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The text examines how regional governments and cities can maintain climate ambitions despite national withdrawals from international agreements, such as the US's proposed exit from the Paris Agreement. It highlights the Under2MoU as a global sub-national alliance and details Baden-Württemberg's legal and strategic approach to climate neutrality, while noting that regional success remains dependent on supportive national and EU frameworks.

The text emphasizes that while climate change is a global challenge requiring national commitments like the Paris Agreement, effective action is often anchored at the subnational level. It highlights the Under2MoU alliance, co-founded by Baden-Württemberg and California, as a model for regional leadership. The author, Franz Untersteller, details Baden-Württemberg's specific goals—including a 90% emission reduction by 2050—while noting that regional success is limited by the need for stronger regulatory frameworks from the German federal government and the European Union.

The document analyzes how the rise of variable renewable energy (VRE) undermines current electricity market designs, which rely on short-term marginal costs often set by natural gas. It highlights risks such as zero or negative pricing and increased financing costs due to investor uncertainty. To resolve this, the authors propose splitting the system into an 'energy market' for long-term, low-risk contracts for capital-intensive resources and a 'delivery market' that uses locational marginal pricing to incentivize flexibility from batteries, demand response, and dispatchable plants.

The GPP Bhutan (GPPB) project, led by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), worked over 3.5 years to scale up public demand for environmentally and socially preferred goods and services. The project focused on research, policy support, and capacity building, resulting in the training of nearly 100 civil servants and 57 representatives from higher educational institutions. Key achievements include the official endorsement of GPP recommendations by the Ministry of Finance in 2015, the establishment of a parliamentary working group, and the institutionalization of a GPP curriculum at the Royal Institute of Management (RIM). The project also provided technical assistance for pilot projects with the City of Thimphu and the Ministry of Works and Human Settlements, emphasizing life-cycle costing and green infrastructure criteria.

The report assesses the evidence on whether investment treaties attract foreign direct investment (FDI), facilitate domestic reforms, or limit government policy space. It finds that while treaties may modestly increase FDI, particularly in high-sunk-cost sectors like mining, they often benefit foreign investors at the expense of host states through distributive effects and potential regulatory chill. The evidence on other claimed benefits, such as 'levelling the playing field' or depoliticizing disputes, is found to be limited or contradictory.

The report argues that terrorism and violent extremism are highly gendered activities and that PVE and CT responses are more sustainable and effective when they promote gender equality and women's empowerment. It identifies gaps in global policy implementation, highlights the gendered impact of CT human rights violations, and warns against the instrumentalisation of women in PVE programming. The authors recommend a shift toward context-specific, human rights-compliant strategies that engage both men and women as equal actors, particularly through a focus on parenting.

The paper analyzes the technical challenges of accounting for internationally transferred mitigation outcomes (ITMOs) given the diversity of nationally determined contributions (NDCs). It focuses on four primary areas: the definition and scope of ITMOs, methods to avoid double counting through corresponding adjustments, the accounting of mitigation outcomes' vintage relative to target time frames, and the governance of tracking systems. The authors recommend an emissions-based approach to corresponding adjustments and the adoption of common multi-year target periods to prevent increases in aggregated global greenhouse gas emissions.

The document examines the gap in the Paris Agreement regarding fossil fuel supply and proposes mechanisms to address it. It suggests that countries could use Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and Long-Term Strategies (LTSs) to articulate production phase-downs. The authors argue that such actions would provide clearer signals to financial markets, foster international norms, and support a just transition for affected workers. The paper identifies several entry points within the Paris Agreement, including the enhanced transparency framework, the global stocktake, and finance reform, while acknowledging that consensus-based decision-making in the UNFCCC may require a 'coalition of the willing' to lead by example.

The author examines the relationship between rising global military spending and international stability, arguing that the logic of deterrence often fails to eliminate threats like terrorism and can instead trigger security dilemmas. The text highlights a negative correlation between military spending and GDP growth, particularly in OECD countries, and suggests that diverting funds toward social policy could reduce radicalization. It proposes that the EU should prioritize integrated defense instruments, such as EU battlegroups, and strengthen arms control regulations to mitigate the risks of an inflationary arms race.

The paper estimates the CER supply potential for 2013-2020 at 4.7 billion CERs, noting that 82% comes from projects not vulnerable to discontinuing greenhouse gas abatement. This figure is significantly lower than the 7.7 G t CO2 e estimated in project design documents, with hydro and wind power projects providing the largest share (61%) of the potential.

