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The Visegrad Group (V4) is experiencing significant fragmentation due to diverging responses to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and differing relationships with the European Union. While Poland, Czechia, and Slovakia generally support Ukraine and NATO expansion, Hungary has obstructed sanctions against Russia and the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO. The once-strong alliance between Poland's PiS and Hungary's Fidesz was severely shaken by Orbán's ties to Putin, though a tactical reconciliation has emerged based on mutual dependence regarding EU rule-of-law procedures and shared populist narratives. Ultimately, the author argues that Orbán's veto power in the EU has reached its limits, leading him to seek alliances with American Republicans, European far-right fundamentalists, and China to maintain domestic legitimacy and enrich his clientelist network.

The report finds that low-cost, repeated behaviors like reducing food waste are significantly more common than high-cost, one-time installations like heat pumps or solar panels. While many who adopted these behaviors faced minimal difficulty, non-adopters cited lack of awareness and lack of interest for low-cost actions, and high cost and home ownership issues for high-cost technologies.

The report examines the information asymmetry between social media platforms and public interest researchers, identifying technological, legal, and ethical barriers to data access. It evaluates existing mechanisms such as transparency reporting, API access, and crowdsourced data donations, while analyzing the impact of the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) and GDPR. The authors recommend the creation of an independent intermediary body to vet researchers and the alignment of international standards to ensure a safe, transparent, and evidence-based approach to studying the societal impacts of digital platforms.

The report examines the challenges and opportunities for researchers accessing social media data, focusing on the tension between data privacy and the public interest. It analyzes current tools like APIs and transparency reports, evaluates the impact of the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), and proposes the creation of an independent intermediary body to manage researcher accreditation and data access across liberal-democratic states.

The document examines how emerging technologies—decentralised platforms, generative AI, and immersive environments—are exploited by malign actors to spread hate and disinformation. It argues that these technologies converge to amplify existing harms and calls for updated regulatory frameworks, international coordination, and 'Safety by Design' principles to mitigate these risks.

The report analyzes the link between misogyny and violent extremist ideologies, arguing that OGBV serves as an ideological gateway to radicalization. It evaluates the failures of current platform community guidelines and algorithmic systems in addressing gendered violence and proposes a 'Safety and Privacy by Design' approach, improved API access for researchers, and standardized transparency reporting to combat these systemic risks.

The report examines online gender-based violence (OGBV) as part of a continuum of violence that links misogyny to various extremist ideologies, including far-right and Islamist extremism. It argues that platforms often exacerbate these risks through engagement-based algorithmic ranking and inadequate content moderation. To counter this, the author recommends that platforms provide vetted researchers with API access, implement gender-disaggregated transparency reporting, adopt victim-survivor-centred 'Safety by Design' principles, and enhance cross-platform cooperation to track perpetrators and coordinated harassment campaigns.

The report examines how 'decentralized', 'generative', and 'immersive' technologies are being exploited by malicious actors to spread hate and disinformation. It highlights the role of the Fediverse and Web3 platforms like Odysee in creating extremist echo chambers, the capacity of Large Language Models (LLMs) to generate persuasive misinformation and toxic content, and the potential for Extended Reality (XR) to enable severe emotional manipulation and virtual crimes. The authors argue for updated regulatory frameworks, including the EU AI Act and Digital Services Act, and emphasize the need for international coordination, safety-by-design, and new taxonomies for virtual harms.

Superhot rock energy involves tapping into Earth's deep heat (400°C or hotter) to produce high-density, zero-carbon power. While current geothermal is limited to specific volcanic regions, superhot rock could be accessed worldwide through deep drilling. The report identifies critical engineering needs in drilling, reservoir creation, and materials, suggesting that leveraging unconventional oil and gas expertise could accelerate commercialization.

ClientEarth recommends that the new EU Framework for Forest Monitoring and Strategic Plans explicitly guarantee Aarhus Convention rights, establish a common EU-wide remote sensing data platform, and align with the Nature Restoration Law and Deforestation Regulation to improve forest governance and enforcement.

The report highlights the high energy and feedstock intensity of the EU's plastic production industry, noting its significant reliance on Russian fossil fuels. It argues that reducing plastic production, particularly packaging, is a critical but overlooked lever for enhancing EU energy security and meeting climate goals.

Based on a representative survey of 811 Ukrainians in April 2022, the study finds that the vast majority of the population remained in their home provinces despite the invasion. Among those who did migrate, three quarters stayed within Ukraine, often moving toward safer western regions like Lviv. The analysis indicates that personal exposure to direct attacks significantly increases the likelihood of a person planning to leave their current location, while the targeting of friends or family does not have a significant effect.

