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The EU is establishing Strategic Partnerships with 14 countries to secure critical minerals for its 2050 climate neutrality goal. Global Witness argues that these deals prioritize resource access over social and environmental governance, citing specific risks in Serbia, Rwanda, Australia, Argentina, Uzbekistan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The author calls for the EU to implement stringent safeguards and transparent 'Roadmaps' to ensure the energy transition does not perpetuate human rights abuses or environmental destruction.

The document outlines three priority areas for the U.S. administration: promoting transparency in the extractive industries through the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and legislative disclosure, strengthening anti-money laundering frameworks to prevent the looting of state funds, and breaking the link between the mineral trade and conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The Green Outcomes Fund (GOF) is a pioneering climate finance instrument in South Africa that uses an outcomes-based payment model to de-risk investments in green SMMEs. By providing grant funding to Catalytic Finance Partners (CFPs) upon the verification of specific green outcomes—primarily permanent job creation—the GOF aims to bridge the investment gap for high-potential green businesses. The pilot phase, launched in January 2020 with a total facility size of ZAR 488.1 million, has demonstrated that such incentives can encourage fund managers to invest in sectors they previously avoided due to perceived risk. Key findings highlight the necessity of business development support for SMMEs and the importance of deep sector expertise for fund managers. While the fund has successfully created green jobs and diverted waste, it has faced challenges with slow drawdown of funds due to a prevalence of low-skilled jobs and the disruptive impact of COVID-19. The GOF is now exploring scaling strategies, including expanding its model within South Africa and extending its reach to other African countries such as Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Uganda.

The report evaluates the South African Green Finance Taxonomy (SA GFT) across three pillars: Make Substantial Contribution (MSC), Do No Significant Harm (DNSH), and Minimum Social Safeguards (MSS). While the SA GFT shows high international alignment in its environmental objectives and sectoral coverage, it faces significant usability challenges regarding the DNSH and MSS pillars due to a lack of quantitative thresholds and clear reporting guidelines. The report recommends introducing more flexible alignment classifications, increasing the use of quantitative metrics, and integrating existing national social regulations to improve adoption and cross-border climate finance flows.

The document is a popular education toolkit designed to help Southern African activists connect lived experiences of working-class women to structural inequalities in food and climate systems. It argues that care work—primarily unpaid labour performed by women—is the invisible foundation of food provision and community survival, yet is ignored by dominant neoliberal policies. The toolkit guides users through six activities to analyze social reproduction, the power dynamics of food systems, the gendered impacts of climate change, and the development of care-centred alternatives and advocacy strategies.

The paper contends that traditional industrial policy is outdated because it focuses almost exclusively on manufacturing, despite services accounting for approximately two-thirds of global GDP. It proposes a 'service-led' industrial policy based on five pillars: infrastructure, investment/FDI, human capital, regulatory quality, and connectivity. The author highlights that services offer developing economies a more inclusive and sustainable path to growth due to lower capital intensity and smaller minimum scales for global competitiveness. Furthermore, the document notes that the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) provides governments with more policy space for experimentation compared to the stricter rules governing goods.

The author argues that traditional industrial policy is overly focused on manufacturing and must be redesigned for a services-led economy. Services now represent two-thirds of global GDP and act as critical inputs for all sectors. The paper proposes five pillars for a services-oriented policy: infrastructure, foreign direct investment, human capital, regulatory quality, and digital/physical connectivity. It highlights that developing economies can leverage services due to lower capital intensity, smaller scale requirements, and lower carbon footprints. Furthermore, the author notes that the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) provides governments with more policy space for experimentation than the rules governing goods.

The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) provides free advisory and capacity development services to low-income governments and regional bodies to promote responsible private sector investment in agriculture. IISD focuses on creating legal frameworks that balance the benefits of foreign capital and technology with the protection of food security, land tenure rights, and natural resources. Their expertise includes developing model contracts for farmland investments, regional investment guidelines, contract farming templates, and policies for agricultural growth poles and zones.

