Search Climate Insights Directory

The document outlines specific legal and systemic barriers to environmental justice in four European nations, highlighting issues such as restrictive standing for NGOs, lack of judicial specialization, and ineffective injunctive relief.

The 2020 assessment finds that supply chain efforts have failed to eliminate deforestation from agricultural commodities, with tree cover loss in 2018 remaining similar to levels before the New York Declaration on Forests. While palm oil and timber sectors show more advanced commitment and traceability tools, the beef and soy sectors in Latin America lag significantly. Most corporate commitments lack comprehensive scope, and full traceability to the point of production remains rare. The report highlights a gap in reporting, with many influential companies failing to disclose progress, and notes that financial institutions have largely failed to set clear policies to remove deforestation from their investments.

The report examines how shifting from a linear 'take, make, waste' model to a circular economy affects job creation and quality. It highlights that while circular production is generally more labour-intensive and can lead to net job gains—particularly in reprocessing and renewable energy—the transition requires 'just transition' policies to ensure jobs are 'decent' and inclusive. The document identifies specific sectors poised for growth, such as secondary steel reprocessing, and those facing decline, such as crude petroleum extraction, while noting a significant 'circularity gap' in the current global economy.

G20 governments provided an annual average of $584 billion in support for fossil fuels from 2017 to 2019, with oil and gas production receiving the largest share. While overall support dropped by 9% compared to 2014–2016, this decline was inconsistent across countries and partly driven by lower oil prices. The report finds that state-owned enterprise (SOE) investment is the only support mechanism that increased overall, and that COVID-19 recovery packages have introduced at least $170 billion in new commitments to fossil fuel-intensive sectors, threatening to undo previous progress.

Reclaim Finance argues that the Trucost list used by the Fédération bancaire française (FBF) fails to capture the full coal value chain and omits major global coal actors, including large Chinese and Russian firms. The analysis highlights significant discrepancies in revenue estimations for companies like Glencore and Adani Enterprises compared to the Global Coal Exit List (GCEL), suggesting that Trucost's methodology may lead financial institutions to underestimate their exposure to coal and carbon-intensive activities.

Reclaim Finance compares the Trucost list used by the French Banking Federation with the Global Coal Exit List (GCEL), arguing that Trucost significantly underrepresents coal exposure. The analysis finds that Trucost misses critical coal infrastructure projects, major global coal companies, and hundreds of firms planning new coal capacity. Furthermore, the report highlights discrepancies in revenue estimations for companies like Glencore, Adani Enterprises, and Sasol, suggesting that Trucost's methodology may allow financial institutions to continue supporting high-emission entities despite their exclusion policies.

The document evaluates the coal exit policies of French financial actors, highlighting a lack of uniformity and the failure of some to meet 2019 commitments. It details five categories of best practices: halting new projects and infrastructure, excluding companies with coal development plans, setting low revenue/production thresholds for exclusion, applying absolute exclusion limits for the largest coal actors, and requiring companies to publish closure plans that prioritize shutting down assets over selling them.

The report highlights the environmental and social devastation caused by soy expansion in the Brazilian Cerrado, where 50% of the original area has been destroyed. It identifies a high concentration of market power in the 'ABCD' group of traders (ADM, Bunge, Cargill, and Louis Dreyfus), who control 56% of global exports. The authors criticize French banks—notably BNP Paribas, Société Générale, BPCE, Crédit Agricole, and Crédit Mutuel—for providing billions of dollars in financing to these traders despite voluntary climate commitments. The report calls for financial actors to mandate a 'cut-off date' of January 1, 2020, beyond which soy from converted lands is no longer accepted, and to implement full traceability and independent monitoring.

An analysis of 442 savings funds marketed in France reveals that 86.2% are exposed to companies with critical environmental or social risks, including major greenhouse gas emitters, arms manufacturers, and coal companies. The report highlights a significant gap between French citizens' desire for sustainable investments and the reality of current financial products, noting that 94% of studied ISR-labeled funds still finance these problematic companies. Reclaim Finance calls for mandatory climate requirements for all financial products in France, stricter standards for 'green' or 'sustainable' labels, and the implementation of a 'nutri-score' for financial products to increase transparency.

