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The policy brief outlines three core principles for the implementation of the EU's Social Climate Fund (SCF): ensuring meaningful public participation, prioritising structural solutions over temporary relief to avoid fossil fuel lock-ins, and mobilising additional financing beyond the mandatory 25% contribution. It argues that the SCF's budget of EUR 65 billion is insufficient to tackle the root causes of energy and transport poverty and calls for the redirection of ETS revenues and the elimination of fossil fuel subsidies to support vulnerable households.

Reclaim Finance argues that the Capital Markets Union (CMU), as currently proposed, lacks the necessary environmental criteria to ensure that increased capital volumes support the ecological transition rather than polluting activities. The organization warns that some CMU measures could weaken prudential frameworks and supervisory mandates without considering climate risks. Reclaim Finance proposes that any CMU-related product or label must include strict climate criteria, including the exclusion of fossil fuel developers, and suggests alternative models like citizen-led sustainable project funds to avoid further financialization of the economy.

The document defines traditional and synthetic securitization and analyzes how these mechanisms can be used by fossil fuel companies to diversify funding and manage balance sheets. It critiques current 'green' securitization definitions for being too broad and proposes a three-dimensional framework—focusing on use of proceeds, asset character, and company commitment—to prevent the mechanism from indirectly financing fossil fuel expansion. Reclaim Finance advocates for a regulatory framework that ensures transparency and restricts securitization to sustainable energy activities.

Reclaim Finance argues that the current SFDR framework is too vague, leading to confusion and greenwashing. It proposes three key reforms: excluding fossil fuel developers from funds making environmental or social claims, establishing minimum quality requirements for 'green', 'transition', and 'impact' funds, and aligning transparency obligations (PAIs) with advisory processes (MiFID II and IDD) to better reflect investor preferences.

Reclaim Finance analyzes 243 sectoral targets from 30 global banks, concluding that most are ineffective due to flawed methodologies, partial coverage, and a lack of transparency. The report specifically criticizes the use of PCAF attribution factors, which can make emissions appear to drop even if real-world emissions remain flat. It recommends shifting toward targets based on financing volumes for fossil fuels, absolute sectoral portfolio emissions, and physical intensity for industrial sectors to drive genuine decarbonization.

The document examines TotalEnergies' use of the bond market to secure long-term financing, noting a trend toward abnormally long maturities extending to 2064. It argues that these bonds provide the company with unrestricted funds to pursue fossil fuel expansion, contrary to IEA Net Zero scenarios, while creating systemic and financial risks for the banks and investors involved. The report identifies specific financial institutions facilitating these issuances and calls for a total cessation of support for companies developing new oil and gas projects.

The document analyzes TotalEnergies' reliance on the bond market, specifically highlighting a trend toward abnormally long maturities (up to 2064) that secures funding for decades of fossil fuel projects. It argues that these bonds provide the company with total freedom in fund allocation, enabling the expansion of oil and gas projects in 53 countries despite global climate goals. The briefing identifies a 'loophole' where banks facilitate these emissions to avoid having the debt on their own balance sheets, and warns investors of the systemic risk of 'stranded assets' as the world transitions to renewable energy.

The guide argues that businesses can avoid political polarization by framing climate action as a 'material' business necessity rather than a 'moral' obligation. Based on research with nearly 15,000 respondents, it finds that while moral messaging can increase favorability, it also increases unfavorability among skeptics. In contrast, framing climate action through risk management, clean energy opportunity, and the concept of 'responsible business' drives favorability without triggering backlash. The document specifically recommends replacing jargon like 'ESG' with 'responsible business' and 'climate change risk' with 'climate risk' to improve resonance with diverse audiences, including U.S. Republicans.

Agri-PV, the simultaneous use of land for food production and solar electricity, offers significant potential for Central Europe to increase renewable energy generation and improve farmer livelihoods. Analysis shows that Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia could deploy 180 GW of agri-PV, potentially tripling the region's annual renewable electricity production. While agri-PV can increase yields for certain crops like berries by up to 16%, it can also offset yield losses in shade-sensitive crops like wheat through electricity revenues. Despite this, Czechia is currently the only country in the region with agri-PV legislation, and the report recommends that other Central European governments introduce regulations to secure CAP subsidies and incentivize the transition.

The Sahel region is experiencing a major geopolitical shift as Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso have formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) and severed ties with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). This move reflects deep-seated anti-French and anti-EU sentiment, driven by perceptions of neo-colonialism and a focus on security and migration over socio-economic development. As the EU's influence wanes, Russia has expanded its presence through military cooperation and strategic economic interests, including potential control over Niger's uranium. The author argues that the EU and ECOWAS must move away from punitive sanctions and colonial-era approaches toward equal partnerships and dialogue to maintain stability and influence in the region.

