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The report finds that the EU ETS region is increasingly importing electricity from non-EU neighbors with high carbon intensities, effectively importing emissions and creating 'offshore carbon havens'. In 2019, the EU ETS region imported 26 million tonnes of CO2, with a net import of 20 million tonnes. The authors argue that the disparity in carbon pricing gives a competitive advantage to high-carbon generators in countries like Turkey, Ukraine, and the Western Balkans. To combat this, the report recommends a border carbon adjustment (BCA) on gross electricity imports to protect the integrity of EU climate policy and incentivize decarbonization in neighboring states. It also warns that planned increases in interconnection capacity (31% by 2030) and new coal power projects (up to 57GW) in connected non-EU countries will exacerbate the problem.

The document analyzes the scale and nature of food export restrictions during the COVID-19 crisis compared to the 2007/08 period. It finds that while 22 countries imposed restrictions in 2020, the overall impact on globally traded calories and monetary value is significantly lower than in 2008. The brief notes that current food availability challenges are driven more by logistical disruptions than the supply shortages and high energy prices that characterized the previous crisis.

The author argues that EU enlargement in the Western Balkans has stalled due to a 'dull reality' where local leaders benefit from the status quo and the EU lacks the political will or understanding to enforce genuine rule of law. The Berlin Process is critiqued as a 'plan B' that prioritised technical compliance over substantive reform. The document highlights specific failures in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, North Macedonia, Kosovo, and Albania, while warning that an economic and strategic vacuum is being filled by China, Russia, Turkey, and the USA. It further expresses concern over Croatia's 2020 EU presidency given its nationalist tendencies and strained relations with neighbours.

The document examines how 'migration' and 'development' are defined and measured in quantitative research, highlighting a gap in evidence regarding migration aspirations, failed attempts, and involuntary immobility. It discusses the challenges of establishing causal links due to endogeneity—specifically reverse causality, self-selection, and omitted variables—and evaluates experimental and non-experimental methods to address these biases. The paper advocates for a holistic, multi-dimensional approach to development that moves beyond economic metrics to include social, institutional, and environmental outcomes.

The document advises Energy Community Contracting Parties on integrating various climate and energy planning efforts, such as National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs), NDCs, and sectoral strategies, to reduce resource burdens and ensure policy alignment.

The document analyzes how the CEDAW monitors the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (ICEDAW) to address climate change. It highlights that in 2018, the Committee made climate-related recommendations to 75% of reviewed states, focusing heavily on adaptation (44%) and procedural rights (37%), while mitigation received significantly less attention (7%). The briefing details specific state obligations across four areas: mitigation, adaptation, procedural rights, and international cooperation, emphasizing the role of General Recommendation 37 (GR37) in framing disaster risk reduction with a gender perspective.

The report examines how environmental issues in Cyprus can either exacerbate conflict or serve as a tool for peacebuilding. It analyzes the political, legal, and administrative asymmetries between the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Cypriot administration, highlighting how these divisions hinder holistic ecosystem management. The document details various levels of cooperation, from intergovernmental bodies like the UN and EU to academic networks and grassroots movements. It specifically evaluates the roles of the Cyprus Environmental Forum (CESF) and the Bicommunal Technical Committee for the Environment (BTCE). The report concludes with proposals for sustainable bi-communal initiatives, including the establishment of a Peace Park in the buffer zone, UNESCO Biosphere Reserves, and a bi-communal ecological study center in Varisea.

The report examines environmental cooperation in Cyprus, highlighting how political division creates administrative and legal asymmetries that hinder nature conservation. It analyzes various levels of cooperation—from intergovernmental bodies like the UN and EU to civil society and technical committees—and proposes specific peace-building measures such as a Buffer Zone Peace Park and UNESCO Biosphere Reserves.

The Defenders in Development Campaign urges states and development finance institutions (DFIs) to integrate human rights protections into development projects, noting that defenders of land and environmental rights face extreme risks of violence and criminalization.

As of 31 January 2018, the Green Climate Fund (GCF) had accredited 59 entities, with a pipeline of 198 entities having created accounts on the Online Accreditation System. The report highlights a strategic shift toward prioritizing direct access entities, which now constitute a larger share of those completing the accreditation process. It also details the ongoing support provided to direct access entities through readiness programs and gap assessments, and tracks the progress of accredited entities in fulfilling specific fiduciary, environmental, social, and gender conditions. Additionally, the document notes a temporary lack of quorum in the Accreditation Panel (AP), which delayed new accreditation recommendations for the nineteenth Board meeting.

