Search Climate Insights Directory

The document highlights that 13% of all food production is lost due to a lack of cold chains, amounting to 526 million tonnes annually. This deficiency disproportionately affects low-income countries, with Asia holding the highest share of food loss at 48%. The report argues that expanding sustainable cooling can reduce food losses by 55% and cold chain emissions by 55%, while improving incomes for smallholder farmers. It identifies 54 high-impact countries, noting that while China and India have the highest volumes of loss, several African nations exhibit the highest energy inefficiency in food production. Proposed solutions include National Cooling Action Plans, Cooling as a Service (CaaS) models, and Community Cooling Hubs.

Chilling Prospects 2022 identifies that 3.66 billion people face high or medium risk from cooling access challenges, with 1.2 billion rural and urban poor at high risk. The report highlights critical gaps in food cold chains, health services, and human safety, while forecasting that achieving SDG 7.1 and SDG 1.1 could reduce the high-risk population by 36% by 2030. It advocates for a transition to sustainable, energy-efficient cooling and the implementation of National Cooling Action Plans (NCAPs) to mitigate climate impacts and protect vulnerable populations.

The paper examines stakeholder perceptions of the circular economy (CE) transition in Umeå, Sweden. It finds that current social impact considerations are narrow, focusing primarily on employment shifts and community cohesion, while neglecting health, well-being, and property rights. The authors argue for a broader assessment framework that includes job quality, accessibility for vulnerable groups, and the implications of digitalization.

The paper reviews the evolution of disaster risk science, shifting from an emergency management focus to a proactive disaster risk reduction (DRR) approach. It analyzes the interplay between hazards, exposure, and vulnerability, while highlighting the emergence of systemic and Anthropocene risks. The authors identify significant geographical imbalances in research production, with a heavy reliance on Western scholarship and a lack of data from Africa and low-to-middle income countries. It calls for greater integration of DRR with climate change adaptation (CCA) and a stronger focus on disaster justice and indigenous knowledge.

The document argues that digital communication often amplifies existing offline injustices and creates new ones through digital divides, surveillance, and the weaponization of information. It advocates for a transformative movement based on communication rights, inclusive design, and the protection of privacy to ensure digital spaces serve human dignity rather than corporate profit or state control.

The document argues that digital justice is an extension of social and ecological justice, requiring a multi-dimensional approach to address the digital divide, surveillance, and the weaponization of information. It emphasizes that communication is a fundamental human right and calls for a faith-inspired movement to resist the concentration of power in tech monopolies and state surveillance. The guide highlights specific vulnerabilities of women, ethnic minorities, and disabled persons, while linking digital consumption to environmental degradation through electronic waste and energy use.

The document argues that digital communication often mirrors and amplifies existing offline inequalities, creating new forms of exclusion and oppression. It identifies five key areas of concern: global digital divides, barriers to digital spaces, the militarization of digital resources, the vulnerability of marginalized groups, and the erosion of privacy through surveillance. The guide advocates for a 'transformative movement' based on human rights and faith to ensure digital tools serve human dignity rather than corporate profit or state control. It specifically highlights the intersection of digital justice with gender equality, racial justice, and ecological sustainability, calling for a 'right to repair' and a transition to sustainable energy for digital infrastructure.

The report finds that while updated NDCs show increased ambition and better alignment with national planning, a massive gap remains between current commitments and the emissions reductions needed to limit warming to 1.5°C. Mitigation efforts have improved in scope and transparency, but many sectoral measures remain vague. Adaptation components are more prevalent in developing countries and show increased focus on equity and critical systems, though implementation details like timeframes and indicators are often missing. Climate finance requirements reported in NDCs total $4.282 trillion, highlighting a significant need for increased international support.

The document explains 'event attribution' as a scientific method to determine how much human-induced climate change affects the probability and intensity of specific weather extremes. It provides a detailed breakdown of how climate change influences heatwaves, floods, tropical cyclones, snowfalls, droughts, and wildfires, while cautioning against oversimplifying these events as having a single cause. The guide emphasizes that while some trends (like heatwaves) are globally certain, others (like floods or droughts) vary by region and are influenced by local human factors such as land use and water management.

The report identifies 1.7 million km² of potentially suitable tiger habitat across 15 countries, representing a >250% increase over the current range. It argues that range recovery is feasible through natural dispersal—as 50% of these areas are within 100km of existing populations—and planned reintroductions, provided there is strong political will, community support, and prey restoration.

