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The GCF Accreditation Panel recommends the accreditation of HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation (APL180) for 'small' individual projects with a maximum environmental and social risk category of medium risk (category B/I-2). The assessment found that Helvetas fully meets most fiduciary, environmental, social, and gender standards, though it partially meets basic fiduciary standards due to gaps in internal audit quality assessment and the public disclosure of investigative guidelines. Helvetas is recommended for accreditation provided it meets specific conditions regarding the publication of its investigation terms of reference and the delivery of an external quality assessment of its internal audit function.

The Just Transition Compass serves as a non-prescriptive guide to move Just Transitions from high-level dialogue to concrete implementation. It defines core principles of distributive, procedural, and restorative justice, identifies systemic barriers to national implementation—such as limited subnational capacity and siloed finance—and analyzes the political tensions within the UNFCCC's Just Transition Work Programme (JTWP). The report advocates for a permanent international coordination mechanism to align fragmented efforts, manage the cross-border impacts of unilateral trade measures like the EU's CBAM, and mobilize private capital through sustainable finance taxonomies.

The document examines how the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) system enables foreign investors, particularly from the fossil fuel industry, to claim compensation from states for climate policies. It highlights the 'regulatory chill' effect, where the threat of costly awards—which have increased from an average of $25 million (1994-2003) to over $250 million (2014-2023)—deters governments from phasing out fossil fuels. The briefing references July 2025 advisory opinions from the International Court of Justice and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to affirm state duties to regulate polluting conduct. It concludes that current reform efforts, including the EU and UK withdrawals from the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), are insufficient due to sunset clauses and inadequate carve-outs, and recommends coordinated UN-level action to eliminate ISDS threats to climate and human rights obligations.

The Mediterranean region's renewable power capacity is projected to double from 315 GW in 2023 to 626 GW by 2030, primarily driven by solar and wind. However, this trajectory falls 374 GW short of the TeraMed Initiative's 1 TW goal. To bridge this gap, the region would need to install an additional 54 GW of wind and solar annually beyond current plans, totaling 98 GW per year, which significantly exceeds the historical maximum annual deployment of 45 GW.

The report examines the role of green banks in bridging the USD 7.4 trillion annual climate funding gap. It identifies four main structures: standalone de novo banks, enhanced public development banks (PDBs), green facilities within PDBs, and country platforms. While standalone banks are more common in advanced economies, EMDEs frequently utilize green facilities as transitional mechanisms. The report emphasizes that success depends on financial, environmental, and political sustainability, and proposes three international support options: a new design initiative, expanding the FiCS Innovation Lab, or forming a coalition of existing initiatives.

The report finds that while European DFIs are central to public climate finance, their current private capital mobilisation levels are low, with most lacking specific mobilisation targets. It identifies barriers such as low risk appetite from shareholders, a preference for transaction-level tools over institutional-level ones, and regulatory hurdles like the EU Taxonomy's limited applicability outside Europe. The document proposes 30 recommendations, including adopting broader mobilisation definitions, increasing on-selling of assets, and enhancing transparency through databases like GEMs to attract private investors.

The Western Balkans have over 23 GW of prospective utility-scale solar and wind projects, a 70% increase from the previous year. This capacity could render proposed gas-fired power plants obsolete, potentially averting 103 million tonnes of lifetime CO2 emissions and saving over €9 billion in energy costs and stranded assets. Currently, operating utility-scale solar and wind account for only 7% of the regional electricity mix (1.5 GW). Serbia leads the region in both operating (29%) and prospective (47%) capacity, though its construction rate is among the lowest. The report argues that the region should prioritize a just energy transition over gas-fired power, which is being promoted by EU, U.S., and Russian interests, to avoid carbon lock-in and import dependence.

From June 11-13, 2024, over 290 million people in Northern Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East are forecast to experience extreme heat made at least five times more likely due to human-caused climate change. Maximum temperatures of 40°C or higher are expected in several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, and Egypt. The document highlights risks including wildfires in Greece, damage to Bulgaria's rose oil production, and increased vulnerability for refugees in Libya, Tunisia, and Algeria.

The report evaluates the alignment of national laws in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia with EU environmental standards. While some progress in transposition is noted, the analysis identifies systemic failures in enforcement, inadequate institutional capacity, and significant gaps in the implementation of the Water Framework, Nature, and Environmental Liability Directives, which hinder the protection of rivers from hydropower development.

The report evaluates the alignment of national laws in six Western Balkan countries with EU environmental directives (EIA, SEA, ELD, WFD, Habitats, and Birds). While some progress in transposition is noted, systemic failures persist, including a lack of secondary legislation, inadequate institutional capacity, and poor data quality in environmental reports. Key issues include the exclusion of small hydropower plants from screening in some countries, restricted access to justice for strategic assessments, and the failure to designate Natura 2000 sites. Montenegro is the only country with functioning environmental liability regulations.

