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The EU petrochemical industry, a €635 billion sector employing 1.2 million people, is facing a deep structural crisis characterized by ageing assets, high energy costs, and intensifying global competition. The industry is physically organized around approximately 150 chemical parks, with the Antwerp-Rotterdam-Rhine-Ruhr corridor serving as the world's densest concentration of production. However, the EU's global market share in chemical sales fell from 21% in 2009 to 13% in 2024, while China now accounts for 46% of global sales. The sector is experiencing a 'closure wave' of steam crackers—the central units for producing ethylene, propylene, butadiene, and aromatics—due to their 1970s-era scale and high carbon exposure under the EU ETS. Between 2022 and 2025, the industry lost approximately 37 Mt of production capacity, and investment CAPEX dropped from €7.6 billion in 2022 to €1.5 billion in 2025. The report highlights acute vulnerabilities in the supply of primary 'building block' molecules, noting that the EU produces less than 10% of global primary petrochemical capacity and is increasingly dependent on imports for molecules like methanol, where domestic production covers less than 15% of consumption.

The report examines the potential of the EU's CSRD and CSDDD to drive methane emission reductions in the meat and dairy industries. While the CSRD mandates transparency and disclosure of greenhouse gas data, the CSDDD requires companies to act on adverse environmental and health impacts. The document highlights that despite 'simplification' via the Omnibus I process—which reduced the number of companies in scope and removed specific climate transition plan requirements from the CSDDD—these directives still provide levers to address methane as a precursor to ground-level ozone. It argues that mandatory reporting and due diligence can prevent companies from relying on 'end of pipe' solutions like biogas and instead push for upstream mitigation.

The document examines how the reliance on consensus in the UNFCCC has led to a 'race to the bottom,' resulting in watered-down agreements on fossil fuels, science-based targets, and loss and damage. It proposes two procedural pathways for reform: adopting the long-delayed draft Rules of Procedure or amending the Convention itself. To support this, the author provides a comparative analysis of other UN institutions and multilateral environmental agreements—such as the Montreal Protocol and the Green Climate Fund—that successfully utilize voting to break deadlocks and advance substantive goals.

The report provides a detailed breakdown of aligned GSS+ debt volumes, issuer types, and geographic trends for Q1 2026, highlighting the continued dominance of green bonds and the European market.

The report argues that current transition finance frameworks lack the systemic safeguards necessary to prevent carbon lock-in, particularly in hard-to-abate sectors. It proposes moving from asset-level financing to a systemic approach underpinned by Paris-aligned, subnational net-zero pathways. The document examines the gap between corporate transition plans and the requirements for credible transition finance, noting that many high-emitting oil, gas, and agrifood entities lack mature strategies. It advocates for the use of Paris-aligned taxonomies to ensure that use-of-proceeds (UoP) instruments drive genuine decarbonisation without creating 'dead-end pathways'.

European agriculture's heavy reliance on synthetic nitrogen fertiliser, produced primarily from natural gas, creates a direct link between energy price shocks and food costs. Analysis of 17 EU member states from 2019-2024 reveals that EUR 16.4 billion was spent on fertiliser that was never taken up by crops, with EUR 6.1 billion spent on the embedded natural gas for that wasted input. Environmental damage from synthetic nitrogen application during this period is estimated at EUR 233.7 billion, dominated by water pollution. The report argues that reducing synthetic nitrogen use by up to 43% through precision management and legume integration could save farmers up to EUR 5.08 billion annually and significantly reduce gas dependency. Modeling shows that the post-Ukraine invasion energy crisis pushed wheat prices up by approximately 22%, establishing a lasting structural link between energy and food prices.

The report projects that Cape Verde will experience significant urbanisation and GDP per capita growth by 2043, though it remains highly dependent on food imports and tourism. While various sectoral interventions—particularly free trade and manufacturing—could further boost GDP and reduce poverty, they are also projected to increase carbon emissions. The Combined Agenda 2063 scenario suggests a potential GDP increase to US$8.7 billion and a reduction of extreme poverty to 3.6% of the population by 2043.

The document argues that TotalEnergies SE has misled investors by claiming alignment with the Paris Agreement while continuing to increase fossil fuel production. It highlights the systemic financial risk climate change poses to global portfolios and asserts that TotalEnergies' disclosures—including claims about the role of natural gas as a transition fuel and the 'substitution' argument for continued extraction—are inaccurate. The authors call for an AMF investigation into potential breaches of the AMF General Regulations, the European Market Abuse Regulation (MAR), and the French Monetary and Financial Code.

ClientEarth, Amis de la Terre France, and Notre Affaire à Tous allege that TotalEnergies SE has misled investors by claiming alignment with the Paris Agreement while continuing to increase fossil fuel production. The report argues that such misinformation obscures systemic financial risks, as climate change threatens global economic stability and asset valuations. It specifically challenges the company's claims regarding the role of natural gas as a 'transition energy' and its 'net zero' ambitions, citing a 2025 Paris court ruling that found the company's consumer communications to be misleading.