The research paper examines the role of vertical industrial policies in Africa, contrasting them with horizontal policies and global value chain (GVC) theories. It highlights how Nigeria and Morocco successfully developed their cement sectors through targeted government interventions, while noting that replicating these specific tools in other sectors, such as sugar and tomato paste in Nigeria, has failed due to different raw material coordination needs.

China is expanding its nuclear power capacity faster than any other country in the 21st century, with nearly half of the world's nuclear power under construction located there. While China's operational capacity of 58.1 GW currently ranks third globally, its prospective capacity of 118 GW positions it to potentially overtake France and the United States. The buildout is shifting toward Generation III and IV reactors, including the domestically developed Hualong One and the first commercial Generation IV unit, the HTR-PM. However, a moratorium on inland plants following the 2011 Fukushima disaster has led to the cancellation of 201 GW of capacity, though some sites have been repurposed for wind and solar energy.

The briefing argues that the Energy Charter Treaty's (ECT) survival clause obstructs climate mitigation by allowing fossil fuel investors to seek compensation for government phase-out measures for 20 years after a state's withdrawal. To address this, the authors provide a model 'inter se' agreement that allows the EU and other non-EU contracting parties to modify the treaty among themselves to delete the survival clause. The document asserts that this modification is legally viable under Article 41 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT), as it does not affect third-party rights, is not prohibited by the ECT, and aligns with the treaty's stated environmental objectives and the Paris Agreement.

The policy brief contends that despite France's diplomatic leadership and the Paris Place's 2019 commitment to phase out coal, French financial institutions continue to fund coal development. It highlights the severe health and climate impacts of coal, the failure of voluntary commitments—specifically among four major French banks—and calls for a national legal ban on financial services for coal projects to ensure a credible transition.

The report finds that while infrastructure investors have integrated climate change considerations, they lag in measuring other nature impacts like habitat change and pollution. It identifies physical and transition risks associated with biodiversity loss and highlights a shift toward 'nature-positive' investments driven by evolving regulations such as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The document provides case studies of leading practices, including the use of eDNA soil testing and sustainability-linked loans, while noting that a lack of usable data remains a primary barrier to widespread adoption of quantitative biodiversity metrics.

The report analyzes national MEL systems for climate adaptation in nine countries, noting progress since 2014 in integrating MEL into national adaptation plans (NAPs). While monitoring and reporting are common, evaluation and learning activities are less prominent. The study finds that the systematic integration of gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) is insufficient, though Kenya and Vietnam provide examples of specific GESI indicators. It also emphasizes the link between national systems and global UNFCCC processes, such as the UAE Framework for Global Climate Resilience.

In the first half of 2024, wind and solar power generated 30% of the EU's electricity, surpassing fossil fuels (27%) for the first time. This transition occurred despite a 0.7% increase in electricity demand. Fossil fuel generation fell by 17%, with coal dropping by 24% and gas by 14%. Renewables overall provided 50% of the EU's electricity, aided by a 21% rebound in hydro generation. Power sector emissions decreased by 17% compared to the same period in 2023, and are 31% lower than in the first half of 2022. While capacity additions are high, the report notes a gap between national ambitions and the EU's 2030 targets under the REPowerEU plan, particularly for wind energy.

Friends of the Earth Africa rejects the claim that fossil fuel expansion serves African interests, asserting that such projects lead to environmental degradation and human rights abuses rather than energy access. The organization advocates for a people-led transition to clean energy, the rejection of gas as a transition fuel, and the demand for technology transfers and grants to cover ecological debts owed to the region.

The report addresses the barrier of limited grid capacity in Europe's energy transition, proposing the use of hosting capacity maps to help developers of renewables, electrolysers, and data centres select optimal connection locations. It notes that while EU legislation now mandates these maps for TSOs and DSOs, there is a lack of specificity in their design. The authors provide a framework for an "ideal" map, recommending substation-level granularity, open-source data access, and the inclusion of planned grid investments to improve network efficiency and investment speed.

The briefing establishes that fossil fuels are responsible for approximately 70% of carbon dioxide emissions since the industrial revolution, with a small number of companies contributing a disproportionate share. It highlights the role of attribution science in linking specific extreme weather events to climate change and details the growing trend of using the 'polluter pays' principle in litigation and legislation to hold these companies financially accountable. The document further argues that to meet the 1.5C target, global fossil fuel production must decrease significantly by 2030, supported by a transition to renewable energy and electric vehicles.