The document highlights a significant misalignment between government energy production plans and Paris Agreement goals, noting that governments planned to extract 60% more oil, 70% more gas, and 280% more coal by 2030 than is consistent with a 1.5°C pathway. It suggests that NDCs and LT-LEDS can be used to communicate pathways, targets, and policy measures to manage the transition away from fossil fuels while ensuring a just transition for affected workers and communities.

The paper evaluates the 2008–09 green stimulus, finding that while it supported GDP and job creation in economies like the US, China, South Korea, and the EU, it failed to create a long-term low-carbon trajectory due to a lack of structural reforms and the persistence of fossil fuel subsidies.

The document outlines a readiness project implemented by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) to support 13 accredited and applicant Direct Access Entities (DAEs) within the International Development Finance Club (IDFC). The project aims to remove barriers to GCF accreditation and funding by providing technical assistance for fiduciary, environmental, social, and gender policies, and by developing climate finance tools for risk and impact assessment. Key deliverables include an IDFC-GCF Toolkit, a joint DAE-IDFC Work Program, and the development of multi-country concept notes focusing on climate-resilient recovery post-COVID-19, specifically targeting MSMEs and vulnerable populations in sectors like renewable energy and sustainable land use.

The document argues that while a 'grand theory' of migration does not exist, researchers can use 'theoretical triangulation' to formulate testable propositions. It presents ten such propositions covering the roles of pre-existing connections, social networks, involuntary immobility, resource constraints, environmental stress, violent conflict, economic development, development aid, and the effectiveness and unintended consequences of migration policies.

The Changing Markets Foundation's letter to Danone highlights a global trend of corporations undermining plastic legislation and critiques Danone's lack of transparency regarding reuse systems and sustainability criteria for bio-plastics, while acknowledging its support for mandatory collection systems.

The Banque de France is criticized for failing to adopt a coal exit policy aligned with the Paris Agreement and for continuing to finance unconventional fossil fuels, despite commitments from other French financial players.

The report evaluates EU progress toward ending overfishing by 2020, finding that more than half of the assessed TACs for 2019 still exceeded scientific advice. It highlights inconsistent adherence to advice for data-limited stocks and identifies several Member States that pushed for unsustainable catch limits.

The sustainable debt market in H1 2020 was characterized by a shift in composition due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a surge in pandemic and social bonds offsetting a significant decline in green bond volumes. While green bonds historically dominated, H1 2020 saw a more even split between themes, with pandemic-related investments likely financing around half of the total sustainable debt market. The report highlights the emergence of pandemic bonds, primarily in China, and the role of supranationals in sustainability issuance. Policy-wise, it examines the 'build back better' agenda, the development of taxonomies in the EU and China, and the increasing involvement of central banks and stock exchanges in integrating climate risk into financial systems.

The report finds that the EU missed its 2020 deadline to end overfishing, with nearly half of the analyzed TACs for 2020 still exceeding scientific advice. It highlights a systemic failure to follow precautionary advice for data-limited stocks and a tendency to prioritize target stocks over bycatch stocks. The analysis identifies specific Member States—including France, Ireland, and Spain—as frequently pushing for unsustainable catch limits based on unsubstantiated socio-economic claims. The document also criticizes the lack of transparency in the TAC-setting process and the potential for misleading reporting by the European Commission.

The document explores the precautionary principle as a guide for decision-makers to protect the environment and public health despite scientific uncertainty. It traces the principle's origins from Swedish national law and the 1972 Stockholm Conference to its formalization in the 1992 Rio Declaration and integration into the EU's Maastricht Treaty. The text highlights the principle's role in addressing climate change and biodiversity, while noting the ongoing tension between environmental precaution and economic development.

Djibouti leverages its strategic position at the Bab el Mandab strait to maintain agency despite a highly asymmetrical relationship with China. While China has become a primary creditor and infrastructure provider through the Belt and Road Initiative, Djibouti manages this influence by hosting multiple foreign military bases and diversifying its economic partnerships with the US, France, and Saudi Arabia. President Ismail Omar Guelleh has recently worked to reduce China's dominance by renegotiating loans and postponing projects to avoid excessive debt distress.