The research identifies persistent mismatches between technical vocational skills and industry needs in South Africa's emerging green hydrogen economy (GHE). It advocates for a shift from traditional quantitative forecasting to 'skills foresight' (SF)—a participatory, qualitative approach to anticipating multiple future scenarios. The paper proposes four priority areas: strengthening skills anticipation systems via a dedicated DHET foresight team, enhancing TVET sector responsiveness through futures literacy training, developing a 'transversal skills commons' to ensure workforce resilience, and co-creating a new social compact for post-school education and training (PSET) to elevate the status of vocational qualifications.

The document analyzes environmental mobilization in the Balkans, specifically focusing on the protection of the Vjosa River in Albania and the Jadar Valley in Serbia. It compares the grassroots, campaign-led approach in Albania, which led to the creation of a national park, with the mass protests and political integration seen in Serbia, which forced the withdrawal of mining permits. The text also highlights the European Union's inconsistent support, noting its strong backing for river conservation versus its more cautious approach to lithium mining due to the EU's energy transition needs.

The text examines the role of energy communities in mitigating the 'green backlash' and far-right growth in Europe. It contrasts industrial-scale renewable projects, which often exclude rural populations in countries like Spain and Greece, with community-led initiatives that prioritize socio-environmental benefits over profit. The author highlights that community energy projects can provide up to eight times more economic benefit to local economies than private projects. Examples of innovation include agri-photovoltaic projects in Greece and North Macedonia, and a biomass heating network in Spain. The document calls for EU and member state support to ensure that the energy transition is inclusive and democratic, preventing profits from accruing only to large companies.

The document identifies a critical gap between the technical vocational skills provided by South Africa's TVET sector and the requirements of the emerging green hydrogen economy. It critiques the current reliance on quantitative, top-down skills planning and proposes 'skills foresight' (SF)—a participatory approach that imagines multiple futures—to enhance systemic agility. The authors recommend establishing a dedicated foresight team within the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), creating a Cross-Sectoral TVET Advisory Board for Green Transversal Skills, and initiating participatory futures dialogues to co-create a new social compact for education that reduces the perceived inferiority of TVET qualifications compared to university degrees.

The study identifies US$3.2 billion in energy development finance for five Western Balkan countries between 2008 and 2020, noting that approximately one-third of disbursed funds supported non-renewable energy sources. While disbursement ratios exceeded the global average, the total funding remained insufficient, ranging from 0.15% to 0.62% of the average GDP for the analyzed countries. The research found no established link between the 2016 Paris Agreement and an increase in finance flows for renewable energy projects.

The report analyzes the relationship between the diversion of firearms—the transfer of weapons from legal to illicit realms—and illicit trafficking. It details various diversion typologies, including 'leakage' from state stocks, straw purchases, and the misuse of export documentation. Through 12 case studies spanning Europe, Africa, the Americas, and Asia, the document demonstrates how the UN Firearms Protocol's requirements for marking, record-keeping, and international judicial cooperation are critical for dismantling trafficking networks. It emphasizes that while diversion can occur domestically, it often serves as a prerequisite for cross-border trafficking, which requires a coordinated international criminal justice response to be effectively countered.

The policy brief highlights a gap between current European electricity interconnection expansion plans and the actual needs of the power system. It asserts that doubling interconnection capacity is essential to integrate renewables cost-effectively and reduce reliance on fossil gas. The author identifies critical border corridors requiring urgent attention and proposes three pathways forward: accelerating the 22 GW of projects already in the pipeline, investing in non-wire solutions like storage and demand response, or increasing domestic renewable capacities at a higher cost.

The document analyzes plans for €3.5 billion in new gas-fired power plants, pipelines, and LNG terminals in the Western Balkans. It argues that these projects, promoted by EU and U.S. institutions, would create a dependency on volatile gas markets and risk creating stranded assets, contradicting the region's carbon-neutral goals and the EU's 2050 targets.

The document argues that the Open Government Partnership (OGP) is an underutilized platform for conservationists to drive transparency, participation, and accountability in natural resource governance. It provides three specific templates for creating OGP commitments: beneficial ownership transparency to combat deforestation, openness and integrity in wildlife law enforcement, and participatory governance for Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). The guide emphasizes that these reforms help prevent 'open washing' by using multi-stakeholder forums and independent reporting to track government progress.

The document argues that conservationists have underutilized the Open Government Partnership (OGP) as a platform for achieving conservation priorities. It provides three specific templates for OGP commitments: beneficial ownership transparency to reduce deforestation, integrity in wildlife law enforcement, and participatory governance for Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). The guide explains how to identify problems, propose solutions, and define verifiable results within the OGP's multisectoral forum and independent review mechanism.