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The document argues that current climate finance flows are insufficient to meet Paris Agreement goals, with a significant gap in EMDEs and LDCs due to high capital costs and strained public finances. It proposes that G7 countries accelerate finance through blended finance, debt-for-climate swaps, and MDB reforms. Specific recommendations include establishing a global risk mitigation facility, coordinating green industrial policies to avoid protectionism, and implementing universal disaster index insurance to reduce vulnerability in emerging economies.

The report assesses the current state of critical mineral supply chains across ASEAN Member States, highlighting the region's role as a major producer of nickel, tin, and rare earths. It examines the impact of the energy transition and digital revolution, analyzing value chain stages from exploration to recycling. The study emphasizes the potential for regional integration, particularly in electric vehicle (EV) and battery manufacturing, while cautioning on the need for robust environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards to attract investment and ensure sustainable development.

The report investigates the ESG performance of Chinese-led infrastructure projects across Africa and Southeast Asia, arguing that failures often stem from a combination of opaque procurement processes, weak host-country institutional capacity, and the agency of Chinese contractors. It highlights five critical areas of concern: tender and impact assessment processes, land acquisition and community displacement, debt transparency, inter-authority conflict, and long-term economic viability. Through case studies in countries such as Kenya, Cambodia, Indonesia, Zimbabwe, and Nigeria, the report demonstrates how the 'adaptive governance' of Chinese firms—adjusting standards to match weak local regulations—often leads to negative socio-environmental outcomes. It concludes that while China is developing domestic ESG frameworks, these are not consistently applied overseas, and recommends greater loan transparency and the establishment of independent ESG feasibility studies.

The report highlights how gender and intersectional dimensions are rarely integrated into air pollution policy in the ASEAN region due to a lack of disaggregated data. It argues that gender influences exposure patterns—with women often facing higher household pollution and men facing higher occupational exposure—and calls for a 'data revolution' to identify vulnerable groups and design targeted mitigation measures.

The document identifies that girls and young women in Asia and the Pacific employ diverse strategies for climate advocacy, ranging from grassroots action to digital mobilization, but face significant structural barriers including restrictive gender and age norms, shrinking civic spaces, and 'youthwashing'. It recommends that international and regional policymakers institutionalize inclusive youth-engagement mechanisms and protect the rights of young women to freedom of expression and assembly.

The document analyzes the scale and geographic distribution of the global plastics trade, which reached a value of at least $1.2 trillion in 2021. It categorizes trade into non-hidden, semi-hidden, and hidden flows, noting that official Harmonized System (HS) codes fail to capture significant volumes of embedded plastics and packaging. The analysis identifies China, the EU, and the US as dominant players and highlights the shift of plastic waste flows toward developing Asia-Pacific nations following China's import bans. The authors argue for updating HS classifications in the 2027 cycle to improve data on polymer types, recycled content, and chemicals of concern to support global efforts to end plastic pollution.

The paper examines the rise of trade measures based on non-product-related process and production methods (PPMs) used to address climate change, biodiversity loss, and human rights. It analyzes the legal requirements for such measures to be WTO-compliant, highlighting the importance of non-discrimination and proportionality. The authors provide examples of current PPM-based policies, including forced labour import bans, deforestation-free supply chain regulations, and sustainability-linked tariff preferences in regional trade agreements, while noting ongoing WTO disputes between the EU, Indonesia, and Malaysia over biofuels.

A coalition of environmental and social organizations urges G7 nations to cease the promotion and financing of fossil fuel-based technologies, such as ammonia and hydrogen co-firing, in climate-vulnerable developing nations. The statement specifically criticizes Japan's Green Transformation (GX) policy and the continued investment in fossil gas in Southeast Asia, arguing that these 'false solutions' risk stranded assets and undermine the 1.5-degree Celsius Paris Agreement goal.

In 2022, global electricity generation remained dominated by fossil fuels at 61%, though wind and solar reached a record 12% share. Despite record growth in renewables, global power sector emissions hit an all-time high of 12,431 mtCO2, driven by rising demand in major economies like China and India. The report highlights a gap between current trends and the IEA Net Zero Emissions scenario, which requires a rapid phase-out of unabated coal and gas by 2035-2040.

In 2022, global electricity reached its lowest emissions intensity ever at 436 gCO2/kWh, with wind and solar hitting a record 12% of generation. Despite this, total power sector CO2 emissions reached a record high of 12,431 mtCO2 because wind and solar growth could not fully keep pace with a 2.5% increase in global electricity demand. This gap was filled by coal and other fossils, with coal generation rising by 108 TWh to a record 10,186 TWh. While clean electricity sources other than wind and solar saw their first year-on-year decline since 2011 due to nuclear outages and droughts, 2022 is characterized as an 'accelerator year' due to policy shifts like the EU's REPowerEU and the US Inflation Reduction Act.