The summer of 2017 saw extreme heat across Southern Europe, including the 'Lucifer' heat wave in early August. World Weather Attribution analysis indicates that human-induced climate change significantly increased the likelihood of these events. A summer as hot as 2017 is now estimated to have a 1 in 10 annual chance in the Euro-Mediterranean region and is projected to become normal weather by the middle of the century under continued greenhouse gas emissions.

The document argues that EU climate tools must be reformed to support a low-carbon transition in Central and Eastern Europe, specifically calling for a 55% emission reduction target by 2030 and the phase-out of fossil fuel and nuclear energy subsidies.

A coalition of networks and organizations calls for an ambitious revision of the EU ETS to stop the use of Article 10c and the Modernisation Fund for fossil fuel capacity, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe. They advocate for a higher carbon price to disincentivize coal and the redirection of funds toward energy efficiency and renewable energy.

The study finds that ethnic civil wars have indeed declined since the mid-1990s, supporting Ted Robert Gurr's projections. The authors demonstrate that this pacifying trend is associated with increased government accommodation, specifically through the granting of group rights, power-sharing, and democratization, which reduce the probability of conflict onset. Additionally, regional autonomy and peacekeeping operations are found to significantly increase the likelihood of conflict termination. Out-of-sample predictions show that a theory-driven model based on accommodative politics far outperforms a simple time-trend model in predicting the actual decline of ethnic conflict from 2000 to 2013.

The EU-Turkey deal, implemented in March 2016, aimed to reduce irregular arrivals by establishing a 'one in, one out' resettlement formula for Syrian refugees. While the author notes the deal and accompanying border closures in Eastern and South Eastern Europe have successfully deterred arrivals, this has come at a high humanitarian cost. Refugees are now stranded in squalid conditions in Greece, Macedonia, and Serbia, or are forced onto more dangerous smuggling routes, including the Libya-Italy crossing. The author argues that the deal may undermine the international principle of 'non-refoulement' and that the EU's focus on deterrence has created a 'homemade humanitarian crisis'.

The report analyzes the integration of SACU countries—Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, and Swaziland—into global and regional value chains. It finds that while the region is generally at the margins of GVCs, there are significant opportunities in the automotive and apparel sectors. The authors argue that South Africa can serve as a 'gateway' for the region, linking smaller member states to global networks through advanced services and infrastructure. Key barriers identified include geographical remoteness, small market scale, restrictive trade policies (particularly in agribusiness), and gaps in technical skills. The report concludes that GVC participation positively correlates with labor productivity, especially through backward linkages (imported inputs), and suggests a policy framework focused on economic densification, skills upgrading, and open regionalism.

Indonesia's draft INDC proposes an unconditional 29% emissions reduction by 2030, rising to 41% with international assistance. The World Resources Institute identifies gaps in transparency and ambition, specifically urging the government to publish its business-as-usual (BAU) baseline, increase its unconditional target, and include quantitative carbon stock targets for the land sector to address the fact that nearly 55% of its emissions stem from deforestation and peatland destruction.

The Prosol program (2005-2010) successfully scaled the deployment of solar water heaters in Tunisia by combining capital subsidies, concessional credit, and a unique risk-mitigation framework. By leveraging the state utility STEG as a debt collector and guarantor, the program reduced credit risk for commercial banks, leading to a 1:5 public-to-private investment ratio. The initiative not only increased installed capacity fivefold but also generated significant fiscal returns for the Tunisian government by reducing expenditures on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) subsidies.

The author contends that austerity policies in Europe, especially in post-socialist states, have led to substantial budget cuts in higher education and a push toward the commodification of learning. The text highlights that these measures often shift costs to students through tuition fees and prioritize market-driven research over humanities and fundamental sciences, thereby undermining social equality and the goals of the Europe 2020 strategy.

The report analyzes the challenges of the Afghan conflict, emphasizing the need for a proactive, inclusive peace process. It suggests that successful negotiations require third-party facilitation, a structured negotiating framework, and transitional arrangements to manage security and governance. The authors argue against narrow power-sharing between elites, proposing instead a multidimensional approach involving power-sharing, power-dividing, power-creating, and power-diffusing mechanisms across political, military, territorial, and economic dimensions to ensure long-term stability and legitimacy.