Search Climate Insights Directory

This briefing analyzes the rise of climate litigation against major fossil fuel companies, noting that 86 lawsuits have been filed, with annual filings nearly tripling since 2015. The most prevalent cases seek compensation for climate damages (38%), followed by claims of misleading advertising (16%) and demands for emissions reductions (12%). The report highlights a shift toward criminal litigation, targeting executives for 'crimes against humanity' and involuntary manslaughter, and notes a growing trend in challenging project permits and corporate directors' liability.

This briefing by Zero Carbon Analytics examines whether deep sea mining is necessary for the clean energy transition. It concludes that deep sea mining is unlikely to alleviate short-term mineral supply crunches because the technology for commercial extraction and processing is not yet available, and the steepest growth in mineral demand is expected before 2035. The document highlights that there is no physical scarcity of critical minerals in the earth's crust, but rather supply risks driven by lack of investment, recycling, and geopolitical concentration of processing in China. It suggests that sustainable land mining, supply diversification, recycling, and material substitution are more viable alternatives to deep sea mining, which carries significant unknown environmental risks.

A retrospective report by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) detailing ten years of the Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance (the Lab). The document analyzes the Lab's role as a market-builder and pipeline incubator, sharing lessons on balancing financial innovation with actionability to mobilize private capital for climate mitigation and adaptation in emerging markets.

This report, prepared for the G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group, analyzes 12 case studies of blended finance instruments designed to overcome barriers to investment in Nature-based Solutions (NbS). It explores how a combination of concessional capital, technical assistance, and risk-mitigation tools like guarantees can mobilize private investment across sectors including restoration, conservation, bioeconomy, agroforestry, and ocean/water management.

The 'Toolbox on Financing Nature-Based Solutions' report by the Climate Policy Initiative examines how blended finance can overcome barriers to investing in Nature-based Solutions (NbS). It highlights that because nature is often treated as a public good, it is difficult to monetize, leading to a market failure where harmful subsidies far exceed NbS investments. The report argues that the public sector must lead ecosystem building and provide concessional capital and technical assistance to prove commercial viability. Key findings emphasize that guarantees are the most catalytic tools for de-risking private investment, as demonstrated by case studies like the AGRI3 Fund and the Asia Climate-Smart Landscape Fund.

The Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) report 'Tracking and Mobilizing Private Sector Climate Adaptation Finance' introduces a new methodology and taxonomy to better track private sector investments in climate adaptation. By utilizing a bespoke taxonomy and a machine learning model, CPI increased the annual average of tracked private adaptation finance for the 2019-2022 period from USD 1 billion to USD 4.7 billion. The report identifies significant data gaps, particularly among insurers and pension funds, and highlights that the majority of tracked project-level investment is concentrated in the water and sanitation sector.

This report by Global Energy Monitor examines China's coal mining sector, highlighting a record-breaking production of 4,700 million tonnes in 2023 and a massive pipeline of proposed new capacity. It details the environmental impact, specifically the sector's role as a primary source of global coal mine methane emissions, and analyzes the tension between China's energy security needs and its 'dual-carbon' climate goals.

This briefing by the Stockholm Environment Institute examines the impact of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) on smallholder farmers in Southeast Asia. While the EUDR aims to eliminate deforestation from the EU market for six key commodities, the report highlights significant barriers for smallholders—including high compliance costs, lack of technical capacity, and land tenure insecurity—that risk excluding them from global value chains. The authors propose establishing knowledge hubs, financial support mechanisms, and enhanced stakeholder coordination to ensure an inclusive transition.

This briefing by Ember provides recommendations to Indonesia's Ministry of Environment and Forestry for the country's Second Nationally Determined Contribution (SNDC), specifically focusing on the reporting and mitigation of coal mine methane (CMM) emissions.

A policy brief by Ember providing recommendations to the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry for the Second Nationally Determined Contribution (SNDC), focusing on the accurate reporting and mitigation of coal mine methane (CMM) emissions.

Indonesia's power sector remains dominated by coal, with emissions rising significantly over the last decade. While the government is revising its National Energy Policy, potentially lowering renewable targets for 2025, the report argues that expanding clean energy—particularly in coal-producing regions like East Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, and South Sumatra—can drive economic growth, create up to 96,000 high-skilled jobs, and attract $9.4 billion in investment, thereby ensuring a more equitable energy transition.

This report by Ember analyzes Indonesia's energy transition, focusing on the RUPTL 2021-2030 and the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP). It argues that increasing renewable energy ambition, particularly in coal-producing regions, can drive economic growth, create high-skilled jobs, and reduce reliance on fossil fuels while ensuring a just transition for affected communities.

This report by Ember analyzes national wind capacity targets for 2030, finding that while current targets aim for a doubling of global capacity, they fall short of the tripling required to maintain the 1.5C climate goal. The report highlights a significant implementation gap outside of China, where most countries are projected to miss their targets, while China is expected to over-deliver.

This scoping study by the International Institute for Sustainable Development examines the mining sector's role in the global energy transition, focusing on its contribution to nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and the challenges of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in mineral-rich developing countries.

This research paper evaluates and refines the Tandem framework, a non-prescriptive guide for co-designing climate services. By applying the framework across diverse settings in Indonesia, Sweden, and Colombia, the authors demonstrate its ability to transform climate information from 'useful' to 'usable' and propose five specific enhancements to the original framework to better address vulnerability, equity, and governance.

This report by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and the Global Initiative for Economic, Social & Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR) analyzes the 2023 activities of UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies (HRTBs) regarding states' human rights obligations in the context of climate change. It tracks the increasing frequency of climate-related references in state reporting procedures and examines specific themes such as fossil fuel extraction, the right to a healthy environment, loss and damage, and intergenerational equity.

This report by the Climate Policy Initiative examines the role of community-based renewable energy (RE) mini-grids in providing electricity to remote areas of Eastern Indonesia. Through four case studies in East Nusa Tenggara and East Kalimantan, the report identifies community ownership and consensus as critical factors for the success and sustainability of decentralized RE projects, contrasting these with the significant lack of private sector interest due to high costs and perceived risks.

RMI conducted a pre-feasibility analysis in 2023 for a high-capacity coal plant in Indonesia to evaluate retirement and repurposing options. The study found that replacing the plant with solar and storage is the preferred solution, potentially avoiding tens of millions of tons of carbon emissions and generating tens of millions of dollars in free cash flow for equity investors, provided there is adequate land and cheap financing.

This report describes an innovative economic modelling approach developed by a consortium of research institutes to assist the Indonesian government in designing sustainable agrifood system policies to address food insecurity, malnutrition, and deforestation.

The 'Assessing National Enabling Framework Conditions for Urban Climate Finance' is a guide and tool developed by the Cities Climate Finance Leadership Alliance (CCFLA) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). It provides a standardized framework for national governments to evaluate and improve the regulatory, institutional, and financial conditions—referred to as Enabling Framework Conditions (EFCs)—that facilitate subnational governments' access to climate finance.