Search Climate Insights Directory

The report critiques neoliberal economic globalisation for driving inequality and environmental destruction. It proposes a transition to sustainable economies based on economic diversity, subsidiarity, and the prioritization of human rights and ecological limits over profit. Key recommendations include cancelling the financial debt of the global South, reforming the WTO, IMF, and World Bank under the UN, and implementing the precautionary and 'polluter pays' principles.

This report by Friends of the Earth (FoE) Asia Pacific outlines community-led solutions to combat inequality and climate change across the Asia Pacific region. It highlights specific projects in forest management, sustainable finance, food rights, renewable energy, and eco-tourism, calling for governments to scale up these models through supportive policy frameworks and legislative reforms.

This report by Friends of the Earth International examines the global crisis of water equity, focusing on the negative impacts of water privatization driven by international financial institutions and multinational corporations. It details specific cases of water scarcity, pollution, and social unrest in various countries, while proposing alternative, sustainable, and community-led water management models.

The 2020 Goal 2 Assessment finds that supply chain efforts failed to eliminate deforestation from agricultural commodity production by 2020, noting that while some sector-specific progress exists in Southeast Asia, global impacts remain difficult to link to company initiatives.

This document provides the key terms and methodology for the Forest Declaration Assessment, focusing on indicators for forest loss, degradation, and restoration. It details the use of a linear reduction pathway to reach 'gross zero' deforestation by 2030 and outlines the data sources and cost-effectiveness thresholds used to estimate global restoration potential through 2050.

This report by the CIFAR Alliance Investors Working Group explores how fintech innovations—specifically in data and digital infrastructure, online marketplaces, and insurtech—can scale climate resilience solutions for vulnerable communities in emerging markets. It presents 11 case studies of ventures that address both acute weather-related disasters and chronic long-term climate changes affecting livelihoods.

The Economics for Nature (E4N) report details a six-year global partnership (2016-2022) led by the Green Economy Coalition, the Green Growth Knowledge Partnership, the Capitals Coalition, and WWF France. The programme aimed to shift economic systems toward 'nature positive' models by making the value of natural capital visible in business, finance, and government decision-making. The report outlines key tools developed, lessons learned regarding the challenges of mainstreaming natural capital, and four 'frontiers' for future systemic economic reform to protect biodiversity and human wellbeing.

The BRICS nations experienced a record-breaking expansion of power capacity in 2025, characterized by a simultaneous surge in both fossil fuel and renewable energy installations. While solar and wind additions reached historic highs, primarily driven by China and India, fossil fuel capacity also saw its largest net annual increase on record. This 'split transition' is marked by a trend where coal capacity continues to grow even as coal-fired generation declines in leading nations due to the rapid scaling of renewables.

This document is a Vietnamese translation of excerpts from the 'Boom & Burst Coal 2024' report by Global Energy Monitor and its partners. It analyzes global coal power trends in 2023, highlighting a dichotomy where new construction has hit a 9-year low outside China but an 8-year high within China. The report provides a detailed assessment of Vietnam's energy transition, focusing on the Power Development Plan VIII (PDP8) and the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), while noting that global coal capacity reached an all-time high in 2023.

The 2026 report by Global Energy Monitor reveals a growing divergence between coal capacity and generation. While global capacity rose by 3.5% in 2025—driven largely by record additions in China and India—actual coal-fired generation fell by 0.6% as wind and solar met new demand. The report notes a significant slowdown in planned retirements in the US and EU, and a geographic narrowing of new coal development, with only 32 countries still proposing or building new plants. While Latin America has reached 'No New Coal' status, coal remains a tool for energy security in several major economies, often acting as a backup for renewable expansion.

A December 2019 briefing by Global Energy Monitor detailing the financial risks associated with Japanese public finance institutions' continued support for coal power projects in South and Southeast Asia amidst falling renewable energy costs.

The Sustainable Mobility Market Analysis and Opportunity Report by GreenCape evaluates the potential for establishing an electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing hub at the Atlantis Special Economic Zone (ASEZ) in the Western Cape, South Africa. It identifies strategic opportunities across various EV segments—from micro-mobility and public transport to heavy trucks—and emphasizes the need to move from simple assembly to local component manufacturing, particularly in battery cells and semi-conductors, to ensure economic sustainability and competitiveness.

This fact sheet by the Institute for Economic Justice examines the challenges and progress of phasing out fossil fuels within G20 nations. It highlights the economic and social dependencies that hinder the transition, the failure of G20 countries to meet subsidy reduction promises, and the specific goals of South Africa's 2025 G20 presidency to champion a people-centered, just energy transition.

This policy brief by the Institute for Economic Justice analyzes the impact of President Donald Trump's second administration's tariff policies on African nations and proposes a strategic response based on rerouting trade, subverting US policy through industrialization, and collective negotiation.

The research paper by Nicolas Lamp explores the emergence of 'multifunctional trade policy,' a paradigm shift where trade policy is used to achieve broad political goals—such as climate mitigation, national security, and labor rights—rather than focusing primarily on economic efficiency and trade liberalization.

This research paper by Nicolas Lamp explores the emergence of 'multi-purpose trade policy,' a paradigm shift where trade policy is no longer focused solely on economic efficiency and liberalization, but is instead used as a tool to achieve broader goals such as climate mitigation, national security, and labor rights.

This research paper analyzes the state of electronic commerce debates within the World Trade Organization (WTO) leading up to the 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) in February 2024. It examines two parallel tracks: the multilateral Work Programme on Electronic Commerce and the plurilateral Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) on Electronic Commerce, focusing on the tension between developed and developing economies regarding digital trade rules and the moratorium on customs duties for electronic transmissions.

This report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) examines how performance requirements (PRs)—stipulations imposed on foreign investors to achieve specific development goals—are treated in international investment treaties. It analyzes the tension between the use of PRs to foster sustainable development and the prohibitions on such measures found in WTO agreements and bilateral investment treaties (BITs), highlighting the risks to the policy space of developing countries.

This guide by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) analyzes the use of registration and approval requirements in investment treaties to limit their scope of application. It examines how these criteria are used by states to control the quality of investments and limit exposure to international arbitration, providing a comparative analysis of regional agreements (ASEAN, COMESA) and bilateral investment treaties (BITs), alongside an analysis of arbitral awards that have interpreted these provisions.

This fact sheet describes the Trade Knowledge Network (TKN), a global collaboration of research institutions coordinated by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) since 1998. The TKN aims to promote sustainable development by strengthening research capacity in developing countries and generating policy analysis on trade and investment.