Search Climate Insights Directory

The document examines how valuable minerals can finance violence, trigger local conflicts, and weaken state governance through corruption. It provides lessons learned for development interventions, such as empowering local communities, supporting artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM), and promoting corporate responsibility. The toolkit includes a survey instrument for risk assessment and lists USAID contracting mechanisms and international partners to address mineral-related conflict.

The document argues that green bonds can help China meet its massive funding needs for a low-carbon economy while addressing systemic financial issues, such as over-reliance on short-term bank lending. It suggests that China can leverage its experience with Green Credit Guidelines to establish a robust market based on clear standards and independent verification. The report proposes a comprehensive action plan including public demonstration issuances, dual recourse structures for municipal bonds, green warehousing to aggregate small projects, and tax incentives. It emphasizes that these tools, combined with carbon pricing and the greening of development banks, could position China as a global leader in green capital markets.

The document argues that the effectiveness of global climate finance depends on democratic governance at the local level. It references experiences with the Adaptation Fund in Senegal, the Clean Development Mechanism in Chile, Thailand, the Philippines, and South Africa, and REDD in Brazil, Cameroon, Peru, and Tanzania to illustrate governance challenges and best practices.

The NAP Global Network's South–South Peer Exchange Awards support the exchange of technical expertise on national adaptation planning (NAP) between developing countries. The program provides funding for flights, accommodation, and logistics for experts to either host or attend peer exchanges lasting between one and five days. Eligibility is limited to registered NAP Global Network participants from developing countries who work for their government or a key national organization. Past exchanges have focused on topics such as integrating coastal issues into planning, climate change adaptation in national budgets, and developing communications strategies for the NAP process.

The NAP Global Network's South-South Peer Exchange Awards support the exchange of technical expertise on national adaptation planning between developing countries. The program provides funding for travel, accommodation, and logistics for experts to either host or attend exchanges, which can range from one to five days. Eligibility requires registration with the NAP Global Network, residency in a developing country, and a role in the NAP process within government or a key organization. Past exchanges have focused on coastal issues, national budgeting, communication strategies, and stakeholder engagement in countries including Senegal, Togo, Jamaica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Peru, Saint Lucia, Grenada, and Albania.

The NAP Global Network provides South-South Peer Exchange Awards to support technical exchanges between adaptation planners from developing countries. These awards cover financial costs for flights, accommodation, and meals for experts to either host or attend exchanges lasting between one and five days. Eligible participants must be registered with the Network, originate from a developing country, and work on the NAP process within a government or key organization. Examples of past exchanges include collaborations between Senegal and Togo on coastal issues, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Jamaica on climate budgeting, Peru and Saint Lucia on communication strategies, and Grenada and Albania on NAP assembly planning.

The NAP Global Network's Targeted Topics Forums (TTFs) are a series of workshops that bring together representatives from developing countries and development cooperation agencies to exchange lessons on technical aspects of the National Adaptation Planning (NAP) process. Unlike one-off workshops, TTFs use a sustained peer learning model, reconvening the same cohorts of international specialists to build a supportive community. Each forum is structured around three pillars: technical inputs from experts, relational opportunities for peer sharing, and reflexive opportunities for countries to apply inputs to their own contexts. Current focus areas include building political support, cross-sectoral integration, financing implementation, and monitoring and evaluation. The Network also provides a Country Support Hub for submitting questions and advice on the NAP process.

Peru's NAP/NDC on adaptation aims to reduce vulnerability and integrate adaptation into sectoral and territorial planning. The framework prioritizes sectors such as water, agriculture, and fisheries, while employing cross-cutting approaches including intergenerational and intercultural perspectives. The process is designed as a multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder effort to establish a state policy based on scientific evidence for the benefit of citizens.

The document introduces 'biocultural community protocols' as tools for Indigenous and local communities to articulate their customary laws, values, and decision-making processes to external actors. It provides a structured four-part framework for facilitators to guide communities through the process of documentation, implementation, and reflection. The toolkit emphasizes endogenous development, legal empowerment, and participatory methods—such as community mapping, participatory video, and 'Legislative Theatre'—to reduce power asymmetries and safeguard collective biocultural heritage against external threats like land grabbing and industrial resource extraction.

The document defines biocultural community protocols as participatory instruments used by Indigenous and local communities to document their customary laws, values, and decision-making processes. These protocols aim to bridge the gap between community worldviews and external actors—such as governments and companies—to prevent resource exploitation and ensure the respect of customary stewardship. The toolkit outlines a four-part process: understanding the community, documenting the protocol, using it for engagement, and reflecting on outcomes. It provides a wide array of participatory tools, including community sketch maps, trend line analysis, and participatory theatre, to empower communities through legal awareness and social mobilization.

