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The report examines how West African nations, particularly Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria, have prioritised military and securitised responses to terrorism over rule-of-law frameworks. This shift has led to widespread human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, torture, and arbitrary detention, often facilitated by emergency legislation and a lack of judicial oversight. The author argues that such approaches may fuel further radicalisation and recommends long-term criminal justice reform, the strengthening of civilian oversight, and the alignment of counter-terrorism efforts with international human rights standards to achieve sustainable peace and development.

The briefing examines the role of the Islamic State (IS) as a driver of global conflict, noting that IS-related conflicts constituted approximately one third of all civil conflicts over the past five years. It argues that IS increases conflict complexity and polarization, making peace agreements less likely. Analysis of IS in Syria and Iraq reveals a strategy that prioritizes fighting over economic development and targets Sunni-dominated areas and petroleum-rich border regions. The authors conclude that these patterns make IS a persistent threat in other resource-rich countries with uncontrolled hinterlands, such as Libya, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria.

The Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) is developing the 'Clean and Green' framework to address gaps in rural sanitation, specifically for smallholder communities. The framework combines a 'Clean' track for risk management (eliminating open defecation and managing waste) and a 'Green' track for resource recovery (recycling nutrients and water for agriculture). It utilizes a stepwise certification system to motivate households and villages, aiming to synergistically meet multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by linking sanitation to agricultural productivity and ecosystem health.

The document examines the intersection of voluntary sustainability standards (VSSs), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and gender equality in agriculture. It analyzes five major standards—Fairtrade International, IFOAM Organic, Rainforest Alliance, UTZ Certified, and the 4Cs—across six thematic areas: household food security, rights to productive resources, education, unpaid domestic labour, decision-making/empowerment, and decent work. The guide finds that while VSSs can improve wages and working conditions, they risk exacerbating inequalities if they prioritize cash crops over women's subsistence farming or increase women's unpaid labour burdens without providing childcare or gender-transformative training.

The document analyzes the intersection of voluntary sustainability standards (VSS), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and gender equality in agriculture. It evaluates five major standards—Fairtrade International, IFOAM (Organic), Rainforest Alliance, UTZ Certified, and 4Cs—across six key themes: household food security, access to productive resources, education, unpaid domestic work, decision-making/empowerment, and decent work. The guide finds that while VSS can indirectly improve women's status through increased income and sustainable practices, they can also inadvertently exacerbate inequalities if local gender dynamics are ignored, such as by prioritizing commercial crops over women's subsistence farming or increasing women's unpaid labor to meet certification quality requirements. It provides specific recommendations for development organizations to implement 'gender-transformative' approaches, including providing childcare during training and supporting women's land rights.

The document details Burkina Faso's transition from the 2007 National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) to a comprehensive National Adaptation Plan (NAP) adopted in 2015. It outlines a multisectoral approach targeting water, agriculture, health, and energy, emphasizing a vision for climate resilience by 2050. The study highlights the institutional role of the Permanent Secretariat of the National Council for Sustainable Development (SP/CNDD) and identifies critical gaps in financing, inter-ministerial communication, and the need for reliable long-term scientific data.

The Regional Programme for Sustainable Land Management and Strengthening the Resilience of Rural Communities and Ecosystems to Climate Change in the Liptako-Gourma Region (ALG) seeks to address severe drought, soil erosion, and water scarcity affecting approximately 16 million people across Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. With an indicative total cost of USD 43,556,466, the programme focuses on achieving land degradation neutrality, diversifying rural incomes through off-season agriculture and non-timber forest products, and overcoming financial and institutional barriers to sustainable land management. The initiative is led by the Banque Ouest Africaine de Développement (BOAD) as the accredited entity and the Liptako-Gourma Authority (ALG) as the executing entity.

The report details how developing countries approach investment treaty negotiations, highlighting a trend toward renegotiating outdated agreements and the use of model treaties. It identifies the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and investment authorities as the primary leads in negotiations and provides a detailed mapping of ratification processes across various nations.

The report details the development and application of the Small-Scale Irrigation Mapping (SSIM) tool in Burkina Faso, designed to capture irrigation on areas smaller than one hectare. This high-resolution approach, utilizing 30-m Landsat 8 imagery and ground truthing, addresses the limitations of previous maps (250m to 1km resolution) and serves to validate the Targeting Agricultural Water Management Interventions (TAGMI) decision-support tool.

The document serves as a formal disclosure of environmental and social safeguard reports for the RE-GAIN project, managed by AGRA. It identifies the programme as Category B for environmental and social safeguards and lists the target countries as Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. The report confirms the availability of an Environmental and Social Baseline and Risk Assessment, which includes a risk analysis, an Indigenous Peoples Planning Framework, and an Environmental and Social Action Plan, all disclosed in English, French, Amharic, and Swahili.

