amplifying positive feedbacks (e.g., reducing cost of capital), removing negative feedbacks (e.g., fossil fuel subsidy reform), and creating enabling conditions (e.g., grid modernization). The authors emphasize that public finance, especially international concessional funding, is critical to overcome high capital costs and infrastructure gaps in the Global South to meet the goal of tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030.

The report finds that G20 governments provided at least USD 168 billion in public financial support for renewable power in 2023, which is less than one third of the USD 535 billion provided in fossil fuel subsidies. Advanced economies and China account for 95% of this support, leaving many emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) at risk. To meet the 2030 tripling target, public support in G20 countries may need to double to approximately USD 336 billion per year. The report highlights a shift from feed-in tariffs toward market-based mechanisms like auctions and a growing emphasis on domestic manufacturing support in the US, EU, and India.

The document defines traditional and synthetic securitization and analyzes how these mechanisms can be used by fossil fuel companies to diversify funding and manage balance sheets. It critiques current 'green' securitization definitions for being too broad and proposes a three-dimensional framework—focusing on use of proceeds, asset character, and company commitment—to prevent the mechanism from indirectly financing fossil fuel expansion. Reclaim Finance advocates for a regulatory framework that ensures transparency and restricts securitization to sustainable energy activities.

The document argues that the steel sector is no longer 'hard-to-abate' due to advancements in green hydrogen and electric arc furnaces. It challenges the distinction between metallurgical and thermal coal, warns against reliance on CCUS, and highlights the risk of stranded assets. The briefing urges financial institutions to adopt strict sectoral policies to end financing for new blast furnaces and metallurgical coal projects while increasing investment in sustainable alternatives.

The document examines the push by BRICS nations to reform the international monetary system and reduce reliance on the US dollar, particularly in the wake of financial sanctions against Russia and Iran. It analyzes the 'BRICS Pay' platform and China's specific local currency initiatives, such as the 'Hunan Model' of barter trade with Africa. The paper also evaluates the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) as Africa's own mechanism for facilitating intra-continental trade in local currencies, noting that while it could save Africa $5 billion annually, it faces hurdles including informal cash trade and a lack of institutional trust. The author concludes that while these reforms offer a way to circumvent foreign exchange shortages, African policymakers must ensure that the US dollar is not simply replaced by other external currencies like the Chinese renminbi.

The document argues that while the WTO has historically neglected the environment, there is a current paradigm shift toward recognizing trade's role in addressing climate change and biodiversity loss. It assesses the outcomes of the Thirteenth Ministerial Conference (MC13), highlighting failures in fisheries subsidies and the absence of explicit climate commitments in the Ministerial Declaration, while noting progress in plurilateral initiatives like the Dialogue on Plastic Pollution. Experts propose reforming subsidy rules for fossil fuels and agriculture, leveraging 'Aid for Trade' for just transitions, and adopting the legal principle of 'Common Concern of Humankind' to guide trade law. The report emphasizes the need for regulatory alignment on circular economy principles and the ability of the WTO to coordinate trade-related climate measures, such as Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanisms, to avoid global trade fragmentation.

The policy brief examines the systemic failure of global financial systems to value nature, noting that nature-related risks worth $5 trillion are not priced into investment decisions. It advocates for a multi-pronged approach to bridge the nature finance gap, including meeting the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) targets of $20 billion annually by 2025 and $200 billion by 2030. The author argues that while carbon markets are a necessary short-term tool, they are flawed for long-term nature finance due to issues with permanence and additionality. Instead, the brief promotes the scaling of the $4 trillion global bioeconomy, the use of debt-for-nature swaps, and the implementation of payments for ecosystem services (PES), such as levies on digital sequence information and Brazil's Tropical Forests Forever Facility. It emphasizes that these transitions must be led by global south governments and indigenous peoples to ensure equitable governance and avoid 'sub-prime' transactions.

The document uses EnergyScope modeling to evaluate how four Latin American countries can align with COP 28 global energy targets. It concludes that a literal tripling of capacity is not necessary for all countries to meet projected demand and that combining renewable expansion with doubled energy efficiency can reduce the required installed capacity.