The SRMI-Resilience program aims to deploy 2.16 GW of renewable energy and reduce GHG emissions by 55.01 million tons of CO2eq across Ethiopia, Guinea Bissau, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Seychelles, Somalia, Tajikistan, and Tunisia. The initiative combines technical assistance, public investments in grid resilience, and risk mitigation instruments to unlock an estimated USD 1.8 billion in private investment. Key adaptation goals include providing 3.2 million people with electricity to power cooling systems during heat waves and upgrading grid infrastructure to withstand climate hazards like floods and cyclones.

The Koalisi Advokasi Kiba reports a pattern of industrial accidents at PT. Huadi Group in the Bantaeng Industrial Area, including a recent incident where a worker lost a leg. Citing 12 accidents and four deaths between 2020 and 2023, the coalition calls for a temporary halt to production, legal investigations, the ratification of ILO Conventions 155 and 161, and a revision of Law No. 1 of 1970 to increase sanctions for companies violating safety standards.

The document defines greenwashing in the financial sector as false or misleading representations of environmental impact and warns that it can misallocate capital and undermine the Paris Agreement. It outlines five categories of evolving regulation—disclosure, labelling, ratings, taxonomies, and net zero integrity—and classifies enforcement actions into brand, product, financing, and reporting greenwashing. To mitigate risk, the guide proposes 'five pillars' of guarding against greenwashing: screening claims, ensuring transparency, aligning internal actions with public image, monitoring regulatory changes, and adhering to fiduciary duties.

In 2022, wind and solar reached a record 12% share of global electricity, driving carbon intensity to a record low of 436 gCO2/kWh. However, absolute power sector emissions reached an all-time high of 12,431 mtCO2 because clean power growth did not fully meet rising global demand, which grew by 2.5% (+694 TWh). While coal generation rose by 1.1% to a record 10,186 TWh, the report forecasts that 2023 could be the first year of structural decline in fossil generation and the peak for power sector emissions. The analysis highlights a significant gap between current growth and the IEA NZE pathway, which requires wind and solar to reach 41% of global generation by 2030.

The report indicates that while global coal capacity is nearing an end with one-third of the 580 GW fleet having set closure dates, the pace of exit is insufficient to meet Paris Agreement goals. China is a major outlier, with its development-stage capacity increasing by 32% to 366 GW in 2022, while the rest of the world saw a 22% decrease. In the EU and UK, the energy crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine slowed retirements and led to the temporary restart of some units, though coal's share of electricity production only rose by 1%. Turkey ranks third globally in developing coal capacity with approximately 11 GW of announced projects, though many face financing and legal hurdles, and the government plans only 3.2 GW of new coal capacity by 2035.

The report highlights a global divergence in coal energy trends: while OECD countries and much of the world outside China are reducing coal capacity and increasing retirements, China is significantly expanding its domestic coal pipeline. The document notes that one-third of global coal capacity has a set phase-out date, yet the overall pace remains insufficient to meet Paris Agreement targets. Specific focus is given to Pakistan, where a shift toward local coal is increasing despite environmental concerns and international pledges.

The report finds that while the world outside China is nearing a 'no new coal' milestone, a massive surge in coal permitting and construction in China is offsetting global progress. In 2022, the global coal fleet grew by 19.5 GW, driven by China, which now accounts for 68% of global capacity under development. While the U.S. and EU continue to retire capacity, the pace of global retirements remains far below the levels required to meet a 1.5C pathway, which would necessitate an average of 117 GW of retirements per year. The report also highlights the role of private finance, noting that most financial institutions' coal policies remain insufficient to align with climate science.

The Universal Energy Facility (UEF), managed by Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), launched the 'Stand-Alone Solar for Productive Use' (SSPU) programme in Nigeria in 2022. This results-based financing (RBF) initiative provides grants to renewable energy companies to deploy solar and storage solutions for businesses and households, aiming to displace polluting generators. An initial USD 10 million in funding was allocated to ten companies to provide over 3,500 electricity connections. The programme seeks to improve energy access, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and foster economic productivity by lowering the up-front costs of solar installation.

The document analyzes how media coverage of migration often relies on biased, superficial narratives that 'other' migrants or frame them as security threats. It advocates for a rights-based approach to communication, highlighting the role of digital technologies in supporting migrants while warning against corporate digital monopolies. Through case studies in Asia-Pacific, Nigeria, West Papua, and the Dominican Republic, it demonstrates the barriers migrants face in exercising their communication rights and provides specific ethical recommendations for journalists to foster more inclusive and accurate reporting.

This report by Trend Asia examines Indonesia's energy transition policies, specifically focusing on the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) and the role of the state electricity company, PLN, in managing energy capacity and emissions.