The U.S. Climate Alliance, formed in June 2017, consists of 13 states and one territory committed to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 26-28 percent from 2005 levels by 2025. This bipartisan effort is complemented by city-led initiatives like the Mayors National Climate Action Agenda and the 'We Are Still In' coalition, which includes businesses and universities. These subnational actors aim to maintain U.S. alignment with the Paris Agreement's goal of keeping global warming below 2 degrees Celsius, despite the lack of federal mandate or funding.

The report presents five scenarios demonstrating that global warming can be limited to well below 2 C° if the world leverages exponential technological improvements and S-curve market diffusion. It highlights that experts often underestimate the speed of energy transitions by ignoring learning rates and systemic feedbacks. The proposed pathways involve reducing energy demand by approximately 60% through efficiency and electrification, shifting the electricity supply to over 90% renewables by 2040 in aggressive scenarios, and transforming agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU) into a net carbon sink by the mid-2040s.

The author contends that European security requires a shift from simple integration to a multifaceted approach combining 'soft, hard, and smart power'. Key priorities include meeting the 2% GDP defense spending target through joint capabilities, securing external EU borders, supporting state-building in fragile neighboring countries, and investing in green technology and development in Sub-Saharan Africa to mitigate migration and instability caused by climate change.

The author critiques the We-Fi initiative's potential reliance on 'economic instrumentalism,' warning that financial access cannot solve gender inequality if structural barriers—such as property laws and patriarchal social norms—remain unaddressed.

The German G20 presidency focused on 'Shaping an Interconnected World' through initiatives like the Compact with Africa and the Marshall Plan for Africa, aimed at reducing investment risks and addressing migration root causes. However, the 2017 Hamburg summit faced significant tension due to US President Donald Trump's protectionist agenda and withdrawal from the Paris Climate Change Agreement. The author suggests that a broad G20 agenda—covering everything from tax cooperation to the 2030 Agenda—may help Chancellor Merkel find common ground with the US despite deep disagreements on trade and climate.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel sought to establish a 'Compact with Africa' during her 2017 G20 presidency to foster genuine partnerships based on agreed goals and performance standards. The initiative aims to create stable investment environments for infrastructure development while addressing mutual responsibilities in migration, corruption, and counter-terrorism. Key priorities for the compact's success include funding the Green Climate Fund to help African nations adapt to global warming, curbing illicit financial flows—estimated by the AU/UN to exceed $50 billion annually—and utilizing the African Peer Review Mechanism for governance monitoring. The document notes that US reluctance toward multilateralism under Donald Trump complicates these efforts, particularly regarding famine relief and climate finance.

The World Resources Institute urges the U.S. government to support the TCFD's voluntary climate-risk disclosure framework at the 2017 G20 Summit. The author contends that climate change poses material financial risks—citing potential GDP losses and operational shutdowns—and that a consistent reporting framework is necessary to prevent capital losses and disorderly asset price changes. The document highlights strong support for these guidelines from major U.S. corporations and institutional investors, arguing that U.S. endorsement ensures the country helps shape a private-sector-led regime rather than being subject to foreign mandates.

The World Resources Institute asserts that G20 nations, which represent 80 percent of global GDP and greenhouse gas emissions, should reject the notion that climate action hinders economic growth. The author urges G20 leaders to support the German G20 Action Plan on Climate and Energy Growth and emphasizes the critical role of emerging economies like China and India in leading the global clean energy market following the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement.

The report argues that South Africa's lack of regulation on private political funding has enabled a system where state power is leveraged for party finance, leading to 'state capture' and the hollowing out of administrative capacity. It highlights the use of state resources for campaigning and the role of internal party factions in driving political corruption. PARI recommends mandatory disclosure of all funding, caps on private donations, and an independent monitoring body.

The 2017 Allianz Climate and Energy Monitor finds that while emerging markets like China and India are seeing a boom in renewable energy installations driven by falling costs, OECD countries—specifically Germany, the UK, and France—remain the most attractive investment destinations due to stable policy frameworks. The report highlights a significant investment gap, stating that G20 countries must roughly double annual investments to meet Paris Agreement goals, with absolute needs reaching USD 709 billion per year (2012 prices) between 2014 and 2035. It notes a global shift from feed-in tariffs to auction-based support systems and warns that governments must now transition from focusing on generation to holistic power system design to integrate variable renewables and avoid curtailment.