The document describes how the conflict-sensitive conservation (CSC) approach was used to address the degradation of the Lake Edward fishery in Virunga National Park, which had been devastated by decades of violent conflict. By restructuring multistakeholder monitoring committees and implementing a support program involving awareness campaigns, law enforcement, and transboundary dialogue, the initiative improved cooperation among stakeholders, reduced illegal fishing, and increased fish yields. While not solving the broader regional conflicts, the project contributed to peacebuilding through environmental cooperation and strengthened local food security.

The IISD provides advisory services to developing countries on sustainable agricultural investment and voluntary sustainability standards. It has produced an analytical framework tracking agricultural economies in 117 countries and is pursuing goals for 2020 including gender equality in land-based investment, seed law analysis, and the Ceres2030 project to cost interventions for ending hunger.

The IISD provides advisory services to developing countries on sustainable agriculture investments and voluntary sustainability standards to protect rural livelihoods and land rights. The organization produces analytical frameworks to track agricultural transformation in Africa and Asia, promotes gender equality in land-based investments, and analyzes seed laws and intellectual property. Additionally, the IISD collaborates on trade policy analysis for the WTO and the Ceres2030 project, which estimates the public investment costs required to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger).

The project aims to reduce community vulnerability to climate change and improve livelihoods by mainstreaming adaptation into national policies and development plans. In Mozambique, the focus is on community-based forest fire management and early warning systems. In Kenya, the project implements drought-resistant crops and improved agricultural techniques. In Rwanda, the effort centers on increasing the resilience of the hydropower sector through natural resource management and energy planning. Regional knowledge sharing involves pilot countries and observer nations Tanzania and Madagascar.

The project in Makueni District, Kenya, employs a multi-pronged approach to climate adaptation, including the use of drought-resistant crops, sand dams for water access, and micro-credit for income diversification. Led by the Centre for Science and Technology Innovations (CSTI) as part of the broader ACCESA regional project, the initiative aims to integrate these local adaptation measures into national sustainable development policies.

The document provides a geographic overview of the top 15 banana-producing countries as of 2016, categorizing production by harvest area and the level of VSS compliance, ranging from conventional production to VSS compliant.

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 details Rwanda's 2004 electricity crisis, which was caused by declining water levels in Lake Bulera due to watershed degradation, poor maintenance, and reduced rainfall. In response, the government implemented the Environment Policy (2003), Environment Law (2005), and Land Law (2005) to protect the Rugezi Wetlands, banning agricultural and pastoral activities within 50 meters of lake shores. These measures, combined with reforestation and erosion control, restored the Ntaruka station to full operational capacity by October 2007. The crisis also prompted Rwanda to diversify its energy portfolio into methane gas, geothermal, and peat resources to reduce vulnerability to hydrological changes and climate change.

The text argues that Africa has lost its Cold War-era strategic importance, leading to a rise in regional conflicts and state fragility. It discusses a shift toward subregional security arrangements (such as ECOWAS and SADC) as African nations and donors move away from reliance on the UN. The author contends that stability requires a focus on domestic security and 'collaborative security' based on transparency and reassurance rather than collective defense, warning that supporting weak, undemocratic states to provide regional security without international oversight may have negative consequences.

The document examines the stability of Rwanda's government under President Paul Kagame, noting a significant loss of donor assistance following allegations of support for the M23 rebellion in the DRC. It highlights a tightly controlled political environment where opposition figures, such as Victoire Ingabire, face imprisonment and exiled members of the Rwandan National Congress have their passports cancelled. The briefing warns that the lack of viable opposition and the perception of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (FPR) as a Tutsi-dominated party may threaten long-term stability, especially as President Kagame indicated he would not seek another term after 2017.

The document discusses the effort to end the "culture of impunity" regarding gross human rights violations and international humanitarian law. It specifically examines the impetus for establishing specialised criminal tribunals in Sierra Leone, Cambodia, and East Timor, while noting that significant obstacles remain in the path of these proposed legal mechanisms.

This monograph presents a collection of papers from 'Exercise Morning Star', a September 1996 seminar held at the South African Army College. The document provides a general overview of conflict management, peacekeeping, and peacebuilding in Africa, emphasizing that these issues are no longer exclusively military domains and require partnerships between military forces, civil society, and regional bodies.