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The document reviews Rwanda's progress in establishing a monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) system for climate adaptation in the human settlement and transport sectors. It evaluates seven specific indicators from the 2020 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), identifying gaps in data quality, consistency, and the ability to track informal settlements. While systems like the WASH MIS and urban dynamic maps exist, the report notes they are not yet fully operational or comprehensive. Recommendations include expanding urban mapping, aligning indicators with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and developing dedicated rural monitoring systems.

The SUNCASA project, funded with USD 22 million by Global Affairs Canada and managed by IISD and WRI, implements nature-based solutions (NbS) to combat flooding, heat, and biodiversity loss in Dire Dawa, Kigali, and Johannesburg. The project targets 2.2 million beneficiaries, with a specific focus on gender equality and the empowerment of marginalized groups in climate adaptation planning.

The proposal seeks USD 698,813 over 24 months to implement the National Land Use and Development Master Plan (NLUDMP) 2020-2050 at the district level. It focuses on creating climate-resilient human settlements, diversifying climate finance proposals through the Ministry of Environment, and increasing the participation of rural women in climate adaptation and mitigation.

The SEI Urban Toolbox for Liveable Cities is a living digital resource hosted on the weADAPT platform, designed to gather SEI-developed tools for city officials, residents, and community groups. Developed through a four-phase co-design process involving internal reviews and workshops with stakeholders in Thailand, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, and Colombia, the toolbox focuses on improving environmental conditions, health, and well-being. Key findings from stakeholder workshops emphasized a strong demand for tools that foster citizen science, participatory mapping, and open data access to inform decision-making. The toolbox organizes resources into four main domains: residents' wellbeing, neighbourhood conditions, environmental quality and ecosystem services, and cross-cutting issues.

The document details how East Africa has experienced warming exceeding the global average, leading to increased drought frequency, glacier loss, and significant economic losses. Future projections indicate severe risks to human health, food security, and biodiversity, particularly if warming exceeds 1.5°C. It emphasizes the need for transformative adaptation, increased climate finance, and improved climate services to build regional resilience.

The EPAFLEC project aims to restore 6,000 hectares of degraded smallholder forests in North-West Rwanda by organizing farmers into Private Forest Management Units (PFMUs) and linking them to professional wood value chains. The project seeks to reduce pressure on forests by shifting 35,000 households—20,000 in Kigali and 15,000 in rural areas—from traditional charcoal and three-stone fires to wood pellets and improved cookstoves (ICS). It integrates private sector investment from SEAL and BioMassters Ltd to create a sustainable supply of raw materials for high-value wood products and clean fuels. The initiative also includes developing alternative incomes like beekeeping and establishing community revolving funds funded by carbon credits to ensure long-term sustainability and resilience for local communities.

The report finds that urban adaptation finance is significantly underfunded, representing only 3-5% of total global adaptation flows, with an estimated annual investment of up to USD 3.7 billion against a projected need of USD 11-20 billion for urban infrastructure protection. Analysis of the Global Landscape of Climate Finance, World Bank PPI, and CDP Cities data reveals a heavy concentration of funding in the water and wastewater sectors and a geographic bias toward East Asia and the Pacific, particularly China. Key barriers to scaling finance include limited DFI mandates for sub-national investment, poor municipal creditworthiness, and a lack of standardized outcome metrics for private investors. The report recommends developing practitioner case study databases, improving urban boundary tracking, and expanding DFI mandates to work directly with cities.

This research paper by the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) identifies key strategies to accelerate climate change adaptation across Africa. Based on interviews with African scientists and practitioners, the paper advocates for a shift toward locally-led, inclusive solutions that integrate indigenous knowledge with scientific projections. It proposes three primary investment pillars: enhancing people's skills and knowledge, building climate-resilient economies, and investing in nature-based solutions.

Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) has rescheduled its Forum in Kigali, Rwanda, to early 2022 to ensure a full in-person experience, as the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to impact events through much of 2021. In the interim, SEforALL intends to drive action on SDG7 via the High-Level Dialogue on Energy, COP26, a global campaign, and a Virtual Youth Summit in February 2021.

The document examines the intersection of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and urban inequality, proposing six priority solutions to build climate-resilient and equitable cities. It highlights how the pandemic exposed systemic vulnerabilities, particularly for the urban poor in informal settlements, and argues that adaptation investments offer high benefit-cost ratios (2:1 to 10:1) and local job creation. Proposed solutions include upgrading poor settlements, building water resilience, advancing nature-based solutions, creating knowledge networks, enhancing devolved funding, and fostering peer-to-peer city collaboration.

