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The paper analyzes the evolution of the 'Women, Peace and Security' (WPS) framework, centered on UN Security Council Resolution 1325. While the author notes rapid normative spread and broad political acceptance among member states and regional organizations, she highlights a significant failure to translate these norms into practice. This is evidenced by low female representation in UN peace operations and political missions, insufficient funding, and a lack of accountability at leadership levels. The author argues that while shifting global power dynamics and opposition from states like Russia and China pose risks, the continued pressure from transnational women's networks remains the primary driver for future progress.

The report examines return migration as a complex spectrum of agency and coercion, challenging the 'myth of return' and the binary of forced versus voluntary migration. It identifies ten key findings, highlighting that return intentions are shaped by competing attachments to multiple societies and that reintegration can be as challenging as initial integration due to social expectations, corruption, and security risks. The research emphasizes the critical role of short-term return visits in informing decisions and maintaining transnational ties, while noting that secure legal status in a destination country often paradoxically facilitates the possibility of return by providing a safety net.

The author challenges the consensus in international relations that the field can explain but not predict political phenomena. He argues that there is little theoretical basis for distinguishing between explanation and prediction, and that modern data and machine learning make prediction empirically possible. The paper outlines three generations of conflict prediction, from early behavioralist ambitions to current sophisticated early warning systems used by entities like the UN and EU. The author contends that focusing on prediction improves theory testing by moving beyond statistical significance to evaluate whether models can actually reproduce data-generating mechanisms. While acknowledging the challenges of 'black swan' events and non-linear complex systems, he asserts that the alternative to scientific prediction is often reliance on unreliable expert intuition.

The SEI Initiative on Fossil Fuels and Climate Change, launched in January 2015, focuses on the supply side of climate policy to prevent the 'lock-in' of fossil fuel dependence. The initiative investigates the emissions implications of infrastructure, the political economy of extraction, and the role of international governance. It employs a multi-disciplinary approach involving energy modelling and political economy analysis, with specific case studies in Colombia, South Africa, Indonesia, Norway, and the U.S. to examine the interplay between resource exploitation and low-carbon development goals.

The document examines the role of northern Europe, particularly Sweden, in the global production of iron ore and copper. It analyzes how global demand, dominated by China, creates 'boom and bust' cycles that impact local economies and environments. Using Chile as a comparative case, it highlights how resource scarcity and social resistance can limit production, while China's market dominance creates geopolitical dependencies for exporting nations. For northern Europe, the brief suggests that stable regulatory frameworks and assured ancillary resources may attract investment, though stakeholders must remain wary of the social and political implications of foreign mining companies.

The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) argues that while the Arctic possesses vast renewable energy reserves and successful technology tests, adoption remains slow. To accelerate this transition, the IISD proposes clear long-term targets, the phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies—specifically subsidized diesel—and the establishment of public-private partnerships funded by environmental taxes.

Carbon Market Watch asserts that international carbon markets require high ambition and demand to function effectively. Drawing on the Kyoto Protocol experience where weak targets in Russia and Ukraine created 'hot air' credits that undermined emissions trading, the author advocates for eligibility criteria based on stringent targets and the principle of supplementarity, where market units only supplement domestic ambition.

The 10YFP Programme on Sustainable Lifestyles and Education is a global initiative resulting from Rio+20, co-led by Japan, Sweden (via SEI), and WWF. It defines sustainable lifestyles as choices that "minimize environmental degradation" while supporting equitable development. The programme focuses on three main pillars: educating for sustainable lifestyles across formal and informal settings, developing and replicating low-carbon lifestyle scenarios, and promoting innovative and traditional models of sustainable living. Key objectives include building a common framework for understanding sustainable lifestyles, integrating these principles across society, and empowering individuals—particularly youth—through education and awareness. The programme is supported by a Multi-stakeholder Advisory Committee (MAC) and seeks to provide recommendations for policies, infrastructures, and business strategies that enable sustainable living, with a specific emphasis on urban spaces.

The report analyzes how the EU 28 can decrease its reliance on natural gas imports through cost-effective energy efficiency and renewable energy deployment across the buildings, industry, and energy supply sectors. It argues that these measures can reduce the share of natural gas in primary energy demand to 16% by 2030, significantly outperforming the European Commission's proposed 2030 framework.

The document provides a comprehensive review of empirical studies demonstrating that compact, transit-oriented, and walkable urban design leads to lower greenhouse gas emissions, reduced infrastructure costs, and increased labor productivity. It highlights specific findings from China, such as the negative energy impacts of 'superblocks' in Jinan and the property value premiums associated with Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in Beijing and Guangzhou. The report also emphasizes the cost-effectiveness of BRT over light rail and the public health benefits of non-motorized transit, while identifying research gaps in developer-side profit data and the specific productivity effects of density in Chinese cities.

