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The report finds that while renewable energy investment is growing, continued funding for fossil fuel power plants and the presence of 'locked-in' emissions from existing assets keep the global power sector on a temperature trajectory exceeding 3.2°C. It highlights a significant gap between actual 2018 investment carbon intensities and the negative thresholds required by 2030 to achieve Paris alignment. The analysis identifies specific misalignments among major economies like China, India, and Japan, and among financial actors such as commercial banks and export credit agencies. The document recommends halting new carbon-intensive investments, accelerating the retirement of existing fossil fuel plants, and harmonizing climate risk reporting.

The policy brief examines the restart of WTO agriculture negotiations under Chair Gloria Abraham Peralta, identifying seven key negotiating areas and the political obstacles hindering progress. It highlights the impact of COVID-19 on food export restrictions and the ongoing tension between developed and developing nations over farm subsidies and market access. The author suggests a phased approach to negotiations, identifying 'low-hanging fruit' such as humanitarian food aid exemptions and transparency improvements, while proposing compromise frameworks for domestic support and public stockholding to foster more equitable global food markets.

The report examines the evolution of the digital divide from basic infrastructure access to access to knowledge and data. It evaluates the JSI on E-Commerce, arguing that current negotiations often presume a level of digital readiness that developing countries and LDCs lack. The document details 'enabling issues' necessary for digital inclusion, analyzes the regulatory landscape of cross-border data flows and localization, and discusses the implications of restricting government access to computer source code.

The Climate Action Tracker (CAT) reports that a wave of net zero pledges from 127 countries could reduce projected warming by 2100 to as low as 2.1°C. However, current policies still put the world on a trajectory of 2.9°C, and a significant emissions gap remains for 2030.

The 2020 Scorecard reveals a growing trend of insurers retreating from coal, with at least 23 companies ending or limiting cover for coal projects. While coal insurance is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive to obtain, the report finds that the industry has largely failed to take comprehensive action on oil and gas. European and Australian insurers are leading the transition, whereas companies in the U.S., Japan, and the Lloyd's market are identified as laggards. The report also highlights a significant increase in coal divestment, with 65 insurers now having policies covering over $12 trillion in assets.

The report evaluates electricity data transparency in Asia and Oceania, scoring countries based on criteria such as time granularity, fuel-type breakdowns, and ease of access. It finds significant disparities in data quality, with some countries like Australia and India providing high-granularity data, while others like Indonesia, Vietnam, and Singapore suffer from poor timeliness or limited disaggregation.

The authors evaluate the EU's Next Generation EU and Germany's national recovery strategy, noting that while multi-billion-euro figures are earmarked for climate action, much of the funding remains conditional or unquantified. Drawing on the 2008 financial crisis, where green recovery efforts failed to prevent a global emissions rebound in 2010, the paper emphasizes the role of parliamentarians in overseeing budgets and implementing mechanisms like carbon border taxes to ensure a genuine energy transition.

The document analyzes the potential volume of CERs eligible for transition to NDCs based on different restriction criteria. It finds that the total supply potential for reductions in or after 2013 exceeds 4 billion CERs without restrictions, but this figure drops significantly depending on whether registration dates or crediting period start dates are used as cut-offs.

The document describes the global governance of sustainable energy as a "regime complex" characterized by overlapping mandates and a lack of a single central authority. It highlights the importance of SDG 7 in merging the goals of energy access and sustainable transitions, while detailing the contributions of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) initiative. The text notes a significant financing gap, stating that achieving SDG 7 by 2030 requires additional annual investments of USD 1.36 trillion, whereas international finance for clean energy in developing countries was only USD 21 billion in 2017. It concludes that while the current multi-stakeholder, non-hierarchical model allows for specialized and flexible action, the absence of a binding international treaty or single organization limits the ability to drive top-down ambition and common norms.

The briefing argues that the Biden administration can reclaim U.S. climate leadership by submitting a robust national climate commitment (NDC) of 45-50% emissions reductions by 2030, increasing financial support for developing countries through the Green Climate Fund and other mechanisms, and integrating climate change as a core foreign policy issue through strategic bilateral and multilateral diplomacy.

