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Mali is a low-income Sahelian nation facing severe environmental degradation and political volatility. The country is characterized by three natural zones—Sudanese, Sahelian, and Saharan—and is highly vulnerable to climate change, having experienced significant rainfall declines since the 1980s. Politically, Mali has a history of military coups and recurring rebellions, most recently leading to its withdrawal from ECOWAS in January 2024 and the formation of the Confederation of Sahel States with Burkina Faso and Niger. The document also notes the presence of violent extremist groups and the shift in external relations from France toward Russia.

The document introduces ECOWAS as a regional economic community established in 1975 to promote economic integration and stability in West Africa. While it has achieved some success in facilitating free movement for citizens, the bloc currently faces significant threats from terrorism, climate change in the Sahel, and infrastructure deficits. The document highlights a critical geopolitical crisis where Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have announced their intention to exit the bloc by January 2025, citing sanctions and a failure to combat insecurity.

The report concludes that Africa's path to economic development lies in transitioning from a reliance on global export markets to a focus on domestic food self-sufficiency. It emphasizes the need for coordinated government support for smallholder farmers, investment in AgTech, and the adoption of sustainable, indigenous farming practices to mitigate the severe impacts of climate change, particularly in the Sahel region.

The document argues that Africa has failed to achieve a modern agricultural revolution due to a combination of historical, environmental, and policy-related factors. It highlights how poor soil quality, a high disease burden, and the late adoption of high-yield cereal grains contributed to lower population densities and slower technological advancement compared to other global regions. Despite efforts by organizations like the World Bank and the African Union, the sector remains constrained by low investment, ineffective policies, and a reliance on traditional methods among smallholder farmers.

The document reports that 2024 was the warmest year on record, marking the first calendar year where global surface air temperatures exceeded pre-industrial levels by 1.5°C. It details a surge in weather-related disasters, with 62% of all such events since 1984 occurring after 2004, and notes that over 240 million internal displacements occurred between 2013 and 2023 due to natural disasters. The text emphasizes that atmospheric CO2 concentrations reached record highs in 2024, hitting 426.7 ppm in May, which underscores the failure of current global policies to meet the 2015 Paris Agreement targets.

The report analyzes Africa's high level of commodity dependence, noting that commodity exports constituted 90% by value of all merchandise exports in 2021. It argues that this dependence often leads to the 'resource curse,' characterized by poor governance, political corruption, and slow economic growth. While some countries like Botswana have attempted to manage resources through sovereign wealth funds, many others face volatility and 'Dutch disease.' The text also highlights how the global energy transition is shifting demand toward minerals like cobalt and lithium, and how climate change is exacerbating vulnerability by reducing agricultural yields in regions such as the Sahel.

The report details the disproportionate burden of climate change on Africa, noting that since 1984, the continent has faced 1,865 climate-related disasters resulting in US$53 billion in losses. It highlights a critical lack of financial protection, with only 9% of disaster losses insured. Regional analysis shows water-related disasters as the primary threat, with severe flooding in East Africa and historic droughts in Southern Africa and the Horn of Africa. The document also links climate change to the spread of diseases like cholera and malaria, and the risk of desertification in the Sahel and West Africa.

The document argues that Africa's health and WaSH trajectory is a global public good, where improvements could provide a demographic dividend for the global economy, while failures could amplify global pandemic risks and drive migration. It highlights the role of digital innovation, local manufacturing, and regional leadership in shaping global health intelligence and governance.

The research paper examines the role of Africa's natural carbon sinks, particularly in the Congo Basin and the Sahel, and evaluates the potential for a global carbon tax to fund the continent's energy transition and conservation efforts. It analyzes various carbon pricing scenarios, concluding that a differentiated payment model aligns best with the Paris Agreement's principles of fairness and historical responsibility.

The document describes a 'pragmatic' security integration between the US and Nigeria that avoids formal military treaties by using civilian instruments. By leveraging Section 126 of AGOA and the 'Safe Skies for Africa' initiative, the US provides decommissioned FAA equipment and technical assistance to modernize Nigerian airspace. This creates a 'shared awareness' corridor that serves both aviation safety and counter-insurgency monitoring, effectively replacing lost US surveillance capacity in the Sahel. However, the author warns that this operational deepening is contradicted by increasing political uncertainty in Washington regarding the future of AGOA, which some legislators seek to turn into a discretionary disciplinary tool.

