Search Climate Insights Directory

The document details the outcomes of a two-day assembly in May 2017 aimed at advancing Colombia's National Adaptation Plan for Climate Change (PNACC). It identifies critical gaps in institutional continuity, financing, and the integration of local community knowledge, while highlighting the role of regional nodes and international cooperation in bridging these gaps. The report emphasizes the need to transition from a top-down approach to a transversal network that fosters bidirectional communication between national entities and territorial actors.

The document highlights Peru's vulnerability to climate events, citing the severe impacts of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the high economic risks of climate change. It advocates for the implementation of the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) to build resilience in priority sectors including water, agriculture, fisheries, forests, and health.

The document identifies three primary barriers to green investment in developing countries: risk gaps (policy, technology, financial, and sovereign), viability gaps (access to finance and high costs), and knowledge gaps. It argues that while sufficient global capital exists, public policy and finance must be better targeted to unlock it. The briefing provides case studies on fiscal policy adjustments in Indonesia to promote sustainable land use, the use of public-private partnerships and government guarantees to develop geothermal power in Kenya, and various innovative instruments developed through the Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance, such as Energy Savings Insurance and FX hedging facilities.

The document outlines strategies for mainstreaming gender into technical modelling, identifying key barriers such as data gaps and lack of awareness, and offering practical frameworks for inclusive project design and data collection.

The document highlights that while Indigenous Peoples and local communities hold between 50% and 65% of the world's land, they have formal legal ownership of only 10%. It emphasizes that approximately 2.5 billion people depend on these lands and that secure tenure significantly reduces deforestation rates, particularly in the Amazon. The text argues that the cost of securing these lands is minimal compared to the immense environmental and economic benefits they provide, such as carbon sequestration and biodiversity protection.

The document reports that 25 land defenders were killed in Colombia within the first 65 days of 2017, following approximately 80 deaths in 2016. It highlights specific victims, including José Antonio Anzola Tejedor, Luz Angela, and Ruth Alicia López Guisao, and argues that these killings are linked to private and transnational interests seeking territorial control for capital accumulation, extractive projects, and 'green economy' initiatives. ATALC calls on the Colombian government to end impunity and on the international community to develop concrete protection strategies for social and environmental defenders.

The document reports a surge in the killing of territory defenders in Colombia, noting 25 murders in the first 65 days of 2017 and 80 in 2016. It identifies the drivers of this violence as interests opposed to environmental justice and agents seeking capital accumulation through extractive and 'green economy' projects. ATALC demands that the Colombian government implement legal mechanisms to stop these attacks and identify perpetrators to end impunity.

The document analyzes how conservative religious lobbyists, primarily from the US and the Vatican, collaborate with various states to challenge international human rights language and gender equality policies at the UN. It details their shift from outside activists to influential insiders, their use of 'traditional family values' and 'national sovereignty' as secular arguments to bridge ideological divides, and the formation of formalized blocks like the Group of Friends of the Family (GoFF). The brief also highlights specific challenges to the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, including the impact of the US 'global gag rule' and the Holy See's essentialist view of gender roles.

The document examines the tension between energy security and green growth in fossil-fuel-endowed middle-income countries, noting that domestic fossil resource reliance often overrides climate ambitions.

The document argues that Colombia can leverage its post-conflict stability to accelerate green growth by linking renewable energy incentives to development programmes, scaling private sector green production models, and integrating local green strategies into national policy. It highlights the need for the private sector to finance 63 percent of climate commitments and warns of risks associated with heavy hydropower reliance and transport sector pollution.

The document discusses the role of the private sector in achieving climate compatible development following the Paris Agreement. It notes that while new technologies and financial instruments are emerging, public policy is required to address market failures, counter opposing lobbies, and manage the social winners and losers resulting from industrial disruption.

