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The document provides a comprehensive analysis of nature-based solutions (NBS) as a means to address urban climate challenges. It evaluates the efficacy of various NBS—such as urban wetlands, green roofs, and sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS)—in regulating temperature, managing stormwater, and improving air quality. Beyond environmental benefits, the report examines the positive impacts of urban green spaces on public health and social cohesion, while critically addressing issues of environmental justice and the risk of 'green gentrification'. It also explores the governance and financial barriers to NBS implementation, proposing a 'mainstreaming' framework to integrate these solutions into municipal planning and policy.

The research project examined SD strategies in 19 countries and the European Union, concluding that while innovations exist in strategy types and participation, no country has achieved a truly strategic approach due to fragmented management cycles and weak feedback processes. Key findings highlight that SD strategies often remain peripheral to national budgeting and struggle with 'the administrative trap' of vertical government structures. The document identifies four main strategy types: comprehensive and multi-dimensional, cross-sectoral, sectoral, and integration into existing planning. Specific innovations are noted, such as Sweden's environmental tax shifting and Switzerland's constitutional elevation of sustainable development to a national goal.

The author argues that the collapse of the Seattle WTO Ministerial Meeting was the result of long-standing frustrations among developing countries, environmental NGOs, and labour movements, compounded by a rift between North America and Europe over agricultural liberalization. The document asserts that the WTO has lost legitimacy by prioritizing trade liberalization over social and environmental goals. To recover, the author proposes three reform pillars: increasing transparency and civil society participation, formally adopting sustainable development as the WTO's end-purpose to guide the evaluation of agreements like TRIPS, and establishing a more equitable system for adjudicating conflicts between trade policy and environmental or development objectives.

The document provides a framework for diverting individuals from far-right extremism through four primary strategies: promoting contact across community divides, providing alternative activities, implementing tailored educational programmes, and engaging in direct dialogue on difficult issues. It emphasizes that effective prevention requires non-judgemental marketing, experiential learning over simple fact-sharing, and the creation of safe environments where grievances can be heard before being challenged. The guide illustrates these methods through case studies from Hungary, Poland, Sweden, the UK, Germany, Norway, and the Netherlands, highlighting the importance of humanising anti-racism education and empowering youth to challenge their peers.

The report identifies a complex threat landscape for the 2025 Czech elections, where foreign actors—primarily Russia and China—exploit domestic polarization and economic grievances. Key risks include the use of AI-generated deepfakes, the proliferation of pro-Kremlin Telegram networks, and narratives targeting the legitimacy of the new postal voting system. While Czechia's decentralized electoral infrastructure is considered resilient, the report highlights critical gaps in regulatory strength, specifically the delayed implementation of the EU Digital Services Act (DSA) and inadequate oversight of third-party campaign financing.

The report finds that while the EU Code of Practice on Disinformation (CoPD) led to some progress in political advertising transparency, its overall effectiveness was undermined by its self-regulatory nature and lack of enforcement mechanisms. Analysis of Facebook, Google, and Twitter reveals significant gaps in data integrity, the persistence of inauthentic account networks, and limited data access for independent researchers. The author argues that voluntary self-regulation is insufficient and recommends a systemic regulatory approach focused on computational transparency across content moderation, advertising, complaints, and algorithms.

The authors argue that fragmentation should be understood through three dimensions: the number of organizations, the degree of institutionalization, and the distribution of power. They hypothesize that extreme fragmentation across all three dimensions increases the likelihood of widespread, indecisive infighting, while cohesion—achieved through fewer organizations, stronger institutions, or concentrated power—reduces the probability of such violence. The paper illustrates these dynamics using cases from Darfur, Chechnya, and Sri Lanka.

The research employs a lobby group model and cross-country data from 104 countries to analyze the drivers of environmental policy stringency. The authors find that a higher number of environmental lobby groups generally leads to stricter policies. Crucially, the study identifies an interaction effect where political competition increases policy stringency primarily in countries with high levels of democratic participation, whereas participation alone has no effect in pure dictatorships. The results suggest that supporting local environmental NGOs in developing countries may be an effective channel for international donors to improve global environmental quality.

The authors argue that traditional dyadic analysis of international conflict often ignores spatial dependence, where the risk of conflict in one pair of states is influenced by the status of other linked pairs. They introduce new measures for 'third-party' and 'fourth-party' alliance ties, as well as a theory of geographic 'inbetweenness,' to demonstrate that dyads linked to ongoing disputes through these pathways are significantly more likely to experience conflict onset. Using data from 1950-1992, the study finds that these extra-dyadic factors provide a substantially better fit for predicting conflict than purely dyadic models.