The document argues that high-impact hydropower is incompatible with nature-positive goals due to its role in the 84% collapse of freshwater species populations since 1970 and its tendency to cause human rights abuses. It positions insurers as key facilitators of the sector, as private companies often cannot build or invest in projects without insurance. The guide recommends that insurers adopt specific ESG policies, decline cover for projects in protected areas, and require independent impact assessments and greenhouse gas emission calculations. It also highlights that climate change increases the risk to hydropower, with 61% of existing and planned projects projected to be in river basins with high risk of floods or droughts by 2050.

The report examines the challenges and opportunities for human-tiger coexistence in Asia, emphasizing that long-term tiger recovery depends on the support of approximately 47 million people living within tiger ranges. It proposes shifting from top-down conservation to inclusive partnerships that respect human rights and provide tangible socio-economic benefits. The document details strategies for managing human-tiger conflict (HTC) through the 'Safe Systems Approach,' explores sustainable financing models like Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) and conservation performance payments, and advocates for the recognition of 'Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures' (OECMs) to expand protected habitats beyond traditional reserves.

The report argues that transitioning to a circular plastics economy by 2050 will result in positive cumulative effects on GDP, employment, and consumer welfare in Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, and South Africa compared to a business-as-usual scenario. Using computational general equilibrium (CGE) modelling, the study finds that such a transition increases economic activity and reduces the costs of environmental externalities. For Côte d’Ivoire and Kenya, immediate implementation is recommended to maximize environmental gains and avoid sunk costs. For South Africa, an incremental shift is suggested to minimize short-term negative impacts on its more established plastics sector. The report emphasizes the need for national policy instruments—such as extended producer responsibility (EPR) and deposit return schemes—alongside regional coordination via the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and a legally binding global treaty to combat plastic pollution.

The Changing Markets Foundation and partner organisations write to Yili Industrial Group highlighting that the company scored 3.2 out of 100 in a ranking of climate policies, indicating a lack of action on methane emissions. The authors demand disclosure of investments in methane abatement and protein alternatives, and recommend that Yili set absolute methane reduction targets and support policies for sustainable diets.

The author contends that the current global political economy is a 'neocolonial debt regime' where Global South nations are forced to divert funds from climate preparedness to pay creditors in the Global North. Using Belize as a case study, the text illustrates how debt-to-GDP ratios hinder public health and ecological resilience. The document calls for a shift from an 'insulting' aid-based model to a reparations-based framework, including the cancellation of all Global South debt, the implementation of 'climate-health-debt swaps', and the democratisation of international financial institutions like the IMF and World Bank.

The document is a formal request from a group of scientists and engineers to President Biden, outlining four primary recommendations for the Nuclear Posture Review to reduce the risk of nuclear conflict and fulfill disarmament obligations under the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.

The authors contend that climate change acts as a 'destabilizing force' and 'threat multiplier' that fundamentally shapes geopolitical risks, affecting U.S. interests regarding China, Russia, and other global threats. They highlight how environmental degradation drives military activity in the Arctic and allows China to gain influence in the Indo-Pacific. Additionally, the text notes that climate-related disasters and heat extremes directly undermine U.S. military readiness by damaging installations and limiting training. The authors suggest that while the U.S. must remain vigilant against adversaries, climate and biodiversity cooperation could serve as a pillar for diplomatic engagement.

The document examines the G20/OECD Inclusive Framework's 'Two-Pillar Solution' to tax challenges from the digitalisation of the economy, highlighting how current global tax fragmentation allows multinational corporations to avoid taxes. It argues that African and least-developed countries suffer disproportionate revenue losses as a share of GDP and are underrepresented in negotiations. The brief criticizes the agreement for a high turnover threshold that limits the number of taxable companies and for a minimum corporate tax rate of 15% that some African nations find too low. It recommends increasing African participation, moving negotiations to a neutral UN forum, and providing technical and financial support to ensure equitable implementation.

The document examines China's Digital Silk Road (DSR) strategy and its implementation through ICT projects in Tanzania and Cambodia. It finds that while environmental impacts are generally limited, socioeconomic outcomes are mixed and transparency remains a significant deficiency across projects.

The document analyzes the Jawa-7 project in Indonesia and the Hwange Expansion Project in Zimbabwe. It finds that while Indonesia's more robust regulatory framework and the use of ultra-supercritical technology limited some environmental impacts, Zimbabwe's lack of transparency and reliance on sub-critical technology led to severe pollution and community displacement. Both cases highlight a tension between national desires to exploit domestic coal reserves and international climate commitments, as well as persistent governance issues and a lack of transparency associated with Chinese-led infrastructure lending.