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The paper argues that COVID-19 recovery should move beyond short-term stimulus to 'structural reforms' that are systemic, long-lasting, and general purpose. It introduces a 'Green Structural Recovery Menu' featuring ten high-level measures, including green fiscal reform and natural capital investment. The authors provide a toolkit of prioritisation criteria—categorised as conventional, advanced, and systemic/political—to help governments align policies with specific goals like job creation or planetary boundaries. The report identifies significant gaps in current agendas, particularly regarding gender integration, nature-based solutions, and support for MSMEs. It also addresses the financing challenge for the global south, suggesting debt-for-nature swaps and blended finance. Case studies from countries such as South Korea, Indonesia, and Pakistan illustrate the practical challenges and mixed results of implementing these reforms.

The briefing reports that 2030 climate target updates have stalled since COP26, leaving the world on track for 2.4°C of warming based on current targets and 2.7°C based on current policies. Despite the Glasgow Climate Pact's request for governments to strengthen their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by the end of 2022, no major emitter has updated its target. The report highlights a significant emissions gap, noting that global emissions in 2030 would be twice as high as the 1.5°C limit allows without increased action. It suggests four pathways for governments to update targets: full NDC updates, expanding NDC coverage (specifically for China regarding non-CO2 gases), participating in new sectoral initiatives, or implementing policies to overachieve existing targets.

The document outlines the reciprocal relationship between food systems and climate change, noting that agriculture and food systems contribute 31% of global greenhouse gas emissions. It encourages journalists to move beyond 'problem' stories by highlighting systemic solutions, such as regenerative agriculture and the reduction of food waste, while emphasizing the importance of climate justice and the role of women in agriculture. The guide specifically highlights the impact of industrial agriculture, the vulnerability of global food systems exacerbated by conflict and pandemics, and the critical need to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius to maintain food security.

The document examines four critical legal uncertainties hindering the implementation of the Brazilian Forest Code: the conflict between the Forest Code and the Atlantic Forest Law, the temporal benchmarks for Legal Reserve requirements under Article 68, the validity of revising previous environmental commitment terms, and the contradictory criteria for Environmental Reserve Quotas (CRA). These controversies create a state of permanent legal insecurity, leading to the suspension of CAR validations in states like Paraná and Santa Catarina, and a reliance on bureaucratic donation mechanisms for Legal Reserve compensation due to the lack of a functional CRA market.

The report identifies a critical lack of satisfactory federal legislation to resolve the overlap of Rural Environmental Registry (CAR) inscriptions on Indigenous Lands (TIs), noting that such overlaps are often used for land grabbing. It finds that most Brazilian states lack specific strategies for identifying and cancelling these irregular registrations, often relying on optional federal filters that only detect overlaps with fully homologated TIs, thereby leaving lands in the demarcation process vulnerable. The document analyzes state-level experiences—highlighting Pará as the only state with a specific cancellation strategy—and evaluates two pending bills (PL 4450/2021 and PL 486/2022) that aim to prohibit CAR inscriptions on public lands but still contain administrative gaps. It concludes with policy recommendations, including the need for the Ministry of Agriculture (MAPA) to revise Portaria 121/2021 and for Funai to maintain updated georeferenced data for all TIs to support fair and effective cancellation processes.

The steel industry faces a conflict between growth outlooks and 1.5°C climate targets, requiring demand to peak between 2035 and 2040. Delaying decarbonization until 2030 would necessitate a 50% reduction in demand by 2050 to remain climate-aligned, posing a risk to primary steel production. To avoid this, the industry must invest in zero-carbon technologies like green hydrogen, with significant opportunities for producers in Australia, Brazil, and South Africa.

The analysis examines how the expansion of built-up areas at the expense of natural heat sinks like green spaces and water bodies increases urban heat risks in major cities across the Critical 9 countries. Using Copernicus Land Monitoring Service data and the IPCC's SSP1-1.9 scenario, the report details specific land-use losses in cities such as Shanghai, Karachi, and Dhaka, linking these changes to increased vulnerability to dangerous heat days (above 35°C) and rising energy demands for active cooling.

The IAI Executive Directorate reported progress in science and capacity building between 2021 and 2022, despite COVID-19 challenges. Key achievements include the expansion of the Science, Technology, and Policy (STeP) fellowship to 45 fellows across 10 countries, the launch of a virtual campus, and the development of a new Gender, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Policy. The IAI also strengthened regional health-climate research, particularly in the Caribbean and South America, and expanded its science diplomacy initiatives through new partnerships and the planned establishment of the IAI Center for Science Diplomacy.

