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The report finds that all 15 assessed products in Belgian supermarkets make misleading carbon neutrality claims because they rely on carbon credits that do not provide climate benefits equivalent to the emissions generated. The analysis highlights systemic issues with carbon offsets, including a lack of additionality in renewable energy projects and a lack of permanence in forest-based sinks. Furthermore, the report notes a lack of transparency in company-level climate strategies and a conflict of interest within the third-party certification industry.

The report finds that while the 'return of coal' did not materialize globally in 2022, the pace of retirements remains insufficient to meet Paris Agreement targets. China is a major outlier, with its coal capacity in development increasing by 38% in 2022, while capacities in the rest of the world decreased by 20%. In the EU and UK, coal use saw a marginal 1% increase due to the gas crisis, but long-term trends remain downward. In Sub-Saharan Africa, coal projects persist despite funding shortages, though some successful just transition initiatives, such as the Komati plant retirement in South Africa, provide a potential model for the region.

The resurgence of the M23 rebel movement since late 2021 has displaced 600,000 people and heightened tensions between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda. The author argues that current regional efforts—including the East African Community (EAC) Regional Force, the Nairobi Process, and the Luanda Process—are insufficient because they treat symptoms rather than the root causes of instability. The paper recommends a high-level regional political process led by the AU and UN to address long-term drivers of conflict and rebuild trust between the DRC, Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi.

The paper analyzes the growth of civic tech in southern Africa, identifying a strong concentration of initiatives in South Africa and a primary focus on democracy and governance. It explores two diverging pathways: civic tech as a government partner or as an independent, community-driven tool for development. The authors highlight significant barriers, including the digital divide, funding instability, and adversarial relationships between governments and tech innovators, while recommending sustainable funding models and increased digital literacy for public officials.

The Africa Carbon Markets Initiative (ACMI), co-led by Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), and The Rockefeller Foundation, aims to scale voluntary carbon markets (VCMs) in Africa. Launched at COP27, the initiative focuses on directing international finance toward renewable energy, forestry, agriculture, e-mobility, and clean cooking to support decarbonization and green job creation. The ACMI roadmap includes 13 Action Programmes targeting supply, standards, intermediation, financing, and demand. As of April 2023, the initiative has secured approximately USD 200 million in Advance Market Commitments, with a target of USD 1 billion by COP28. Implementation efforts include the development of national Carbon Market Activation Plans (CMAPs) for Kenya, Rwanda, Nigeria, and Ghana, as well as the digitization of Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) processes and the creation of national carbon registries.

The document details the creation of Nigeria's Energy Transition Plan (ETP), which aims for net-zero emissions by 2060. Developed through a partnership between SEforALL and the Nigerian government, the plan identifies a total investment need of USD 1.9 trillion and an initial project pipeline of USD 23 billion. The ETP focuses on five sectors—power, cooking, oil and gas, transport, and industry—which account for 65% of the country's greenhouse gas emissions. Implementation is supported by the Energy Transition Office, which has helped secure over USD 3.6 billion in finance commitments as of 2022.

Damilola Ogunbiyi's keynote speech at the 9th Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue emphasizes the critical need for equitable financing and industrialization in the Global South. She highlights the severe disparity in renewable energy investment, noting that Sub-Saharan Africa received less than 1.5% of global investment between 2000 and 2020. To address this, she promotes the Africa Carbon Markets Initiative (ACMI) to generate carbon credits and revenue, and the Renewable Energy Manufacturing Initiative (REMI) to foster green industry in Africa and Asia. Ogunbiyi advocates for whole-economy energy transition plans (ETPs), citing Nigeria's plan which estimates a cost of USD 1.9 trillion to reach net-zero by 2060.

Kenya is characterized as a medium economic transformer with an ATI score of 28.1 in 2020. While the country shows strengths in economic diversification and human well-being, it faces challenges in productivity increases and export competitiveness. The manufacturing sector has shrunk due to a lack of strategic investment and climate-related declines in agricultural output. Despite these challenges, Kenya has seen significant improvements in technology upgrading and a substantial reduction in the gender gap within formal sector employment.

The UN 2023 Water Conference, held in New York, focused on accelerating progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) through the Water Action Agenda. The event resulted in approximately 700 voluntary commitments totaling USD 300 billion and the announcement of a UN Special Envoy for Water. Discussions emphasized the water-food-energy nexus, the human right to water and sanitation, and the need for innovative finance and improved global water data. While the conference generated significant political momentum and new partnerships, analysis suggests that many pledges lack quantifiable targets and that the international community must quadruple its efforts to meet 2030 goals.

The document analyzes how the conflict in Ukraine has accelerated Europe's shift toward renewable energy while simultaneously causing severe ecological damage within Ukraine and destabilizing global food security. It highlights the systemic interplay between war, climate change, and environmental degradation, noting that the resulting ecological losses and food system disruptions may have long-term, irreversible effects.

