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The United States faces significant supply chain vulnerabilities due to heavy reliance on imports for critical minerals, with China dominating the supply of 60% of U.S.-designated critical minerals. To mitigate this, the document proposes a shift toward a circular economy focusing on recycling and secondary recovery. Battery recycling, particularly for electric vehicles, could reduce the demand for mined lithium, nickel, and cobalt by approximately 10%, though currently fewer than 15% of U.S. lithium-ion batteries are recycled. Secondary recovery opportunities include extracting rare earth elements from acid mine drainage (AMD) and phosphogypsum waste from phosphate fertilizer production. Recent federal actions, including a March 2025 executive order and nearly $1 billion in Department of Energy funding, aim to prioritize domestic production, though the author argues for further long-term support for infrastructure and clearer circular economy standards.

A coalition of civil society organisations, including Reclaim Finance and Justiça Ambiental!, condemns the push by companies like TotalEnergies, ENI, and ExxonMobil to advance gas projects in Mozambique. They argue that restarting these projects, specifically the Mozambique LNG project, ignores unresolved community grievances and escalates security risks in Cabo Delgado. The organisations call on over 30 financial institutions, including Crédit Agricole and Standard Chartered, to withdraw support to avoid complicity in human rights abuses and environmental destruction.

The report examines the social dimensions of deploying carbon capture and storage (CCS) in Poland, emphasizing that technical feasibility alone is insufficient without a 'social license to operate.' It highlights the risks of public opposition—citing failures in the Netherlands and Australia—and contrasts them with successful engagement in Japan and Norway. The authors identify low public awareness and safety concerns as primary barriers in Poland and recommend a shift from top-down communication to partnership-based engagement, including early stakeholder involvement, transparent data sharing, and tangible local economic benefits.

The report argues that rapid methane abatement is a priority for transition finance due to its immediate impact on limiting global warming to 1.5°C. It analyzes the current financing landscape, noting a significant gap between the USD 9.6bn in private methane finance (2021/2022) and the estimated USD 48bn to USD 100bn required annually by 2030. Through case studies of 20 corporates, the report finds that while oil and gas firms generally integrate methane abatement into short-term strategies, agrifood firms struggle with supply chain tracking and specific targets. To address this, the report promotes the use of Use of Proceeds (UOP) and sustainability-linked instruments guided by Climate Bonds and Methane Finance Working Group (MFWG) criteria to ensure investments contribute to decarbonization without locking in high-carbon assets.

The report outlines a framework for credible sovereign transition planning based on five elements: robust targets, a 'whole-of-government' approach, green public financial management, integrated policy tools, and transparency. It addresses the challenge of 'debt overhang' in both developed and emerging markets, suggesting alternatives such as excluding transition spending from deficit calculations and utilizing GSS+ bonds. The document also examines the roles of national development banks, sovereign wealth funds, and central banks in mobilizing private capital and providing low-cost financing for climate action.

Malaysia faces significant fiscal and energy security risks due to its heavy reliance on oil and gas exports, particularly LNG shipments to Japan, South Korea, and China. The document highlights a growing crude oil trade deficit and the threat of stranded assets as global demand shifts. To mitigate these risks, the report recommends diversifying into green manufacturing, hydrogen, and carbon capture services, while establishing a Sustainable Energy Transition Fund and a Just Transition Commission to support displaced workers in resource-dependent regions like Sabah and Sarawak.

Between 2017 and 2022, Viet Nam's power sector saw a total of USD 64 billion in reported investment, with renewable energy (RE) dominating at 64.54% (USD 41.3 billion) compared to fossil fuels (FF) at 35.13% (USD 22.5 billion). RE growth was primarily driven by generous Feed-in Tariffs (FiTs) and domestic private investment, which provided approximately 80% of RE finance. In contrast, FF finance was dominated by international sources, particularly Japan for coal. While gas investment surged in 2021 as a transitional fuel, coal investment ceased in 2022 following net-zero commitments. Despite RE growth, a significant financing gap remains; BloombergNEF estimates an annual requirement of USD 30.7 billion to meet a net-zero scenario by 2030, far exceeding the USD 6 billion invested in 2023.

The document identifies a significant funding and deployment gap for carbon removal, estimating a need for at least 100 megatons per annum (Mtpa) and $20 billion per year by 2035. It proposes a government-led Advance Market Commitment (AMC) as a mechanism to guarantee future markets, reduce costs through economies of scale, and harmonize global standards. The paper provides a design framework for such an AMC, covering product eligibility, procurement processes, and cross-border funding, while outlining the complementary roles of corporations, philanthropy, NGOs, and academia.

The G20 has transitioned from a narrow focus on financial stability (2005–2008) to an integrated governance model where energy security, climate action, and sustainable development are central. Key milestones include the 2009 Pittsburgh Summit's first mention of clean energy, the 2015 first Energy Ministers' Meeting, and the recent sequence of Global South presidencies (Indonesia, India, Brazil, South Africa) that have shifted the narrative toward equity, just transitions, and the reform of the international financial architecture. South Africa's 2025 Presidency specifically champions African interconnectivity, critical minerals sovereignty, and debt sustainability to enable a just energy transition.