The report analyzes the legal frameworks of 22 IGF member countries, identifying systemic weaknesses in how ESIAs and related plans (ESMPs, closure plans, and RAPs) are used as decision-making tools. Key issues include ambiguity over the rights of exploration permit holders during the transition to exploitation, inadequate sequencing of document submission, and weak monitoring mechanisms. It argues that ESIAs should be capable of leading to project rejection and recommends the use of Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEAs) to identify sensitive areas before exploration permits are granted. The document also highlights the risk of international arbitration arising from these legal ambiguities.

The report analyzes the legal frameworks of 22 IGF member countries to identify systemic gaps in the implementation of Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIAs) in mining. Key issues include ambiguity over the rights of exploration permit holders to transition to exploitation, inadequate timing for submitting closure plans and financial guarantees, and a lack of coordination between mining and environmental authorities. The document argues for a shift toward using ESIAs as genuine decision-making tools that can lead to project rejection, the adoption of Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEAs) to identify sensitive zones, and the strengthening of community participation and independent monitoring to ensure sustainable mine closure.

The report details a participatory framework developed by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) to identify synergies and conflicts between SDG targets in Colombia. It outlines a 7-point scoring system to evaluate first-order (direct) and second-order (indirect) interactions, which are then analyzed using network analysis to inform policy prioritization. The methodology will be piloted through workshops in Bogotá and Antioquia, focusing on a preselected set of 20 targets with a particular emphasis on water management as a transversal element. The goal is to provide a systemic tool for national and subnational decision-makers to ensure that progress in one area does not hinder another.

The Q4 2019 Risk Dashboard reports that the Green Climate Fund's portfolio concentration and liquidity remain within approved risk tolerance levels. As of December 31, 2019, the fund managed a portfolio of 124 approved funding proposals with a total value of USD 20.63 billion, including GCF's approved funding of USD 5.63 billion. The portfolio is distributed across Africa (39%), Asia-Pacific (34%), Latin America and the Caribbean (23%), and Eastern Europe (4%), with a funding balance of 42% mitigation and 21% adaptation (excluding cross-cutting projects). The fund reports no non-performing loans for the past eight quarters and maintains a foreign exchange commitment risk buffer of USD 86.9 million.

The workshop brought together officials and municipal representatives from WAEMU member states to analyze the implementation of mining local development funds (MLDFs) and other community development tools. Participants evaluated the current state of MLDFs in countries like Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, and Senegal, while discussing alternatives used in Mali, Niger, and Benin. The sessions explored the integration of MLDFs with environmental and social impact assessments (ESIAs), local content policies, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and community development agreements (CDAs). The workshop concluded that an ideal approach involves combining an MLDF with either mandatory CDAs or voluntary CSR plans, prioritizing transparency, alignment with local development plans, and outcome monitoring.

The report analyzes 104 mining projects across 21 countries, finding that while incentives are more common in primary law than in contracts, African countries rely more heavily on contract-based incentives. Tax stabilization and corporate income tax (CIT) incentives are the most frequent, with stability periods averaging 20 years and tax holidays averaging nine years. The analysis notes a correlation between the increase in incentives and the commodity price crash of 2014–2016, while highlighting that cost-based incentives remain uncommon despite being better suited for mining investments.

The report analyzes tax incentives across 104 mining projects in 21 developing countries, finding that while legislation is the primary source of incentives, African countries rely more heavily on discretionary contracts. The most common incentives are fiscal stabilization clauses and corporate income tax breaks, both of which pose significant revenue risks. The study notes that the use of these incentives peaked in the late 1990s and again during the 2014-2016 commodity price crash, suggesting a correlation between low commodity prices and more generous tax terms.

The 2019 Francophone Forum on the NAP process brought together representatives from nine countries to share best practices on integrating the private sector and gender dimensions into climate adaptation and improving direct access to international climate finance. Key outcomes include the identification of barriers to private sector engagement, such as low awareness and lack of incentive frameworks, and gender-related challenges, including cultural barriers and a lack of sex-disaggregated data. The forum also detailed the accreditation processes for the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the Adaptation Fund (AF), highlighting the importance of scientific vulnerability studies and strong governance for successful funding applications.

The document reports that 1.05 billion people remained at the highest risk of cooling insecurity in 2019, down from 1.1 billion in 2018. It identifies the 'Critical 9' countries with the largest populations at high risk, including India, China, and Nigeria, and notes that China and India have already developed National Cooling Plans, while Brazil, Nigeria, and Bangladesh are currently developing them.

The document examines the shift in Africa's debt structure toward non-concessional and domestic loans, identifying drivers such as commodity price shocks and fiscal deficits. It assesses the debt-carrying capacity of various African nations using IMF and World Bank frameworks, noting that several countries are in debt distress or at high risk. The briefing details current coping mechanisms, including the issuance of long-term Eurobonds and novel financial products, and recommends enhancing domestic revenue mobilization, economic diversification, and the establishment of autonomous debt management offices.