The submission argues that indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) are the most effective guardians of biodiversity, yet they face systemic threats including non-recognition of land rights, 'fortress conservation' models, and violence against land defenders. It provides global case studies of successful community-led conservation and calls for a shift toward rights-based conservation, secure tenure, and the protection of environmental defenders.

The Handbook on Governance Statistics, developed by the Praia Group, establishes a framework for measuring governance through eight dimensions: non-discrimination and equality, participation, openness, access to and quality of justice, responsiveness, absence of corruption, trust, and safety and security. It emphasizes a Human Rights-Based Approach to Data (HRBAD) and advocates for the use of triangulated data sources, including administrative records, household surveys, and expert assessments. The document provides specific recommended indicators, many aligned with SDG 16, and offers technical guidance on mitigating biases in subjective measurements of trust, responsiveness, and corruption.

The authors present the During-Conflict Justice (DCJ) dataset, which catalogues 2,205 justice processes across 204 internal armed conflicts in 108 countries between 1946 and 2011. The research identifies that DCJ is a common tool, appearing in over 60% of conflicts since WWII, with governments being the primary adopters (70.4%). The study finds that democratic governments are more likely to use DCJ, particularly trials, truth commissions, and reparations, compared to autocracies. Rebel groups tend to use DCJ more frequently when fighting democracies and as their own relative military strength increases. Analysis suggests that government-initiated DCJ is correlated with a reduction in battle deaths in the following year and a higher likelihood of the conflict ending in a negotiated settlement rather than a military victory.

The paper maps the disparate research and practice of 'business-peace' interactions into five core assertions: economic engagement creating a peace dividend, local development building peace capacities, importing international norms for accountability, constraining conflict drivers, and direct corporate diplomacy. While proponents argue these activities foster stability and development, critics warn of neo-colonial exploitation, 'peacewashing', and the risk of exacerbating local inequalities. The author concludes that business contributions are often limited by the willingness of local regimes and the priority of profit over courageous ethical choices in fragile contexts.

The report examines the landscape of transitional justice in Cyprus, focusing on the tension between hegemonic national narratives and the need for a bicommunal reckoning with the past. It analyzes the role of the Committee on Missing Persons (cMp), the lack of domestic criminal prosecutions, and the emergence of civil society-led documentation and memorialisation projects. The authors argue that while political leaders fear that truth-seeking may destabilise peace negotiations, there is significant public support for such processes. The document recommends that political leadership and civil society collaborate on strategies to address the legacy of violence, regardless of the outcome of peace settlements.

The research examines the link between conflict-related violence and intimate-partner violence (IPV) in Peru using a sample of 25,093 married women and data from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The authors find that local exposure to wartime violence significantly increases the risk of IPV, with the effect being most pronounced for conflict-related sexual violence. While other factors like partner alcohol abuse and childhood history of family violence are stronger predictors, the legacy of war remains a statistically significant determinant. The study suggests that public health screening tools in post-conflict settings should include modules on wartime exposure to better identify at-risk populations.

The research paper analyzes the strategic motivations for terrorism in civil wars using a new dataset linking the Uppsala/PRIO Armed Conflict Data and the Global Terrorism Database. It argues that terrorism serves to coerce governments and communicate resolve, particularly for militarily weaker groups. The study finds that the frequency of attacks increases with government repression and press freedom. Furthermore, it identifies a correlation between group ideology and targeting: groups with universalist ideologies (e.g., Marxist-socialist) predominantly target 'hard' official targets, while those with sectarian or religious ideologies are more likely to target 'soft' civilian targets due to stronger 'othering' of out-groups.

The document details Chile's shift from an inward-oriented import-substitution model to a highly liberalized trade regime. It covers the radical 'big bang' reforms of the military regime (1973-1989), the subsequent 'pragmatic orthodoxy' of the second trade reform, and the 'multi-track' approach adopted under democratic rule (1990-2005). The author argues that while the military regime implemented the structural shift, democratic governments provided the social legitimacy and macroeconomic stability necessary to sustain the open-economy model, leading to significant export diversification and poverty reduction.

The report highlights that without proactive efficiency measures, the adoption of cooling appliances in households at risk could require over 240 TWh of annual electricity by 2030. It argues that implementing best-available technologies (BAT) and stringent building energy codes can offset this demand, potentially saving 18–35 TWh through improved building envelopes alone.

Colombia is utilizing the CCAC SNAP initiative and the LEAP-IBC tool to identify priority emitting sectors and integrate short-lived climate pollutant (SLCP) mitigation into its national air quality and climate change policies. The process involves quantifying emission scenarios to inform legal frameworks and funding, with specific focus on agriculture (rice paddies, sugar cane, manure management), transport, brick kilns, and cookstoves. To date, 60 regional climate change plans have been reviewed to identify implementation opportunities, and 15 of the 100 measures in Colombia's INDC resulted from SNAP Phase I.