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The report examines how Chinese state-owned banks, having undergone domestic reform and international listing, are expanding into Africa. This expansion is driven by the need for resource security and the 'follow your client' model, where banks support Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and SMEs. Key mechanisms include project finance via China ExIm Bank and China Development Bank, the establishment of the China-Africa Development Fund, and strategic equity investments, such as ICBC's 20% stake in South Africa's Standard Bank.

The report details France's transition from a neo-colonial 'policeman' of francophone Africa to a more diversified continental strategy that prioritizes economic interests and partnerships with non-franc zone powers like South Africa. It examines the shift from direct military intervention to supporting African-owned peacekeeping, the contradictions in French development aid versus its Common Agricultural Policy, and the growth of bilateral trade and investment between France and South Africa.

The document examines the shift in India's Africa policy from Cold War-era support for anti-colonial and anti-apartheid struggles to a modern approach centered on economic diplomacy and energy security. While India seeks to secure crude oil and LNG to fuel its projected economic growth, the author argues that its engagement remains 'development friendly' and 'Third Worldist,' evidenced by diversified trade, capacity-building initiatives, and multilateral cooperation through forums like IBSA.

Insufficient cold chain logistics and unreliable electricity access are estimated to leave approximately 2.7 billion people without dependable vaccine access. In Sub-Saharan Africa, a significant portion of health facilities lack reliable power, undermining healthcare quality and vaccine efficacy. To mitigate these gaps, organizations like Gavi and UNICEF are deploying solar-powered refrigeration, while the World Bank provides financing for health system strengthening and cold chain equipment.

The document argues that agroforestry provides a viable alternative to monoculture reforestation and intensified agriculture by creating multi-functional land-use systems. It highlights that 'land-sharing' through agroforestry can actually support 'land-sparing' by reducing the pressure to deforest for agricultural expansion. Using case studies from Sri Lanka and Vietnam, the brief demonstrates how home gardens and forest gardens increase tree cover and improve rural resilience. It also notes the success of nitrogen-fixing species in Africa and the use of rubber and cocoa agroforests in Indonesia and globally. The authors conclude that successful implementation requires secure land tenure, local context-specific choices, and inter-agency collaboration.

The document evaluates the evolution of REDD+ from local projects to jurisdictional approaches, noting that while national initiatives have improved forest monitoring and governance, most have failed to reverse absolute deforestation. It highlights the emergence of subnational jurisdictional strategies as a way to link climate incentives with sustainable supply chains and recommends a rights-based approach that prioritizes indigenous peoples and local communities.

The report describes the transition of Global Forest Watch from GFW 1.0, which relied on laborious manual data collection and paper maps in pilot countries, to GFW 2.0, a transformative online platform launched in 2014. Developed through a partnership between the World Resources Institute, Google, and the University of Maryland, GFW 2.0 utilizes satellite data and cloud computing to provide near real-time deforestation alerts. The platform is used by corporations like Nestlé and Unilever to clean supply chains, by indigenous communities to protect ancestral lands, and by civil society to fight illegal logging. Notably, the document highlights that communities in Peru using GFW have reduced deforestation rates by at least 58%.

The 'Food is Local' fellowship by WWF International provides funding for master's and PhD students from 32 eligible countries to conduct interdisciplinary research on transforming food systems to be more sustainable, equitable, and climate-resilient. Eligible applicants must be citizens of the listed countries, have two years of conservation experience, and plan to start their studies by January 2024. Research proposals are encouraged to cover themes such as agroecological practices, gender equity, and the role of food systems in achieving Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

The ESMF provides a structured approach to managing the risks associated with a project designed to integrate a national human-wildlife conflict (HWC) strategy into Gabon's Project Finance for Permanence (PFP) mechanism. The project targets four national parks—Loango, Mayumba, Minkébé, and Monts de Cristal—to improve coexistence between humans and wildlife, specifically addressing crop-raiding by elephants. Because the project involves Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs), the framework mandates Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), the development of site-specific Indigenous Peoples Plans (IPPs), and Livelihood Restoration Plans (LRPs) if resource access is restricted. It also outlines a multi-tiered grievance redress mechanism and specific mitigation measures for gender-based violence and sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment (SEAH).

The document argues for a shift away from destructive virgin mining toward circular economies and strategic land-use planning in Africa. It highlights the risks transition mineral extraction poses to water security, food supply, carbon sinks, and biodiversity, while calling for the formalisation of artisanal mining and the enforcement of labour rights. The paper recommends that mining licences be contingent on guaranteed funding for rehabilitation and that international cooperation, including traceability frameworks and fair finance, be established to prevent the 'resource curse'.