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This IISD report presents the results of a 2018 online survey of 72 respondents from 54 developing countries regarding their investment treaty negotiation processes. It examines trends in treaty renegotiation, the impact of investment disputes, the use of model treaties, ratification procedures, and the specific government agencies involved in leading and supporting these negotiations.

This report by the World Resources Institute argues that securing community land rights is a cost-effective strategy for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and mitigating climate change. It highlights the gap between the amount of land inhabited by indigenous and rural communities and the amount legally recognized by national governments, warning that this insecurity leads to deforestation and poverty. The document advocates for legal reforms, simplified formalization procedures, and a more equitable playing field between communities and corporate interests to protect global carbon sinks and biodiversity.

This Stockholm Environment Institute briefing examines the barriers to gender equality in the agricultural sectors of South and Southeast Asia. It argues that Women's Economic Empowerment (WEE) strategies, which focus on market access and productivity, often fail to achieve true gender equality because they ignore systemic patriarchal norms and power imbalances. The document provides evidence from rice value chains and home gardening projects in Cambodia, Pakistan, and Vietnam to illustrate how women remain marginalized as secondary labor with limited control over resources, and recommends a shift toward transformative approaches that address the root cultural and political causes of inequality.

This briefing by the Stockholm Environment Institute examines the gender imbalances within the energy sector of the Lower Mekong Region (LMR). It argues that without gender-sensitive policies, the transition to renewable energy may reinforce existing inequalities, as women are under-represented in technical roles and often excluded from energy decision-making and benefits.

This research paper examines arsenic contamination in Cambodian rice, finding that the increasing use of groundwater for dry season irrigation facilitates the uptake of naturally occurring arsenic into rice grains. While arsenic in drinking water is a known issue, the document highlights a significant lack of awareness and data regarding rice as an exposure pathway. It identifies Kandal and Prey Veng as high-risk areas and notes that Cambodian rice can have higher arsenic levels than rice from Thailand or Viet Nam. The authors recommend improving surface water irrigation and diversifying crops to reduce reliance on contaminated groundwater.

This briefing by the Stockholm Environment Institute discusses the potential climate, environmental, and social impacts of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Southeast Asia. It highlights the risks of 'carbon lock-in' from coal and fossil fuel investments and the ecological threats posed by hydropower dams in the Mekong region. To mitigate these risks, the authors propose a participatory decision-making framework based on transparency, stakeholder inclusion, and adherence to international sustainable finance standards.

The 'Innovations for Resilience Convening,' held in Munich in November 2017, brought together public and private sector partners to explore sustainable innovations that build resilience and enhance development outcomes. Co-hosted by the Global Resilience Partnership (GRP), World Food Programme (WFP), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and One Billion Coalition for Resilience (1BC), the event focused on the role of technology in addressing the increasing frequency of disasters and shocks, while identifying barriers to scaling these solutions globally.

This briefing examines how Cambodia utilizes its national budget to fund climate adaptation actions as part of its National Adaptation Plan (NAP) process, highlighting the role of political leadership, the need for integrated monitoring frameworks, and the ongoing reliance on international finance.

This research paper by the Climate Policy Initiative examines the barriers preventing adaptation and resilience companies—specifically those providing climate risk analytics—from scaling in developing countries. It proposes a design for a technical assistance (TA) facility, the CRAFT Resilience Accelerator, to be linked with a private equity fund to catalyze the market by addressing context, business model, and internal capacity barriers.

This research paper examines the adaptive capacity of smallholder rural households in Asia to cope with climate variability and change, utilizing a rural livelihoods framework and data from nearly 600 participants.

The 2018 Regulatory Indicators for Sustainable Energy (RISE) report provides a global inventory of policies and regulations supporting Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7), focusing on electricity access, clean cooking, energy efficiency, and renewable energy across 133 economies from 2010 to 2017.

This briefing discusses the role of cities as primary vehicles for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), emphasizing that urban governance and knowledge-sharing between cities can address global societal problems. It highlights how decentralization and municipal empowerment enable cities to implement pragmatic solutions, which is particularly relevant for Africa's rapidly growing urban centers.

This white paper, authored by the Stockholm Environment Institute for the USAID Clean Power Asia programme, assesses the intersection of gender equality and renewable energy in the Lower Mekong countries and other ASEAN member states. It highlights a gap between national gender equality commitments and their application within technical sectors like energy.

The Gender Mainstreaming Strategy for USAID Clean Power Asia provides a framework to integrate gender equality into renewable energy planning, policy, and investment across ASEAN and Lower Mekong countries. It identifies the energy sector as heavily male-dominated and proposes a 'twin-track approach' that combines project-cycle mainstreaming with the development of 'gender champions' to address systemic biases. Key recommendations include adopting gender-lens investing, ensuring at least 33% female participation in activities, and shifting M&E from output-based to outcome-based tracking.

This report, developed by FHI 360 and funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, provides an inventory and summary of digital technologies used to enhance resilience, primarily in Asia. It details a wide array of tools—ranging from mobile apps and IoT sensors to big data analytics and geospatial mapping—designed to support disaster preparedness, emergency response, and long-term livelihood stability for vulnerable populations.

This research paper qualitatively examines the implementation of Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) projects in the Asia-Pacific region, identifying both contributions to adaptive capacity and systemic shortcomings in project management and impact.

The Global NDC Conference 2017 report outlines the necessity of integrated governance, diverse financing strategies, and robust transparency frameworks to implement Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Key findings emphasize the need for high-level leadership to break down sectoral silos, the translation of NDCs into bankable project pipelines to attract private investment, and the use of the Enhanced Transparency Framework to build trust and track progress toward the Paris Agreement goals.

This briefing by Friends of the Earth International examines the financial and regulatory impacts of Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanisms on countries negotiating the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). It argues that ISDS allows foreign corporations to sue governments over public interest regulations, creating significant financial burdens and a 'regulatory chill' that undermines democracy and the right to regulate.

This report provides a 2016 progress update on the first ten goals of the New York Declaration on Forests (NYDF). It evaluates global trends in natural forest loss, private sector commitments to deforestation-free supply chains, restoration pledges under the Bonn Challenge and UNFCCC, and the evolution of international climate finance and forest governance.

This World Resources Institute working paper analyzes the alignment between the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) submitted under the Paris Agreement and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda. By mapping climate actions across 92 INDCs, the authors demonstrate that climate policies often generate mutual benefits for sustainable development, though these synergies are frequently unrecognized or uncoordinated at the national level due to institutional silos.