The brief provides legal analysis to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights regarding Colombia's request for an advisory opinion on the impact of large-scale projects on the marine environment, specifically in the Greater Caribbean Region. It asserts that state jurisdiction extends to acts or omissions with foreseeable extraterritorial effects and advocates for the 'principle of systemic integration' to align human rights protections with international environmental standards.

The document examines the intersection of private sector activity and climate policy, highlighting the potential for a 'new industrial revolution' in green technology. It balances optimism regarding falling costs of renewables and new financial instruments with warnings about 'brown pillars' of the economy, market failures, and the risk of social dislocation similar to that seen during globalisation. The author argues for a public-private partnership where governments shape markets and provide social safety nets to ensure a just transition.

The Global NDC Conference 2017 brought together over 250 participants from 80 countries to exchange best practices on advancing low-carbon resilient development. The report identifies integrated governance, multi-dimensional financing strategies, and the Enhanced Transparency Framework as the three pillars necessary for the successful implementation of NDCs. Key recommendations include 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 institutionalization of data systems to build trust and accountability.

The document argues that climate action must be integrated into macroeconomic planning and sectoral policies to achieve 'triple wins' for mitigation, adaptation, and poverty eradication. It highlights the necessity of political leadership, cross-government coordination, and the use of 'knowledge brokers' to translate scientific data into actionable policy. The report emphasizes that while international finance is a catalyst, domestic resource mobilisation and the removal of fossil fuel subsidies are critical for long-term sustainability. Case studies from Asia, Africa, and Latin America illustrate the importance of gender-sensitive approaches, participatory planning, and the role of non-state actors in scaling up local innovations to national levels.

The document lists various entities awarded for pioneering green bond activities in 2016. Key achievements include the first green sovereign bond from Poland, the largest overall issuer (Shanghai Pudong Development Bank), and the first green bonds from several countries including Colombia, Costa Rica, Morocco, and the Philippines. It also recognizes the People's Bank of China for regulation and CICERO for its 'Shades of green' assessment model.

Spain has experienced a sharp decline in coal production and employment over the last two decades, driven by EU legislation, falling international prices, and the rise of renewable energy. While government plans successfully reduced coal's share in the energy mix, efforts to mitigate socioeconomic impacts in mining regions were largely ineffective, focusing too heavily on public infrastructure rather than the creation of sustainable alternative industries.

The US coal industry has faced a sharp decline driven by the shale gas revolution, increasing competitiveness of renewables, and federal environmental regulations. This transition has led to significant job losses and bankruptcies among major coal producers, particularly impacting regions like Appalachia and the Powder River Basin. To mitigate these effects, the Obama administration introduced the Power Plus Plan to fund economic diversification and worker retraining. However, low-income households still face high electricity costs, and bankrupt companies have shifted reclamation and pension liabilities to state budgets.

The document details the UCDP's approach to tracking armed conflict and fatalities, arguing that its rigorous, permanent infrastructure provides a 'gold standard' for measuring SDG 16.1.2. It outlines the program's categorization of violence, its data triangulation methods, and the challenges of disaggregating data by age and sex. Using UCDP data, the authors analyze global conflict trends from 1989 to 2016, noting a general long-term decline in warfare deaths despite recent spikes and high geographic concentration in countries like Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq.

The document analyzes the political economy of coal extraction in Colombia, noting that while production grew from 38 Mt in 2000 to 88.6 Mt in 2015, the sector now faces declining global demand and increasing domestic resistance. It details how opponents—including indigenous groups and municipal governments—have shifted from protests to using judicial mechanisms like the 'acción de tutela' and popular consultations to challenge mining titles. In response, the Colombian government and companies (such as Cerrejón and Drummond) have adopted new narratives, linking extraction to peace-building, increasing corporate social responsibility investments, and forming unified business associations like the Asociación Colombiana de Minería. The brief concludes that the sector's historically weak governance has become a liability, and a transition away from coal will require separating the mining sector from oil and gas in public discourse and developing alternative socio-economic pathways.