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Nature, the latest whim of financial markets
The report critiques the extension of market economies to ecosystems, specifically targeting carbon markets, biodiversity offsets, and water trading. It argues that these mechanisms allow corporations to avoid genuine emission reductions and environmental protection by paying for compensation certificates. The text highlights the role of financial institutions like the World Bank and Caisse des dépôts et consignations in structuring these markets, and warns that such financialization leads to land grabbing, the marginalization of indigenous populations, and the deregulation of environmental laws.
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Document type: Report
Disinformation Dollars: How Google earns money from and funds articles that promote climate denial
A Global Witness investigation found that Google's AdTech business finances and earns revenue from The Epoch Times' climate denial content, potentially breaching Google's own publisher policies. The report estimates that these activities generated approximately $1.41 million in combined annual revenue for Google and The Epoch Times across English, Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese websites.
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Document type: Report
Europe's Venezuelan oil imports could give leverage against US aggression
Global Witness reports that European countries, specifically the Netherlands and the UK, imported at least $565 million worth of diesel in 2025 from Valero's St. Charles refinery in Louisiana, which processes significant volumes of Venezuelan oil. The document asserts that this trade supports US 'imperialist' actions in Venezuela and urges the EU and UK to implement a ban on US-controlled Venezuelan oil and refined products until democratic reforms and transparency are established in Venezuela.
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Document type: Statement
No ifs, many bots?: Partisan bot-like accounts continue to amplify divisive content on X, generating over 4 billion views since the UK general election was called
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Document type: Report
Europeans want a law to hold companies accountable on climate
A Global Witness statement calling for the EU to pass the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, supported by polling showing 74% of citizens in ten EU countries want a law requiring companies to reduce emissions to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees.
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Document type: Statement
We are going to kill you: a case study in corporate power left unchecked
The Cerrejón coal mine in Colombia, owned by BHP, Anglo-American, and Glencore, is accused of severe human rights and environmental violations, including forced evictions, water contamination, and health crises. Global Witness argues that the mine's owners and their European links demonstrate a systemic lack of corporate accountability, advocating for new EU legislation to make companies liable for harms caused in their global supply chains.
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Document type: Case study
Common Minimum Standards for the National Inventories of Fossil Fuel Subsidies
The document outlines five common minimum standards for COFFIS members to ensure transparency and consistency in reporting fossil fuel subsidies. These standards cover the coexistence of various subsidy definitions, a comprehensive definition of fossil fuels (including primary and secondary commodities), the identification of beneficiaries across consumption and production sectors, the requirement for preliminary climate and socio-economic impact assessments, and a commitment to annual inventory updates.
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Document type: Guide
TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE OUTSOURCING
The report argues that the ITES sector has missed previous opportunities to drive sustainable development and must now adopt an 'Outsourcing 3.0' model. This framework moves beyond simple cost-cutting (Outsourcing 1.0) and high-value job relocation (Outsourcing 2.0) toward a model where companies, cities, and countries compete responsibly. The authors identify six drivers for this transition: creating a responsible business climate, smart philanthropy at the base-of-the-pyramid, building talent, improving business standards and compliance, fostering product and service innovation (such as 'tribesourcing'), and contributing to low-carbon prosperity. The report emphasizes that the 2009 economic downturn provides a critical window to reset the industry's approach to corporate social responsibility and environmental impact.
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Document type: Report
South Africa: the ANC National Conference in 2007 vs. 2012 and the attempts to fight corruption
The document contrasts the 2007 and 2012 ANC National Conferences, arguing that internal politics have shifted from ideological coherence to patronage. It highlights the failure of the state to recover funds from fraudulent contracts involving politically connected individuals and notes the erosion of the ANC's moral authority due to corruption.
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Document type: Briefing
andersen-2011-globalisation-for-dummies-99219cca1af7548d.pdf
The author argues that while globalisation drives unprecedented economic growth through comparative advantage and market efficiency, it creates a 'race to the bottom' where nations compete for volatile capital by slashing corporate taxes and deregulation. This process potentially erodes public funding for welfare, labour protections, and environmental standards. While the author finds evidence of a downward trend in global corporate tax rates, they note that reputational risks and NGO watchdogs may moderate the degradation of labour and environmental standards. The document concludes that managing these negative effects requires stronger, more democratic global governance, including the potential creation of a World Tax Authority and an International Financial Stability and Harmonisation Authority.
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Document type: Research paper
The ‘peripheral’ student in academia: an analysis
The analysis explores the experiences of 'peripheral' doctoral students in a UK-based professional doctorate programme, focusing on the tensions between their professional expertise and their novice status in academia. It identifies four primary categories of challenges: the struggle for belonging and social isolation, complexities in supervisory relationships, identity and language dissonance, and the psychological impact of 'impostor syndrome'. The authors argue that while distance programmes provide necessary flexibility, they often create a disconnect with the broader university infrastructure. The study highlights the value of the 'cohort model' in building social capital and suggests that institutional support, such as cross-cultural training and flexible enrolment options, is essential for the success of non-traditional students.