This policy brief argues that water and sanitation are strategic assets essential for Africa's peace, energy transition, and food security. It advocates for a Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus approach and Strategic Asset Management (SAM) to address a $1 trillion infrastructure investment gap by 2040 and mitigate the 'threat multiplier' effect of climate change. The brief recommends integrating water governance into the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) and strengthening transboundary cooperation across the continent's 63 shared river and lake basins to prevent conflict and promote regional stability.

The People's Summit declaration identifies the capitalist mode of production and transnational corporations as the primary drivers of the climate crisis. It rejects market-based 'false solutions' and calls for a transition based on popular sovereignty, the recognition of ancestral knowledge, and the redistribution of wealth from the Global North to the Global South. The document emphasizes the intersection of climate action with feminism, anti-imperialism, and the protection of indigenous territories.

The Peoples’ Summit declaration identifies the capitalist mode of production and transnational corporations as the primary causes of the climate crisis. It rejects market-based 'false solutions' and the current model of multilateralism, calling instead for a 'just, sovereign and popular transition.' Key demands include the demarcation of indigenous lands, popular agrarian reform, the end of fossil fuel exploitation, and the redirection of military spending toward climate repair. The document emphasizes feminist justice, the recognition of ancestral knowledge, and the need for international climate finance to bypass institutions like the IMF and World Bank to address the socio-environmental debt owed to the global South.

The People's Summit declaration argues that the capitalist mode of production and transnational corporations are the root causes of the climate crisis and environmental racism. It rejects market-based 'false solutions' and the current multilateral system, calling instead for the recognition of ancestral knowledge, the protection of indigenous territories, and a sovereign, popular energy transition. The document demands the end of fossil fuel extraction, the redistribution of wealth from the global north to the south as socio-environmental debt, and the implementation of agroecology and feminist care work as central to planetary survival.

The document analyzes Nigeria's climate policy through four 'policy moments', highlighting a persistent struggle with institutional overlap and fragmented governance. It examines how internal competition between bodies like the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC) and the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy on Climate (OSPEC) dilutes Nigeria's international bargaining power. The paper also discusses the impact of global energy market shifts, the divestment of onshore assets by International Oil Companies (IOCs), and the challenges of removing fuel subsidies. It concludes that Nigeria must move away from transplanting foreign institutional models and instead develop a domestically driven, streamlined framework that integrates the petroleum sector into its climate goals.

Nigeria's climate agenda is hampered by overlapping institutions and a lack of elite consensus, which diminishes its bargaining power internationally. While the Tinubu administration has attempted to centralize governance through the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy on Climate (OSPEC) and the Presidential Climate Action Committee (PCAC), these moves risk further fragmentation by sidelining statutory bodies like the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC). Externally, Nigeria faces declining oil exports to China and India and increased competition from the US in European markets, intensifying the need for a successful energy transition. The report highlights a trend of International Oil Companies (IOCs) divesting from onshore assets due to regulatory instability, while noting that agile local firms are better positioned to navigate domestic complexities.

The document analyzes the operational resurgence of IS-WAP, highlighting its use of surveillance and combat drones, its 'Burning of the camps' campaign targeting military bases, and its logistical ties with IS-SP. It argues that a deteriorating regional security architecture, exacerbated by political instability in Niger and the withdrawal of foreign troops, is facilitating the expansion of militant Islamist groups across the Sahel and towards coastal West African states.

The document examines the potential for scaling up locally led adaptation (LLA) by leveraging the different strengths of bilateral donors, multilateral development banks, vertical climate funds, and private actors. It highlights that LLA can deliver 'double dividends'—combining direct climate resilience with broader socio-economic development—and suggests building on established community and local development (CLD) models. The brief emphasizes the need for better coordination to overcome challenges such as declining official development assistance (ODA) and limited technical capacity, while calling for more robust evidence on the cost-benefit analysis of LLA compared to top-down approaches.

The document argues that while US border crossings have declined due to restrictive policies, climate-driven pressures in the Americas persist. It encourages journalists to link economic migration to slow-onset climate impacts and provides resources for reporting on climate adaptation and displacement.

The document argues that while migrant crossings at the US-Mexico border have decreased due to restrictive policies, climate pressures in Central and South America persist. It encourages journalists to look beyond 'economic migration' to find the underlying climate drivers, such as crop failure and water scarcity, and to view migration as a form of climate adaptation.