ClientEarth argues that the proposed EU Framework for Forest Monitoring and Strategic Plans must prioritize the accessibility of remote sensing data and public transparency to combat forestry crime and mismanagement. The document highlights a significant decline in the carbon sequestration capacity of EU forests by 28% between 2013 and 2018 and criticizes the low rate of compliance checks under the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR), where 99% of domestically-harvesting companies were excluded from checks between 2015 and 2020. ClientEarth advocates for a common EU-wide platform for real-time data to support risk-based compliance planning and the 'substantiated concerns' mechanism for public reporting of illegal logging.

The European transport sector requires a fundamental shift to support a green Europe by 2049. Current transport systems contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, and noise, impacting both human health and biodiversity. Proposed solutions include widespread electrification, automation, and shared mobility to reduce resource consumption and urban congestion. A vision for 2049 involves a multimodal system where public transport, cycling, and walking dominate urban areas, while electric bikes and sustainable liquid fuels (such as advanced biofuels or e-fuels) serve rural and long-distance needs. Achieving this requires strategic urban planning, pricing reforms—such as road pricing to replace fuel taxes—and EU policies that accelerate the adoption of zero-emission vehicles and renewable energy.

In 2021, global electricity demand grew by 5.4%, the fastest rate since 2010. While solar and wind generation continued to rise, coal generation reached an all-time high, leading to a 7% increase in power sector CO2 emissions. This resulted in the first increase in global electricity carbon intensity since 2011, moving the sector further away from the IEA's 1.5 degree pathway.

The 2021 gas crisis caused a paradigm shift in the EU's electricity transition, with skyrocketing prices making fossil gas more expensive than coal and enhancing the competitiveness of renewables. For the first time in Europe, combined wind and solar generation (547 TWh) exceeded gas (524 TWh). While solar growth is surging in countries like Spain and the Netherlands, it remains stagnant in others such as Italy, Czechia, and Romania. Additionally, the structural decline of nuclear power in the EU has slowed decarbonisation, as a significant portion of renewable growth has replaced lost nuclear output rather than fossil fuels.

ClientEarth argues for the full alignment of EU air quality standards with the 2021 World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines through legally binding limit values. The document proposes strengthening the legislative framework by introducing an independent Scientific Advisory Board on Healthy Air, enhancing the requirements for air quality plans, and expanding monitoring to include Black Carbon and Ultrafine Particles. It further calls for explicit access to justice provisions, harmonised compensation for health damages, and the introduction of administrative penalties for public authorities that fail to comply with air quality standards.

Superhot rock (SHR) geothermal energy, defined as heat energy mined at temperatures of 400°C or hotter, is presented as a high-energy-density resource capable of providing competitive, dispatchable, zero-carbon power worldwide. While current geothermal capacity is limited to 15 GW in volcanic or thin-crust regions, SHR could potentially be accessed anywhere through super-deep drilling. The report estimates that mature SHR electricity could be competitive at $20-35 per MWh, producing five to ten times the energy per well compared to conventional systems. Realizing this potential requires overcoming engineering challenges in drilling (reaching 7-15 km), reservoir creation, and well metallurgy. The proposed path forward involves moving three to five pilot demonstrations forward in the next five years, transitioning from shallow hot dry rock to deep continental resources, and leveraging the expertise of the unconventional oil and gas industry to accelerate commercialization within 10 to 15 years.

The Three Seas Initiative (3SI) is criticized for prioritizing fossil gas infrastructure over renewable energy, which risks locking in emissions beyond 2050 and violating the EU's Climate Law. As of July 2021, fossil gas projects outnumber renewables in the 3SI database by more than two to one. Many of these gas projects are described as 'zombie projects'—outdated relics that have failed to attract financing or remain unutilized, such as the BRUA and Eastring pipelines. The document highlights that EU gas consumption must decline sharply to meet a 55% emissions reduction by 2030. While the 3SI Investment Fund (3SIIF) recently made its first energy investment in solar developer Enery Development, the briefing argues that significant political and financial shifts, including from the US, are needed to catalyze the region's renewable energy potential and align with the 'Fit for 55' package.

The paper surveys 29 long-term climate strategies (LTSs) submitted to the UNFCCC, representing 42 countries and 28% of global emissions. It finds a growing trend toward net-zero targets, an increasing focus on the fundamental economic and societal shifts required for transition, and a reliance on both natural and technological carbon removals. The analysis highlights that while most strategies include midcentury goals and modeling, the level of detail regarding adaptation and just transition varies, and some parties acknowledge gaps between their most ambitious scenarios and their final targets.