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This briefing from the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) presents the operating budget request for the 2024-2025 fiscal year and preliminary requests for 2025-2027, detailing necessary increases in country contributions to support strategic activities and staffing.

This briefing provides a financial review of the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, detailing contributions from member Parties, operational expenditures, and administrative controls as of March 31, 2024.

The report documents the 2024 Extraordinary Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI), held via videoconference on 26 March 2024. The primary outcome of the meeting was the consensus approval of Panama's proposal to host the headquarters of the IAI Directorate.

This report documents the 2024 Extraordinary Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP) of the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI), held via videoconference on March 26, 2024. The primary purpose of the meeting was to review and decide upon a proposal from Panama to host the headquarters of the IAI Executive Directorate.

This document is a Portuguese translation of excerpts from the 'Boom & Bust Coal 2024' report by Global Energy Monitor and its partners. It tracks global coal power plant capacity, noting that while many countries are reducing development, global operational capacity reached a historic peak in 2023, driven largely by China. The text provides detailed updates on coal trends in China, India, the G7, G20, and specifically focuses on the status of coal plants and phase-out commitments across Latin America.

The report 'Auge y caída del carbón 2024' analyzes global coal-fired power generation trends in 2023, highlighting a contradiction where global operational capacity reached an all-time high despite a decline in new construction outside of China.

The IAI Science Diplomacy Center (SDC) is a regional initiative aimed at strengthening the science-policy interface in the Americas, particularly Latin America and the Caribbean. Between 2023 and April 2024, the SDC established three priority pillars: Capacity Building, a Knowledge Hub, and Emerging/Innovation Issues. Key achievements include the launch of a training workshop in Panama, the expansion of the STeP Fellowship program to 47 fellows from 14 countries, and the development of a specialized science diplomacy curriculum with the University of Sao Paulo. The SDC is also building a digital Knowledge Hub and forging strategic partnerships with entities such as AAAS, UNESCO, and DiploCientifica to support sustainable development and global environmental change objectives.

This report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) examines the increasing integration of voluntary sustainability standards (VSSs) into free trade agreements (FTAs). It analyzes the growth, types, and potential benefits of these references, while highlighting critical challenges regarding enforcement, terminology, and the risk of creating trade barriers for small-scale producers.

This briefing paper critiques the G20's "Better, Bolder and Bigger" framework for Multilateral Development Bank (MDB) reform, arguing that its private-sector-first approach prioritizes profit over people and planet. The authors highlight risks including the erosion of accountability, continued fossil fuel financing, and a lack of gender-sensitive strategies, urging a shift toward grants-based financing and systemic democratization.

This briefing by Zero Carbon Analytics argues that transitioning to zero-carbon electricity grids powered by wind and solar is technically and economically feasible. It debunks common myths regarding the need for fossil fuel backups and grid overloading, highlighting that stability can be achieved through flexibility solutions, digitalisation, and cross-border interconnectors. The document provides real-world examples from countries like Denmark, Portugal, and Namibia, while noting that insufficient investment in grid infrastructure remains a primary obstacle to a faster global rollout.

This case study describes how Chile's 2022 Climate Change Framework Law decentralized climate policy implementation, moving responsibility from the Ministry of the Environment to 17 government ministries and subnational authorities to accelerate the country's goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.

This report by the Climate Bonds Initiative analyzes the sustainability-linked bond (SLB) market up to November 2023, identifying a high prevalence of low-quality deals characterized by a lack of ambition, poor disclosure, and weak underlying transition plans. The report provides a quantitative profile of the market, assesses KPI performance and transition plan quality among top issuers, and offers a best-practice checklist to improve market credibility and scale.

This briefing by Somos El Cambio explains the necessity of the energy transition, defined as phasing out fossil fuels in favor of renewable sources and more efficient energy use to mitigate global warming. It highlights the economic and environmental benefits of this shift, particularly for Latin America and the Caribbean, while emphasizing the need for fairness and equity to avoid repeating the extractivist patterns of the fossil fuel era.

This report provides a technical transfer pricing framework for lithium, designed to help developing countries accurately tax lithium exports. It details the differences between brine and mineral extraction, analyzes the global supply chain dominated by a few key producers and the Chinese refining market, and explains how to use price-reporting agency indices to determine fair market value based on product grade and specifications.

This report provides a transfer pricing framework for determining the price of lithium minerals, specifically applying the Comparable Uncontrolled Price (CUP) method. It details the physical characteristics of lithium deposits, production processes for brines and spodumene, and the economic factors influencing market prices to help developing countries ensure appropriate tax revenue from lithium exports.

This policy brief, produced by Transforma and WWF, outlines the climate adaptation challenges and opportunities for Latin America and the Caribbean in the lead-up to COP30 in Belém do Pará, Brazil. It emphasizes the need to scale adaptation financing, integrate biodiversity and human rights into national planning, and leverage Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) to build resilience in a region that is the second most exposed to climate change globally.

This policy brief, produced by Transforma and WWF, advocates for increased policy coherence and synergies between the three Rio Conventions (Climate Change, Biodiversity, and Desertification) ahead of COP30 in Belém do Pará, Brazil. It emphasizes that integrating national plans for climate mitigation, adaptation, and biodiversity is essential for efficient resource use and effective environmental governance, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean.

This policy brief, produced by Transforma and WWF, analyzes the challenges and opportunities for a Just Energy Transition (JET) in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). It argues that the region must move beyond simple decarbonization toward a socio-ecological transition that addresses structural inequalities, fiscal dependence on fossil fuels, and the protection of biodiversity and human rights, particularly in the context of the upcoming COP30 in Brazil.

This briefing, submitted by a coalition of civil society organizations to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, argues that the current structure of the Loss and Damage Fund (LDF) established at COP28 fails to meet international human rights standards. The authors contend that states have a legal obligation to provide full reparation for climate-induced losses and damages, particularly based on historical emissions, and that the LDF's reliance on voluntary donations and its denial of legal liability undermine the right to justice for affected communities.

The report details the 56th meeting of the Executive Council (EC) of the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI), held via videoconference on 14 November 2023. The meeting focused on the election of the EC Bureau for 2023-2025, the status of the Core Budget, and progress reports on science and capacity-building activities following the 31st meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP-31).