The report examines how the African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, and World Bank are mainstreaming climate adaptation. While global finance flows for adaptation have increased and climate risk screening has become standard, the report finds that trends at the country level in Kenya, Nepal, and Peru are less clear. It highlights a lack of transparency in project-level finance allocations and argues for more funding of discrete adaptation projects and the use of programmatic finance and innovative instruments aligned with National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

The report analyzes the intersection of climate-resilient infrastructure and gender disparities in 19 African countries. It identifies how climate change disproportionately affects women—increasing labor burdens for food, water, and energy—and how inadequate infrastructure exacerbates these vulnerabilities. The document provides detailed socioeconomic profiles for several countries, including Benin, Cameroon, Chad, and Nigeria, highlighting gaps in education, financial inclusion, and political representation. To mitigate these risks, the ICRF proposes a three-component strategy involving blended finance, capacity building, and policy interventions, with specific entry points for gender mainstreaming such as prioritizing women-led companies in procurement and collecting sex-disaggregated data.

The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) was established in 2003 to promote good governance through peer reviews and National Programmes of Action. While it has expanded to 43 member states and seen a leadership-driven turnaround under CEO Prof Eddy Maloka since 2016, the mechanism faces challenges including slow throughput, delayed publication of reports, and a lack of progress in governance outcomes. Data from the Ibrahim Index of African Governance and Afrobarometer suggest that governance on the continent has remained steady or declined despite the APRM's efforts.

The AfCFTA aims to boost intra-African trade by eliminating 97% of tariff lines, but commercially significant trade is delayed primarily by ongoing negotiations on Rules of Origin (RoO). To maintain momentum, the Guided Trade Initiative (GTI) was launched in October 2022 as a pilot involving eight countries: Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Tunisia. While political will is high and many countries have developed national implementation strategies, challenges remain, including clashes between national interests and pan-African goals, dependence on external donor funding for expertise, and concerns over productive capacity disparities. The document highlights that 'smaller' countries fear domination by 'bigger' economies like South Africa, Egypt, and Nigeria, while some, such as Kenya, anticipate significant tariff revenue losses. Recommendations include seeking political solutions to stalled technical negotiations, institutionalising support through African multilaterals like the AfDB and Afreximbank, and coordinating industrial policies to build complementary production structures across the continent.

The Independent Redress Mechanism (IRM) report details the processing of four specific project complaints (FP039, FP121, FP146, and FP001) and the implementation of its 2022-2023 work plan. Key operational activities included the development of a Gender Strategy Note, the creation of an educational board game called "road to redress," and the provision of mediation training for Direct Access Entities (DAEs). Financially, the IRM spent USD 1.34 million of its USD 1.65 million approved 2022 budget, representing an 81% utilisation rate.

AFRODAD supports the New York Taxpayer and International Debt Crises Protection Act as a necessary tool to ensure private creditors contribute to debt relief for African nations. The organization notes that 23 African countries are currently in or at high risk of debt distress, a situation exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate emergency, and the Ukraine-Russia conflict. AFRODAD argues that commercial credit via sovereign bonds is a primary driver of these crises, particularly in countries like Ghana, Zambia, and Kenya, and advocates for a reformed global debt architecture to prevent widespread defaults.

The document examines the constraints of the current international finance architecture for Africa, noting that between 2016 and 2020, the continent received only $19.5 billion in climate funding against annual adaptation needs of $30-50 billion. It proposes that the G20 can bridge this gap by developing green finance taxonomies, promoting risk sharing through multilateral development bank guarantees, and facilitating carbon pricing. The author advocates for the use of debt-for-climate swaps to alleviate debt burdens while funding nature conservation and the expansion of Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPs), citing the South African model. Additionally, the paper highlights the role of natural gas as a transition fuel and the importance of investing in the AFOLU sector, which contributed 56% of Africa's total emissions in 2016.

The report argues that the World Bank Group must shift from project-by-project 'greening' to a systemic transformation of its portfolio to support 1.5°C alignment. It proposes a strict taxonomy that excludes fossil gas and 'false solutions' like CCUS and nuclear power, while emphasizing a rights-based approach to ensure the energy transition does not burden marginalized communities or increase debt in low-income countries.

The Jasiri Gender Bond, launched in February 2022, mobilised USD 32 million to support women-led businesses in Tanzania, particularly in agriculture, retail, education, and male-dominated sectors like mining and energy. The bond was oversubscribed by 197% and became the first Sub-Saharan bond listed on the Luxembourg Green Exchange. A case study of High Quality Tanzania demonstrates how Jasiri loans enabled a feminine hygiene product importer to increase turnover to over TZS 10 Billion ($3.9 million) and expand operations internationally.

The Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) 2022 Annual Results Report details the organization's progress across three impact areas: reducing climate risk, promoting sustainable resource use and resilient ecosystems, and improving health and well-being. Key achievements include contributing to the COP27 decision to establish a loss and damage fund, developing the Global Environmental Impacts of Consumption (GEIC) indicator adopted at COP15, and implementing water management master plans in Bolivia. The report highlights the use of digital tools like LEAP, WEAP, and Trase to inform policy in various regions, including Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Organizationally, SEI reports an increase in scientific publications, a diversification of funding sources, and the implementation of a global monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) procedure.