The report examines Rwanda's bioeconomy by modelling biomass flows and land-use changes through 2050. It finds that while population growth and urbanization will drive a significant increase in biomass demand in a baseline scenario, a sustainable resource use scenario—focused on clean cooking and fuel-switching—could reduce wood requirements by approximately 5 million tonnes by 2050. The study highlights the unsustainable nature of urban charcoal reliance in Kigali and suggests that shifting wood fuel sourcing to smallholder and agroforestry plantations can preserve state forests.

Rwanda has significantly improved its electricity access and investment landscape through robust policy frameworks, including the expansion of off-grid solutions and the restructuring of utilities. While the country has seen rapid progress in electrification rates and the attraction of private investment, it still faces challenges in energy efficiency, gender mainstreaming, and the inclusion of informal settlers in its energy plans.

The report examines South Africa's historical and recent involvement in Burundi, highlighting a transition from significant military and diplomatic leadership during the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement to a more peripheral role following Burundi's 2015 political crisis. While South Africa has provided tangible support in electoral capacity building and civil service training, the report finds that bilateral agreements have been implemented in a fragmented manner. It emphasizes the value of 'citizen diplomacy' through civil society and academic exchanges, particularly in supporting Burundi's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The authors argue that South Africa should leverage its remaining political capital and technical expertise through a holistic strategy that navigates complex regional dynamics involving the East African Community (EAC) and the International Conference for the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR).

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) faces a gap between political enthusiasm and technical implementation. While the African Union aims for a formal launch in July 2019, critical components such as tariff schedules, rules of origin, and protocols for trade in goods and services remain unfinished. UNCTAD suggests full liberalisation could increase intra-African exports by 33%, but failure to deliver concrete benefits for investors and traders could undermine the project's legitimacy.

The report details a multistakeholder workshop focused on the impact of Voluntary Sustainability Certification (VSC) on Rwanda's coffee sector. It identifies significant barriers for smallholder farmers, including high annual audit costs, a lack of local certification bodies, and a mismatch between the supply of certified coffee and market demand. The document proposes solutions such as the development of a national 'Rwanda GAP' standard, the translation of training manuals into Kinyarwanda, and the creation of a multistakeholder platform for data sharing and coordination to improve the economic viability and sustainability of the sector.

The report applies a 'nexus toolkit' to analyze the interactions between agricultural transformation, energy transition, and natural resource use in Rwanda, specifically within the Akagera Basin. Using policy coherence mapping and scenario modelling (Reference, Pessimistic, and Optimistic) up to 2050, the study finds that high population growth and climate change create severe pressure on water and biomass. Key findings indicate that ambitious national plans for irrigation and hydropower may be physically impossible to meet due to water scarcity, and that the transition to peat for electricity will increase GHG emissions despite reductions in cooking-fuel emissions. At the district level, the report identifies critical needs for improved water management, off-grid energy solutions, and a shift away from urban charcoal demand to combat deforestation.

The 2017 National Framework for Air Quality Management serves as the operational blueprint for the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act (AQA) in South Africa. It defines the roles of national, provincial, and municipal governments in managing atmospheric emissions and outlines a governance cycle comprising information management, problem identification, strategy development, standard setting, and enforcement. Key tools introduced include the South African Air Quality Information System (SAAQIS) and the South African Atmospheric Emission Licence and Inventory Portal (SAAELIP). The framework also details the process for declaring priority areas, managing listed activities through Atmospheric Emission Licences (AELs), and fulfilling international obligations regarding greenhouse gases, ozone-depleting substances, and persistent organic pollutants.

The report examines the 'camp economy' in Rwanda, highlighting how refugees use mobile money and informal savings groups to manage funds due to barriers in formal banking. It identifies expired identity documents and unclear 'Know Your Customer' (KYC) regulations as primary obstacles to financial inclusion. While refugees demonstrate strong business acumen, most NGO-supported livelihoods only provide subsistence-level income, and there is a significant gap in access to credit for business expansion. The document argues that including host communities in financial initiatives and streamlining regulatory requirements for refugee IDs would create a more viable market for financial service providers.

The document outlines three development pathways for Rwanda—reference, pessimistic, and optimistic—to explore the synergies and trade-offs between agricultural transformation and energy transition. It provides the specific quantitative inputs and qualitative assumptions used in the Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning (LEAP) and Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) models, including GDP growth, population trends, land-use changes, and cookstove penetration rates.

The report finds that refugees in Rwanda, particularly those with salaried jobs or self-employment, represent a viable and profitable market for financial service providers (FSPs). It highlights a strong demand for savings, transaction, and loan products, driven by the shift from food aid to cash-based transfers. However, the lack of government-issued ID cards creates a significant regulatory barrier for 'know your customer' (KYC) compliance. The report provides a dynamic business case model suggesting that the profitability of serving refugees is comparable to that of typical low-income Rwandan account holders, especially when cross-selling insurance and loan products.