The report analyzes four Latin American countries, finding that while a literal tripling of renewable capacity is unfeasible or unnecessary for Brazil, Chile, and Colombia due to their existing high renewable shares, it could meet Argentina's demand but remains practically unattainable. It proposes 'sustainable progression' scenarios that balance demand with renewable growth and energy efficiency, highlighting the roles of solar, wind, and bioenergy in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

The guide argues that businesses can avoid political polarization by framing climate action as a 'material' business necessity rather than a 'moral' obligation. Based on research with nearly 15,000 respondents, it finds that while moral messaging can increase favorability, it also increases unfavorability among skeptics. In contrast, framing climate action through risk management, clean energy opportunity, and the concept of 'responsible business' drives favorability without triggering backlash. The document specifically recommends replacing jargon like 'ESG' with 'responsible business' and 'climate change risk' with 'climate risk' to improve resonance with diverse audiences, including U.S. Republicans.

The We Mean Business Coalition argues that for NDCs to be 'investible', they must move beyond ambitious targets to include concrete implementation policies. The document proposes a three-pillar approach: setting ambitious economy-wide and sector-specific targets, developing consistent national and international policy frameworks, and establishing transparent dialogue between governments and businesses. It highlights that while renewable energy and electric vehicle adoption are accelerating, sectors like heavy industry and aviation require more targeted government intervention to overcome investment barriers. The report provides illustrative examples of successful policy-driven investments in India, Brazil, Sweden, the EU, and the US.

Brazil is positioned as a potential global leader in green steel due to high-quality iron ore and vast renewable energy resources, though its industry remains heavily reliant on coal-based blast furnaces. While the country leads in biochar use, a full transition requires shifting to electric arc furnaces (EAF) and green hydrogen-based direct reduced iron (DRI). The report emphasizes that strategic policy and the upcoming COP30 summit are critical to overcoming the longevity of existing coal-based infrastructure and the high capital costs of new technologies.

The document examines debt-for-nature swaps, where foreign currency debt is cancelled in exchange for local currency investment in environmental projects. While popular in Latin America and the Caribbean, the tool is described as having a very small market impact, offsetting only 0.11% of debt payments for low- and middle-income countries between 1987 and 2023. The IMF suggests that conditional grants or comprehensive debt restructuring are often more effective depending on debt sustainability. Case studies from Bolivia, Costa Rica, and Ecuador highlight risks including loss of national sovereignty, negative real interest rates, and the exclusion of Indigenous communities.

The report categorizes hydrogen applications into 'high-value' (primarily chemical feedstocks) and 'low-value' (primarily energy provision), arguing that the latter are often outcompeted by direct electrification. It warns that without strict guardrails on production, electrolytic hydrogen could increase net greenhouse gas emissions. The author recommends focusing infrastructure on tight industrial clusters and utilizing demand-side policies like advance market commitments and contracts for difference to scale high-value uses while minimizing risks in low-value sectors.

The 'Big Five' agricultural commodity traders—ADM, Bunge, Cargill, COFCO, and LDC—dominate the global trade of staples like grains and oilseeds, controlling 70-90% of the commercial grain market. The author contends that these companies used the 2021-2022 food price spikes, driven partly by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, to dramatically increase net profit margins, with profits in 2022 being 200-300% higher than the 2016-2020 average. This dominance is maintained through strategies of market consolidation (M&As), vertical integration across the value chain, and interconnectedness via joint ventures. The document criticizes EU competition regulators for a narrow focus on immediate consumer prices, which has led to the approval of nearly all M&A cases involving the Big Five, including the recent 34-billion-dollar Bunge-Viterra deal. The author concludes that while stronger anti-trust enforcement is necessary, a systemic shift toward degrowth and decolonization is required to dismantle the incentives for such concentration.

Between August 22 and 25, 2024, over 60 million people in Brazil faced extreme temperatures and wildfires exacerbated by climate change. High temperatures were forecasted to be five times more likely due to global warming, with anomalies reaching up to 10°C above normal in São Paulo. Wildfires have burned over 760,000 hectares in the Amazon and 1.3 million hectares in the Pantanal, with climate change increasing Pantanal fire intensity by 40%. On August 20, PM2.5 pollution levels reached 11 times the World Health Organization's recommendations, causing increased respiratory illnesses and affecting 10 Brazilian states as well as Bolivia, Paraguay, and Peru.

Uruguay transitioned its power sector by implementing the Uruguay Wind Energy Program in 2007, which combined a $1 million Global Environment Facility grant with $6 million in national funding. The program utilized reverse-auctions, feed-in tariffs, and workforce training to reduce reliance on oil imports, which had previously comprised 30%-40% of the power mix during drought years. Consequently, wind energy now generates approximately 40% of the country's electricity, with generation near 5,000 gigawatt hours. The government is now applying similar strategies to solar power and exploring offshore wind for green hydrogen production to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.