The document advocates for a science-based 2035 NDC for South Korea, proposing a minimum 61% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to 2018. It emphasizes that clear, consistent policies across the power, industry, and transport sectors are essential to attract private investment and maintain global competitiveness, particularly in the face of regulations like the EU's CBAM. Key recommendations include accelerating renewable energy deployment to at least 100GW by 2030, phasing out coal power by 2035, strengthening the K-ETS carbon price, and accelerating the electrification of transport and heavy industry.

The document advocates for South Korea to set a 2035 emissions reduction target of at least 61% relative to 2018 levels to ensure alignment with its 2050 carbon neutrality goal. It emphasizes that a credible NDC must be supported by sectoral pathways in power, industry, and transport to provide the policy certainty required to unlock private sector investment. Key recommendations include phasing out coal power by 2035, reforming the Korea Emissions Trading System (K-ETS) to increase carbon price signals, and accelerating the deployment of breakthrough technologies like hydrogen steelmaking and electrified steam crackers. The briefing also stresses the importance of structured collaboration between the government, businesses of all sizes, and subnational authorities to ensure the NDC is investible and implementable.

The report identifies a significant global health and economic toll from red and processed meat consumption, which is linked to type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. It highlights a 'treatment-over-prevention' trend in wealthy nations, particularly in Europe, where robust healthcare systems mitigate disease outcomes at a high financial cost. The authors argue that implementing fiscal policies and dietary interventions to reduce meat intake could save billions in healthcare spending and significantly reduce premature mortality and disability.

The policy brief highlights the reliance of the nascent next-generation geothermal industry on a global supply chain and urges the U.S. government to ensure FEOC tax credit rules do not obstruct development.

The Clean Air Task Force (CATF) argues that for FEOC restrictions to achieve their goal of promoting U.S. competitiveness, the U.S. Department of Treasury must provide clear definitions and reporting frameworks. CATF recommends a narrow definition of "effective control" to protect licensing agreements, a clear reporting framework for supplier certifications, the adoption of a "substantial transformation rule" to prevent subcomponents from disqualifying a final product, and limited lookback periods for credit recapture to reduce risk for developers.

As of September 2025, 1,935 entities have net-zero targets, though the overall credibility of these commitments remains low, with only a small fraction of companies, regions, and cities meeting robustness criteria.

The Net Zero Stocktake 2025 finds that while the number of net zero targets continues to rise across companies, cities, and regions, the integrity of these commitments remains low. As of September 2025, 1,935 entities have targets, including 137 national governments and 63% of the Forbes Global 2000. However, only a small fraction of companies, regions, and cities meet all minimum integrity requirements. The report also highlights a gap in planning, with nearly one-third of Forbes Global 2000 companies lacking a clear roadmap, and expresses concern over the lack of dedicated targets for nature-based carbon removals.

The document argues that common myths about renewable energy are outdated and unsupported by evidence. It provides data showing that solar and wind are now the cheapest sources of new power generation, with costs falling up to 90% since 2010. It asserts that modern grids can manage intermittency through storage and diversification, and that renewables have significantly lower impacts on wildlife, public health, and waste compared to fossil fuels. Specific case studies, such as the April 2025 Iberian Peninsula blackout, are used to demonstrate that grid instability is often caused by technical planning issues rather than the presence of renewables.

Between June and August 2025, human-induced climate change significantly increased global temperatures, with at least 22% of the global population experiencing temperatures at Climate Shift Index (CSI) level 2 or higher every day. Nearly 955 million people faced 30 or more 'risky heat days' added by climate change, with the highest impact seen in Asia. The report also documents severe climate-driven events, including record rainfall and flooding in China, India, Pakistan, and the U.S., as well as historic wildfires in Europe and Canada.

The global economy consumes approximately 100 billion metric tons of resources annually, with 75% coming from non-renewable sources. While the European Union leads in circular economy policy, global resource productivity has stalled since 2000, and the world must reduce per capita material consumption from 12.6 metric tons in 2022 to below 5 metric tons by 2050 to ensure sustainability. Significant disparities exist in consumption, with the top 25% of the population using 52% of the world's resources. Despite some progress in municipal waste recycling—averaging 35% across OECD countries—and the regulation of single-use products in 75 countries, systemic changes in product design and corporate monitoring are required to decouple economic growth from resource extraction.

The Hail Creek coal mine in Australia's Bowen Basin has consistently underreported methane emissions since 2021, with independent airborne studies estimating emissions to be four to six times higher than official figures in 2022 and 2023. Major steel companies ArcelorMittal, Nippon Steel, and POSCO imported at least 4.3 Mt of coal from the mine in 2023 and 2024, potentially importing more than three times the methane emissions reported by the operator. This underreporting creates regulatory risks under the EU Methane Regulation, as actual methane intensity in 2023 (exceeding 9.5 tonnes CH4/kt) likely surpasses proposed EU limits, whereas reported data (4.8 tonnes CH4/kt) suggests compliance.