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Document type: Research paper
Making shareholder rights a lever for the EU transition
The policy brief identifies a gap between the climate commitments of institutional investors and their actual impact on corporate behavior, citing limited transparency and high barriers to shareholder action. It proposes four primary reforms to the Shareholder Rights Directive (SRD) II: introducing a mandatory 'Say on Climate' vote every three years, ensuring legal security for submitting environmental resolutions, increasing transparency requirements for asset owners, managers, and proxy advisors, and lowering the shareholding threshold for submitting resolutions to a maximum of 2% (and 0.2% for large companies).
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Document type: Policy brief
Pre-Read for BEM Innovation Summit
The document analyzes the U.S. building energy modeling (BEM) sector, identifying a lack of credibility, fragmented software tools, and a shortage of skilled practitioners as primary barriers. It details the evolution of BEM from early computer programs to modern BIM integration and examines the role of market drivers like LEED and ASHRAE standards. The text proposes a collaborative roadmap to standardize methods, improve education, and enhance the accuracy of energy predictions to support low-energy building solutions.
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Document type: Report
New Frontiers in Utility Valuation of Renewable Resources
The report argues that utilities often undervalue renewable resources by failing to account for their contribution to overall system reliability and the benefits of geographic diversification. It proposes using financial portfolio theory to minimize variability through dispersed siting and suggests that the costs of integrating intermittent renewables are relatively low compared to the risks of fossil fuel price volatility. The authors conclude that failure to apply these valuation techniques leads to unnecessary investment in conventional generation capacity.
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Document type: Report
24/7 Carbon-Free Energy Compact GUIDEBOOK
The 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy Compact, coordinated by Sustainable Energy for All on behalf of UN-Energy, promotes a global effort to ensure every kilowatt-hour of electricity consumption is met with carbon-free sources every hour of every day. The guidebook outlines five core principles: time-matched procurement, local procurement, technology-inclusivity, enabling new generation, and maximizing system impact. It details technical enablers such as Granular Certificates (GCs) for hourly tracking, smart metering, and 24/7 CFE Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). The document also highlights the role of green hydrogen as a storage solution and provides implementation roadmaps for energy buyers, governments, and suppliers, while emphasizing equity considerations for the Global South.
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Document type: Guide
Develop a LEAP GHG Ireland Analytical Tool for 2050
The report details the creation of the LEAP Ireland 2050 model to simulate GHG emissions from Ireland's energy and agriculture sectors. It evaluates the impact of the 2019 Climate Action Plan (CAP) targets, specifically electric vehicle (EV) penetration and residential retrofitting, while introducing the Application Script Editing Tool (ASET) to improve model topology and sensitivity analysis.
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Document type: Report
Irresponsible Science?
The Institution of Environmental Sciences (IES) is a professional body with approximately 3,500 members that promotes environmental science and sustainable development. An assessment of its public documents and annual reports indicates that the IES has no financial involvement with the arms or fossil fuel industries and holds no investments. The organization maintains extensive environmental policies, including a professional code of conduct requiring members to have "full regard for the enhancement of environmental quality and sustainable development and the mitigation of environmental harm." Additionally, the IES was one of 24 UK-based societies that endorsed a joint Climate Communiqué prior to COP 21, urging governments to take immediate action against climate change risks.
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Document type: Case study
Deforestation and Conversion-Free: How Argentine Beef Can Lead the Market — Faster and at Scale
Argentina is uniquely positioned to lead the global market in deforestation and conversion-free (DCF) beef due to its existing national traceability systems and strong market position, particularly with China. By integrating its cattle movement monitoring with the Forest Law's satellite-based Early Warning System, Argentina could provide credible DCF exports. This approach would help the country meet Paris Agreement commitments, attract trade finance from European and Chinese markets, and protect critical ecosystems like the Gran Chaco. While challenges include the lack of price premiums for DCF products and the need for an interoperable data platform, the model offers a scalable alternative to fragmented company-led sustainability commitments.
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Document type: Case study
Lessons Learned Across Precompetitive and Multistakeholder Groups in Markets-Based Conservation
The document examines two types of collaborative platforms: precompetitive platforms (composed of competing institutions) and multistakeholder groups (MSGs, composed of non-competing entities). It identifies key success factors such as neutral leadership, science-based approaches, and data sharing, while highlighting common failures like lack of accountability, insufficient resourcing, and antitrust concerns. The report provides 19 examples of these platforms across various sectors, including aquaculture, agriculture, and waste management, to illustrate how collective action can address systemic conservation challenges that individual organizations cannot solve alone.
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Document type: Report