Japan is ranked second among G20 OECD member countries for its low level of support for fossil fuel use and overall progress, yet it remains the second-highest supplier of public finance for domestic and overseas fossil fuel projects within that group.

The 2020 assessment of NYDF Goal 9 reveals that while nearly USD 4.7 billion in results-based finance has been committed since 2010, only 40 percent has been disbursed. The report highlights a significant gap in funding for the implementation phase of REDD+ activities and notes that carbon markets have channeled USD 2.5 billion to forests over 20 years. While private sector demand for forest carbon offsets is rising among airlines and petroleum companies, current carbon prices remain too low to meet Paris Agreement objectives. Additionally, the report details various domestic compliance schemes in countries like Australia, Canada, and China that allow for forest carbon credits.

G20 governments provided an annual average of $584 billion in support for fossil fuels from 2017 to 2019, with oil and gas production receiving the largest share. While overall support dropped by 9% compared to 2014–2016, this decline was inconsistent across countries and partly driven by lower oil prices. The report finds that state-owned enterprise (SOE) investment is the only support mechanism that increased overall, and that COVID-19 recovery packages have introduced at least $170 billion in new commitments to fossil fuel-intensive sectors, threatening to undo previous progress.

Reclaim Finance argues that the Trucost list used by the Fédération bancaire française (FBF) fails to capture the full coal value chain and omits major global coal actors, including large Chinese and Russian firms. The analysis highlights significant discrepancies in revenue estimations for companies like Glencore and Adani Enterprises compared to the Global Coal Exit List (GCEL), suggesting that Trucost's methodology may lead financial institutions to underestimate their exposure to coal and carbon-intensive activities.

Reclaim Finance compares the Trucost list used by the French Banking Federation with the Global Coal Exit List (GCEL), arguing that Trucost significantly underrepresents coal exposure. The analysis finds that Trucost misses critical coal infrastructure projects, major global coal companies, and hundreds of firms planning new coal capacity. Furthermore, the report highlights discrepancies in revenue estimations for companies like Glencore, Adani Enterprises, and Sasol, suggesting that Trucost's methodology may allow financial institutions to continue supporting high-emission entities despite their exclusion policies.

The document highlights a significant misalignment between government energy production plans and Paris Agreement goals, noting that governments planned to extract 60% more oil, 70% more gas, and 280% more coal by 2030 than is consistent with a 1.5°C pathway. It suggests that NDCs and LT-LEDS can be used to communicate pathways, targets, and policy measures to manage the transition away from fossil fuels while ensuring a just transition for affected workers and communities.

The paper evaluates the 2008–09 green stimulus, finding that while it supported GDP and job creation in economies like the US, China, South Korea, and the EU, it failed to create a long-term low-carbon trajectory due to a lack of structural reforms and the persistence of fossil fuel subsidies.

The document examines the precautionary principle, a legal guide suggesting that a lack of full scientific certainty should not justify postponing measures to prevent serious environmental damage. It traces the principle's origins from Sweden's 1969 Environmental Protection Act to its inclusion in the 1992 Rio Declaration and the UNFCCC. The brief discusses the principle's controversial nature, specifically the reversal of the burden of proof, and provides examples of its application in GMO moratoriums and nuclear power closures, while noting the tension between environmental caution and economic development.

The report identifies over 60 mitigation policies adopted between July 2019 and August 2020, noting the highest activity in the energy and transport sectors. It highlights a lack of explicitly 'green' COVID-19 recovery measures in most assessed countries, except for the EU and Republic of Korea. Additionally, it tracks the progress of NDCs and LTS, noting that only Vietnam has officially revised its NDC target among the group, while the EU and Japan have submitted net-zero long-term strategies.

The report examines the compatibility of environmental import restrictions with WTO rules, specifically the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). It argues that restrictions based on process and production methods (PPMs) are not prohibited per se and can be justified through the concept of 'likeness' or by invoking general exceptions under Article XX of GATT. The document also provides guidance on using Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) to modernise trade rules, suggesting the inclusion of hierarchy clauses and the recognition of domestic regulatory discretion to ensure environmental obligations prevail over trade commitments.