The report argues that implementing cost-effective energy efficiency and renewable energy measures could halve the EU's net natural gas imports and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 49% relative to 1990 levels by 2030. It identifies the buildings sector as having the highest potential for savings, followed by energy production and industry, while noting that domestic production, including shale gas, is unlikely to increase substantially.

The author asserts that climate change threatens to reverse development gains and undermine efforts to end poverty. The text emphasizes that the UN Climate Summit and the transition from Millennium Development Goals to Sustainable Development Goals are critical opportunities to integrate climate resilience with poverty eradication. It highlights specific solutions, such as renewable energy and energy-efficient technologies, as drivers of economic growth and public health.

The New York Declaration on Forests Action Agenda provides a framework for governments, companies, indigenous peoples, and multilateral institutions to combat deforestation. It highlights significant progress, such as Brazil's 71% reduction in deforestation by 2013 and the adoption of zero-deforestation policies by major palm oil traders covering 60% of global trade. The agenda details specific roles for stakeholders, including the implementation of the Warsaw Framework for REDD+ and the commitment of indigenous peoples to protect 400 million hectares of forests. It also notes financial commitments from developed nations like Germany, Norway, and the UK to provide predictable REDD+ financing.

The Green Economy Coalition (GEC) argues that while the green economy narrative is gaining traction, it requires a shift toward moral and economic storytelling, local 'heroes', and systemic financial reform to become mainstream. The document identifies key narrative 'storylines'—such as economic revival, community empowerment, and financial crisis—and emphasizes that emerging economies are currently adopting these frameworks more enthusiastically than developed nations. It specifically calls for the reform of central banks and monetary policy to address systemic risks like 'stranded assets' and 'carbon bubbles', suggesting that civil society must lead this change to overcome political apathy in the North.

The research evaluates policy options to reach a 450 PPM CO2 concentration target by 2050, focusing on the period up to 2035. Using the GDynE model, the authors compare domestic carbon taxes and international emission trading (IET) against scenarios where the Green Climate Fund (GCF) is used for welfare redistribution, energy efficiency, or renewable energy. The findings indicate that while abatement costs are generally detrimental to the growth of developing countries, a GCF financed by an 8% levy on developed countries' carbon tax revenues can mitigate these losses. Specifically, investing GCF resources into energy efficiency in developing countries provides the most significant global benefit, potentially resulting in a net gain for developing economies and reducing the overall cost of meeting climate targets for all parties.

The report examines the 'peace potential' of oil and gas resources, analyzing how joint development, revenue sharing, and infrastructure projects like pipelines can either mitigate or fuel conflict. It contrasts successful cooperation, such as the Saudi-Kuwaiti Partitioned Neutral Zone and Turkey-Iraqi Kurdish relations, with failures in the Caucasus and disputes in the South China Sea and Eastern Mediterranean. The study also addresses the role of international environmental law and the climate impact of transitioning from coal to natural gas.

The report examines corporate governance across six SADC countries, finding a significant gap between the adoption of formal legal frameworks and their practical implementation. While South Africa and Mauritius possess sophisticated systems, others struggle with rudimentary architectures, corruption, and poor infrastructure. The author argues for a principles-based approach to governance that facilitates rather than restricts business growth, particularly for small and medium enterprises.

The report argues that Norway's fair share of the global climate effort is significantly larger than its population size suggests due to its high wealth and historical emissions. Using the Greenhouse Development Rights (GDR) framework, the analysis finds that Norway's combined Responsibility and Capacity Indicator (RCI) for 2020 is 0.84% of the global effort, despite representing only 0.07% of the world's population. To meet a 'Strong 2°C pathway', the report suggests Norway must combine ambitious domestic cuts—approximately 50% by 2030 relative to 1990 levels—with substantial international financial and technological support to achieve further reductions in other countries.

The EU ETS is currently failing to promote low-carbon solutions due to a carbon price that has plunged to around 5 euros per tonne of CO2, driven by a surplus of 2.1 billion tonnes of CO2-equivalent allowances. This oversupply is attributed to weak emission targets, the inflow of international offsets, and reduced demand following the economic crisis. The document warns that this surplus allows the EU to transform current emission reductions from other policies into 'future rights to pollute', potentially reducing the domestic impact of the 2030 climate target from 40% to 34%. To fix the market, the author recommends increasing the linear reduction factor to 2.6%, permanently cancelling 1.6 billion excess allowances, enacting the Market Stability Reserve by 2017, and transitioning to full auctioning for all industrial sectors post-2020 to eliminate windfall profits and adhere to the polluter-pays principle.

The report analyzes government subsidies for the Yamal LNG and Prirazlomnoe projects in the Russian Arctic. It finds that Yamal LNG would be uneconomic without state-funded infrastructure and tax breaks, while Prirazlomnoe received substantial tax breaks after most capital expenditures were already sunk, effectively acting as a rent transfer to Gazprom. Both projects are associated with significant environmental risks, including salinity changes in the Bay of Ob and potential oil spills in the Pechora Sea.