The IAI Directorate reported progress in science and capacity building between 2021 and 2022, highlighting the expansion of the STeP Fellowship program to 45 fellows across 10 countries and the launch of the IAI Virtual Campus. Key scientific efforts included contributions to the IPCC 6th Assessment Report and the development of climate-health tools for the Caribbean. The Directorate also focused on science diplomacy, establishing the IAI Center for Science Diplomacy and partnering with the Belmont Forum to fund transdisciplinary research. Efforts to increase inclusivity led to the drafting of a Gender, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Policy and the provision of 100 scholarships for students from Latin America and the Caribbean to attend the Sustainability Research and Innovation Congress 2022.

The study finds that BNDES credit for agricultural equipment increases land productivity and stimulates crop production without increasing deforestation. The effects are most pronounced in labor-intensive municipalities and when financing is directed toward labor-saving equipment, such as tractors and harvesters, which often leads to the replacement of pasture areas with more productive cropland.

The document examines the critical role of forests in climate regulation and biodiversity, noting that 420 million hectares have been lost since 1990. It analyzes the shift from failed attempts at a global forests convention to a polycentric governance system involving the UN Forum on Forests, REDD, and private sector deforestation commitments. The brief highlights the risks of carbon offsets and monoculture plantations, arguing that successful forest protection requires holistic valuation, strong political will, and the alignment of financial incentives.

The report argues that PL No. 2374/2020 would harm the implementation of the Brazilian Forest Code by granting unjustified amnesty to a small group of medium and large landowners. It highlights that such a change would necessitate the re-analysis of approximately 378,000 rural property registrations (CAR), delaying environmental regularization and setting a dangerous precedent for renegotiating the legal timeframes of consolidated rural areas.

The document outlines the establishment of a working group to implement the 'Initiative for Conducting a National Climate Assessment in Support of Adaptation and Mitigation: Training and Capacity Building in Latin America and the Caribbean'. Supported by the US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), AmeriGEO, and the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI), the initiative aims to strengthen climate risk assessments for local and regional decision-making. Current progress includes the formation of a working group with members from eight countries and the administration of a knowledge-level questionnaire with a 71% response rate. The next phase involves defining the program's scope and creating a work plan and timeline.

The Indian GSS debt market experienced significant growth in 2021, reaching a cumulative volume of USD 19.5 billion, with green bonds dominating the landscape. While the market is primarily driven by non-financial corporates and focused on utility-scale renewable energy, there is emerging activity in sustainability-linked bonds and potential for expansion into electric vehicles, waste management, and climate-smart agriculture. The Indian government is supporting this growth through the Ministry of Finance's Sustainable Finance Task Force and the planned issuance of a domestic sovereign green bond in 2022.

The study finds that BNDES credit for agricultural machinery increases productivity and promotes the intensification of agriculture—specifically by replacing pasture with cropland—without increasing deforestation pressures. These effects are most pronounced in municipalities with high labor intensity and when financing 'labor-saving' equipment.

The report challenges the "carbon neutral" claim of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, finding that the estimated 3.6MtCO2e footprint likely underestimates actual emissions due to flawed accounting of stadium construction. It further argues that the carbon credits provided by the Global Carbon Council lack integrity due to non-additionality and that the event's mitigation measures, such as a desert turf farm, are not durable.

The document argues that financial institutions must use their leverage to force soy traders to adopt strict no-deforestation commitments, including clear cut-off dates and full traceability, to mitigate climate and biodiversity risks.

The document examines the relationship between tropical deforestation and water use in agricultural commodity supply chains, specifically those imported into the EU. It highlights that while high-risk deforestation commodities often rely on precipitation (green water), other commodities cause significant water scarcity through irrigation (blue water). The authors warn that focusing solely on deforestation may shift environmental burdens to water-scarce regions and identify critical data gaps regarding water use for beef and wood products.

The report identifies a pervasive 'elite–citizen gap' in confidence toward international organizations, where elites consistently express higher levels of trust than ordinary citizens. Based on survey data from Brazil, Germany, the Philippines, Russia, and the US, the study finds that this gap is most pronounced for sustainable development organizations like the UN and is often underestimated by elites. The authors argue that legitimacy is driven by both organizational performance and democratic procedure, and they recommend that the UN increase awareness of this gap, communicate more effectively on its performance and procedures, and strategically engage with young people to bolster global governance.

The paper argues that developing countries lack the financial sector capacity to fund the scale of investment required for low-carbon transitions. It distinguishes between 'commercially viable technologies' that need scaled-up investment and 'financially underserved technologies' that require de-risking. Proposed solutions include the creation of a Global Clean Investment Risk Mitigation Mechanism (GCI-RMM), the implementation of sustainable taxonomies and corporate disclosures, and the use of carbon pricing. The authors emphasize that multilateral cooperation is essential to harmonize these regulations and increase grant-based concessional finance to catalyze private investment.