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The report identifies 24 'deforestation fronts' across Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and Oceania where over 43 million hectares of forest were lost between 2004 and 2017. It argues that while commercial agriculture, tree plantations, and extractive activities are primary drivers, responses must be tailored to local contexts and integrated across area-based and sector-specific approaches to be effective.

The report finds that current efforts by companies and governments are insufficient to meet the 2020 goal of eliminating deforestation from agricultural supply chains. While some progress has been made in palm oil and timber, commitments for soy and cattle remain low, and reporting on implementation is often inadequate and self-reported. The document highlights a shift toward jurisdictional approaches in producer countries and the introduction of demand-side regulations in consumer regions like the EU and California.

The report examines South Africa's historical and recent involvement in Burundi, highlighting a transition from significant military and diplomatic leadership during the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement to a more peripheral role following Burundi's 2015 political crisis. While South Africa has provided tangible support in electoral capacity building and civil service training, the report finds that bilateral agreements have been implemented in a fragmented manner. It emphasizes the value of 'citizen diplomacy' through civil society and academic exchanges, particularly in supporting Burundi's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The authors argue that South Africa should leverage its remaining political capital and technical expertise through a holistic strategy that navigates complex regional dynamics involving the East African Community (EAC) and the International Conference for the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR).

The Republic of Congo is revising its forest legislation to include community forestry for the first time. ClientEarth identifies five priority areas for the new legal framework: clear land and forest tenure rights, accessible allocation processes, principles for community governance, simple management rules, and equitable benefit-sharing mechanisms. The briefing emphasizes that current proposals lack precision in these areas and calls for an inclusive, participatory drafting process involving local communities and indigenous populations to avoid implementation challenges and elite capture.

The report examines the complex relationship between the African Union (AU) and Regional Economic Communities (RECs), specifically the application of 'subsidiarity'—the principle that regional structures should lead in their own jurisdictions. It highlights systemic failures in North Africa due to the inactivity of the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), tensions between the AU and SADC over elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the AU's successful re-assumption of leadership in the Central African Republic. The document also notes the East African Community's (EAC) internal trade disputes, ECOWAS's struggle to adapt to violent extremism in the Sahel, and the general lack of civil society engagement within the AU and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

The report examines the 2019 outlook for the African Union's Peace and Security Council, highlighting the potential return of major powers like South Africa and Ethiopia to the council. It critiques the slow implementation of AU reforms, specifically regarding financial self-sufficiency and the reduction of the AU Commission. The document details a volatile 2019 electoral calendar across 11+ countries and warns of escalating instability in Gabon, Cameroon, and the Sahel. Additionally, it discusses the progress of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the tensions surrounding AU-EU negotiations.

The document argues that the RSPO serves as a greenwashing tool for the industrial palm oil industry, failing to address a production model based on land grabbing, deforestation, and labor exploitation. It asserts that voluntary certification cannot replace state regulation and calls for a moratorium on plantation expansion and a reduction in palm oil demand.

The document argues that the RSPO serves as a 'greenwashing' tool for the palm oil industry, failing to prevent deforestation and land grabbing while promoting a destructive industrial model. It calls for government moratoria on plantation expansion and a shift toward agroecology.

The document argues that the RSPO serves as a tool for 'greenwashing' the palm oil industry, masking systemic human rights violations and deforestation. It asserts that the RSPO's certification principles support a destructive industrial model based on large-scale monocultures, land grabbing, and labour exploitation. The authors call for government moratoria on plantation expansion, a reduction in palm oil demand, and the promotion of agroecology and community land rights.

The document examines the potential for African public pension funds and Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) to address an annual infrastructure investment deficit of $130–$170 billion. While these institutional investors possess long-term horizons and substantial assets—such as South Africa's $318 billion retirement fund industry—actual infrastructure investment remains low due to a preference for traditional assets, a lack of bankable project pipelines, and regulatory constraints. The paper analyzes the landscapes of five countries and identifies key barriers, including a shortage of liquid financial instruments and a lack of internal expertise to appraise complex infrastructure risks. It suggests that capacity building, resource pooling, and early engagement between developers and regulators are essential to stimulate institutional appetite for this asset class.