The testimony evaluates the Build Nuclear with Local Materials Act, the RECHARGE Act, and the Enrichment Licensing Modernization Act, arguing that while the intent to accelerate nuclear deployment is correct, some legislative approaches should be shifted to agency rulemaking to ensure transparency and regulatory flexibility.

Mighty Earth CEO Glenn Hurowitz warns that JBS, the world's largest meat company, is expanding its industrial model into Africa, securing 4,600 square miles of land in Nigeria for six meat-processing plants. The note highlights JBS's history of deforestation in the Amazon and Cerrado, labor abuses, and pollution, while noting a legal challenge by Greenpeace Netherlands to force disclosure of the company's climate and human rights policies. Mighty Earth is targeting JBS's global retail customers, such as Ahold Delhaize and Stop & Shop, to pressure the company into changing its practices.

The authors argue that the upcoming UN General Assembly resolution to operationalize the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) Advisory Opinion on climate change is a critical test of global climate leadership. They assert that the resolution reflects existing legal obligations to prevent climate harm, provide reparations, and ensure a just transition from fossil fuels. While noting resistance from major emitters and oil producers who seek to weaken the text, the authors maintain that the resolution complements existing UNFCCC processes by closing an 'accountability gap' that the treaty regime has failed to address.

The document argues that the traditional carbon offsetting model is fundamentally flawed and misleading, urging companies to adopt Beyond Value Chain Mitigation (BVCM). Unlike offsetting, which claims to 'cancel out' emissions, BVCM involves supporting external climate projects as a contribution to global goals without claiming carbon neutrality. The guide outlines the legal and reputational risks of offsetting—including a September 2026 EU ban on product-level offsetting claims—and provides a five-step implementation framework for BVCM. It suggests diversifying contributions beyond carbon credits into durable carbon removals (CDR), 'high-hanging fruit' technology research, and climate impact funds, while emphasizing that external action must not replace internal decarbonization aligned with a 1.5°C trajectory.

The document analyzes a structural contraction in Official Development Assistance (ODA) and a persistent under-allocation of climate finance toward adaptation. It argues that while the sector possesses the foresight to predict these trends, institutional barriers prevent this knowledge from translating into action. The paper highlights the failure of blended finance to scale in high-exposure contexts, the inability of alternative donors like China and Gulf states to replace Western ODA, and emerging risks such as the centralization of risk analytics and sovereign debt traps.

The report argues that the TotalEnergies-EPH joint venture (TTEP) locks Europe into fossil gas dependency, increases energy bill volatility through LNG imports, and relies on public subsidies that should be redirected toward clean energy. It highlights that the venture's 12.5 GW gas capacity will produce emissions comparable to entire countries like Ireland or Denmark over five years, while challenging the companies' claims that such assets are necessary for grid flexibility.

The report argues that commercial insect farming in high-income, temperate regions often fails to meet its theoretical sustainability promises. While insects have lower greenhouse gas emissions than beef, they often perform worse than the soymeal and fishmeal they are intended to replace. The authors identify seven key challenges: outdated life cycle assessments, under-utilization of organic waste as feed, limited substitution of meat in human diets, the reinforcement of industrial animal agriculture through use as feed, biodiversity risks from unintentional releases, emerging animal welfare concerns, and the opportunity cost of diverting investment from more promising plant-based or cultivated proteins.

The First Conference for the Transition beyond Fossil Fuels, held in Santa Marta, Colombia, from April 24 to 29, aims to establish practical solutions for phasing out coal, oil, and gas. Co-sponsored by Colombia and the Netherlands, the event brings together at least 45 countries, including major exporters like Canada and Australia, though the largest producers—the US, China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia—are absent. The conference seeks to bypass the consensus-based delays of UN COPs to produce a report for COP30 and COP31, focusing on eliminating fossil fuel subsidies, planning production decline, and increasing renewable energy demand within a just transition framework.

In 2025, clean power met all global electricity demand growth for the first time since the pandemic, as China's fossil generation plateaued. Solar power is the primary driver of this shift, and the deployment of battery storage is increasingly enabling solar to displace fossil fuels during non-daylight hours. India is expected to follow a less coal-reliant path than China due to lower energy intensity and the maturity of low-cost clean technologies.

The document examines how Spain's rapid expansion of wind and solar power has decoupled its electricity prices from volatile fossil fuel markets, particularly during the 2026 conflict in Iran. While Spain has achieved lower electricity costs and increased industrial competitiveness compared to other major EU economies, the author notes a critical shortfall in grid infrastructure investment. The text advocates for a reform of the EU's marginal pricing system and a shift toward domestic clean energy generation to ensure broader European energy security.

The statement contends that the global fossil fuel system is inherently violent and volatile, citing 2026 conflicts in the Middle East and Venezuela as evidence. It advocates for the Santa Marta conference as a mechanism to move beyond the industry-influenced COP process to implement concrete actions, such as 'polluters pay' taxes on fossil fuel profits and grant-based climate finance for the Global South. The author asserts that the economic cost of fossil fuel price spikes outweighs the cost of transitioning to net zero, noting that 91% of new renewables projects are now cheaper than fossil fuel alternatives.