Search Climate Insights Directory

This briefing by the Center for International Environmental Law and the Global Initiative for Economic, Social & Cultural Rights synthesizes the 2022 activities of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) regarding climate change. It details specific recommendations made to the United States, France, and Cameroon, and discusses the potential for the upcoming General Recommendation No. 37 on the right to health to address environmental racism and climate-related health disparities.

This document consists of annexes to the 2023 Forest Declaration Assessment, detailing sustainability schemes in the mining sector, sources and estimates of forest-related finance, and the implementation of green budgeting and risk assessment tools in the public sector.

This document consists of three annexes to the 2023 Forest Declaration Assessment. It details sustainability schemes in the mining sector, provides estimates for green and 'gray' forest finance, and discusses the implementation of green budgeting and risk assessment tools in the public sector.

This report analyzes whether 67 countries integrated climate adaptation and resilience into their COVID-19 recovery measures between January 2020 and December 2021. The analysis reveals a paradox where a country's income level was a more significant determinant of climate-responsive recovery than its actual vulnerability to climate risks.

An executive summary by the NewClimate Institute arguing that planned LNG import terminals in Germany are significantly oversized and conflict with national and international climate goals.

A briefing by Ember arguing that increasing the EU's 2030 renewable energy target to 45% would halve fossil gas imports compared to a 40% target, saving €43 billion in 2030 and an estimated €200 billion between 2025 and 2030.

This report by the Climate Bonds Initiative analyzes the alignment of green, social, and sustainability bonds priced in the first nine months of 2022 with its database standards. While most issuance meets these criteria, a significant portion of labelled debt is excluded due to insufficient disclosure or a lack of ambition in the Use of Proceeds (UoP).

The Climate Change Performance Index 2023 executive summary evaluates the climate mitigation efforts of the 60 largest emitters. It highlights that no country is currently on a 1.5°C pathway, leaving the top three ranks unoccupied. While Denmark leads in most categories, major emitters like China and the US are ranked in the 'very low' category. The report notes a wide disparity in performance among EU member states and identifies Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Kazakhstan as the worst overall performers.

The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) criticizes the $8.5-billion Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) and its Investment Plan (JET-IP) as a market-centric deal that prioritizes private investor profits over South African local development. The IEJ argues that the deal's reliance on loans and private-sector 'de-risking' threatens to increase energy costs, maintain high state financial risk, and fail to provide adequate social security or local manufacturing support for workers in the coal belt.

This final evaluation report details the activities and impacts of the Economics for Nature (E4N) partnership from 2018 to 2022. E4N, a collaboration between the Green Economy Coalition (GEC), Capitals Coalition, Green Growth Knowledge Partnership (GGKP), and WWF France, aimed to integrate natural capital into national green economy planning and economic decision-making to shift toward 'nature-positive economies'.

A November 2022 briefing by Global Energy Monitor (GEM) identifies 30 fossil fuel companies responsible for 43% of the energy sector's global methane emissions. The analysis breaks down emissions by fuel sector (oil/gas and coal) and ownership type (national/state-owned vs. international/investor-owned), highlighting the disproportionate impact of a small number of large producers.

This policy brief by the Institute for Economic Justice critiques the USD 8.5 billion Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) for South Africa, arguing that its reliance on 'de-risking' private finance through Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and blended finance shifts commercial risks to the state while privatising gains. The authors contend that this model threatens to increase energy poverty, worsen the national debt profile, and undermine the localisation of renewable energy manufacturing. The document proposes alternative financing pathways, including the regulation of PPPs, debt cancellation for 'odious debt', climate reparations, and the implementation of allocative green credit policies.

This policy brief by Ember provides recommendations for the European Commission's Grids Action Plan, arguing that power grids must become the backbone of the energy system to achieve a carbon-neutral economy by 2050. The document identifies critical gaps in investment, data transparency, and planning frameworks, proposing a shift toward anticipatory grid investments and integrated system-level planning to ensure grid constraints do not hinder renewable energy deployment.

This report by the World Resources Institute evaluates the progress made one year after the COP26 summit in Glasgow. It tracks commitments across national emissions targets, renewable energy, climate finance, net-zero goals, the financial sector, methane reduction, deforestation, urban emissions, and electric vehicles, noting that progress is mixed and often hindered by geopolitical tensions and economic crises.

This report by Ember analyzes global electricity data from the first half of 2022 (H1-2022) compared to H1-2021, focusing on the role of renewable energy in meeting growing electricity demand and its impact on fossil fuel generation and carbon emissions.

This report by Ember analyzes global electricity data from 75 countries to assess the energy transition in the first half of 2022 (H1-2022). It finds that renewable energy growth fully met the increase in global electricity demand during this period, preventing a rise in fossil fuel generation and associated CO2 emissions.

This report by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) analyzes the climate commitments of the 70 largest public financial institutions, representing USD 20.4 trillion in assets. It finds a significant gap in ambition, particularly among national and subnational development banks and institutions in non-OECD countries, where Paris-aligned and net-zero targets are rare. The report highlights a lack of specificity in climate finance goals, a deficiency in adaptation-focused commitments, and a general slow adoption of institutional climate strategies. CPI identifies insufficient accountability and a lack of government and global coalition guidance as primary barriers and provides recommendations to strengthen the integrity of public finance in the energy transition.

The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) argues that the modernized Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) text, released on September 12, 2022, fails to resolve critical issues regarding fossil fuel carveouts and entry timing, creating legal uncertainty for governments implementing climate measures aligned with the Paris Agreement.

This report by Ember analyses electricity generation data for the European Union from May to August 2022, highlighting a record share of solar power and its role in reducing the need for expensive fossil gas imports during an energy crisis.

This policy brief by the Stockholm Environment Institute examines the governance of the circular economy (CE) in urban settings. It identifies key barriers to implementation—such as administrative silos and a lack of holistic data—and provides four strategic recommendations for urban policymakers to accelerate the transition toward resource-efficient and resilient urban systems.