The paper examines how African countries attempt to move beyond the export of raw minerals through resource-based industrialisation, specifically focusing on the role of Chinese investment. It analyzes tools such as export restrictions, local content requirements, and fiscal policies, concluding that these measures often fail due to inadequate infrastructure, energy shortages, and a lack of human capital. The author argues for a shift toward 'product space diversification'—developing capabilities that allow for a broader variety of exports—rather than focusing solely on downstream mineral processing (beneficiation).

The document examines the increase in sovereign debt across Africa, specifically focusing on the role of Chinese financing and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It challenges the notion that China is 'trapping' African nations, noting that African governments actively seek these loans to address an annual infrastructure financing deficit of approximately $93 billion and to compensate for declining commodity prices. However, it highlights significant risks, including the opacity of loan terms, the potential for corruption, and the impact of debt servicing on public spending. The author recommends greater transparency from both China and African governments, and a stronger link between debt-funded projects and concrete local benefits.

The document analyzes the institutionalization of 'Xi Jinping Thought' and its impact on China-Africa relations, highlighting five trends: the centrality of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), support for UN reform, an expanded global military role, and stricter internet governance. It warns that while China offers development alternatives to the West, these trends may increase debt burdens, promote illiberal internet regimes, and increase the militarization of the continent.

The document identifies four critical areas for legal reform to prevent forest conversion: ensuring consistency between sectoral laws, establishing transparent land-title granting processes, formally recognizing customary land rights of local communities and indigenous peoples, and providing detailed implementation and enforcement mechanisms. It warns that legal ambiguity and a lack of stakeholder consultation lead to uncontrolled deforestation, land-tenure conflicts, and the potential for unfair evictions.

The document identifies five critical areas for legal reform to prevent illegal forest conversion: land allocation, clearance permits, conversion timber rules, environmental protections, and community rights. It highlights how contradictory laws, lack of transparency, and failure to recognize customary land tenure lead to uncontrolled deforestation and social conflict. The toolkit uses case studies from nine tropical countries to illustrate legal gaps and provides checklists for policy-makers to ensure comprehensive and enforceable regulations.

The document serves as an overview for a legal toolkit designed to help law-makers address the complexities of forest conversion laws. It identifies five key areas for legal attention: land allocation, clearing permits, timber rules, environmental protection, and community rights. The toolkit is based on an analysis of legal frameworks in nine tropical countries and focuses primarily on the regulation of large-scale projects to balance economic growth with environmental and social protections.

The document outlines the necessity of detailed, binding environmental legal tools to mitigate the impacts of forest conversion, such as biodiversity loss and climate change. It emphasizes the role of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), the importance of transparency, and the need for laws to be fit for the specific national context. Through case studies from Gabon, Ghana, Brazil, and Liberia, it illustrates how non-binding guidelines, limited agency capacity, and sustainability policies affect forest protection.

The document argues that formal legal recognition of customary land tenure and the inclusion of local communities in decision-making are essential for protecting both forest ecosystems and the livelihoods of indigenous peoples. It identifies key legal barriers—such as complex registration processes and a lack of implementing legislation—that lead to risks of eviction, land disputes, and land scarcity. The factsheet advocates for the integration of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) into national laws and provides a checklist of questions to guide law-makers through legal reform.

The workshop, organized by the IGF in partnership with the UNDP and OECD, focused on the 'IGF Guide for Governments: Managing Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining'. It combined technical training on strategy development—covering startup, elaboration, and implementation phases—with field visits to mining sites in Eséka and Pouma, Cameroon. Participants identified common regional challenges, including formalization, child labor, environmental degradation, and lack of institutional coordination, while sharing case studies from Cameroon, Guinea, Mauritania, and Morocco.

The paper identifies a lack of trust as a primary barrier to scaling REDD+ investment, stemming from system complexity, concerns over environmental and social robustness, and perceived implementation gaps. It proposes applying the International Accounting Standards Board's Conceptual framework for financial reporting to REDD+ accounting to address these issues. Key recommendations include tailoring reporting to end-users, standardising uncertainty analyses, requiring independent third-party verification, and creating a roadmap to harmonise reference levels and monitoring requirements across different global frameworks.