The author examines the post-communist trajectories of Central and Southeastern Europe, arguing that the collapse of communism was foreseeable and constituted a comprehensive revolution. The text analyzes debates over whether the process was a 'transition' or 'transformation' and identifies key determinants of democratic consolidation, such as the absence of war, the role of the European Union, and educational attainment. It specifically refutes the 'ancient hatreds' myth regarding the Yugoslav meltdown, attributing the conflict instead to system illegitimacy, economic decay, and the agency of leaders like Slobodan Milošević.

Reclaim Finance analyzes the EU's decision to include gas and nuclear energy in its green taxonomy. The report argues that the criteria for gas—such as the 270 gCO2e/kWh emission threshold and the 2030 construction deadline—are incompatible with the 1.5°C goal and risk creating stranded assets. Regarding nuclear energy, the report contends that long construction times and the lack of operational geological waste storage by 2050 undermine its status as a 'transitional' activity, while noting that only France and Finland currently have advanced storage projects.

The document warns that post-pandemic recovery efforts risk entrenching carbon-intensive pathways through technological, political, and societal lock-in if governments prioritize a return to the pre-pandemic status quo. It identifies a narrow window of opportunity in 2020 to align economic stimulus with the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals. To achieve a sustainable transition, the authors propose five policy levers: conditional bailouts, environmental tax reform, green public procurement and finance, expanded social welfare, and just transition measures to support workers. The briefing highlights that while some regions like South Korea and the EU are pursuing green recovery plans, others, such as the US and China, are implementing measures that may reinforce fossil fuel dependency.

The report argues that environmental improvements can enhance competitiveness and proposes a strategy for a European eco-efficient economy based on resource efficiency, new technology markets, and stable global carbon pricing. It emphasizes the need for integrated governance, support for SMEs, and international cooperation to prevent carbon leakage and drive global climate action.

The document identifies ten proven climate solutions that, if scaled up in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine, could reduce emissions by approximately 150 million tonnes by 2030 and save up to 1.2 billion euros.

The policy brief examines how the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) can utilise their renewable energy potential to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. It argues that current grid infrastructure is insufficient and that significant investments in interconnections with Nordic countries—specifically Sweden and Finland—are essential to balance wind power fluctuations and reduce dependency on non-EU energy sources. The analysis compares various production and interconnection scenarios, finding that a 100% renewable target is feasible if the region integrates more deeply with the Nordic Power System (NPS).

The report argues that for a climate regime to be politically viable, it must protect the right of the global poor to develop. Using the Greenhouse Development Rights (GDR) framework, it calculates Sweden's obligation as a share of global effort based on a 'Responsibility Capacity Index' (RCI). The analysis finds that Sweden's obligation is significantly higher than current political targets, requiring a 'two-fold obligation' of deep domestic emission cuts and substantial international investments to enable decarbonized development in the global South.

The document reports on a survey of farmers in the Baltic Sea region, finding that while most are aware of water quality issues and accept responsibility for pollution, their priorities differ by country. Farmers in Estonia and Poland identify manure storage as a primary pollution source and request more support for modernization, whereas Swedish farmers do not view it as a priority. The brief highlights a divide between farmers who see themselves as 'land managers' providing public goods and those focused primarily on production. It recommends shifting toward outcome-based approaches, positive communication, and adaptive bureaucracy to improve the effectiveness of water protection management.

The report estimates that the 2019 carbon footprint of EU military expenditure was approximately 24.8 million tCO2e, equivalent to the emissions of 14 million average cars. It identifies significant data gaps and a lack of transparency in GHG reporting across EU member states and military corporations, often justified by national security. The study highlights France as the largest contributor to the EU military carbon footprint and Poland's military technology industry as a high emitter due to its coal-reliant electricity grid. It recommends urgent reviews of security strategies to reduce armed force deployment, mandatory transparent GHG reporting for militaries and contractors, and the implementation of reduction targets aligned with the Paris Agreement.

The research paper tests a Cellular Automaton (CA) model to simulate how wind velocity, turbulence, and source field size affect pollen dispersal. By using wind data from Dunkeswell, UK, and comparing results to historical field data from the US and other regions, the authors demonstrate that the model provides a good approximation of pollen deposition. A key finding is that pollen deposition is often 'patchy,' forming 'fingers' or 'islands' of high concentration, which suggests that fixed separation distances for GM crop co-existence are unreliable.

The report evaluates the ability of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovenia to meet Kyoto Protocol requirements, specifically regarding national systems for inventories and Kyoto Mechanisms. It ranks individual country capacities as high, medium, or low, identifies shared challenges and opportunities for collaboration among these Central and Eastern European (CEE) nations, and provides country-specific recommendations for investment, political will, and donor support.