Search Climate Insights Directory

The report argues that preventing future pandemics requires a systems-based approach to stop zoonotic spillover at its source. It identifies the 'wildlife value chain'—from tropical deforestation frontiers to urban markets—as the primary driver of risk, where human, livestock, and wildlife interactions facilitate pathogen mutation and transmission. The framework proposes a 'Planetary Health Agenda' that integrates conservation, public health, and sustainable food systems, with specific action plans for Southeast Asia, Central Africa, and South America to mitigate both current and emerging risks.

The report examines the intersection of climate change, energy policy, and security in Southeast Asia. It identifies key vulnerabilities, including sea level rise threatening megacities and the Mekong Delta, and extreme heat reducing economic productivity. These stressors are analyzed as 'threat multipliers' that exacerbate existing geopolitical tensions in the South China Sea, fuel violent extremism through livelihood degradation, and complicate transboundary water management of the Mekong River. The document also highlights the 'energy-climate security nexus,' arguing that the region's continued reliance on coal and the pursuit of civilian nuclear power—often involving long-term partnerships with China and Russia—create new strategic risks. It concludes with a call for 'Climate Security Watch Centers,' carbon drawdown plans for ASEAN states, and a systemic shift toward renewable energy to ensure regional stability.

The report explores how social protection can support adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and resilience against slow-onset climate events—such as sea-level rise and biodiversity loss—while noting that climate change itself may threaten the viability of these social protection systems.

The 'Agua Sin Límites' initiative seeks to evolve water management beyond traditional Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), which the authors argue has failed to produce sustainable results. The initiative focuses on three pillars: analyzing water connections beyond the immediate basin, implementing multi-scale participatory approaches to address inequalities (including gender and poverty), and integrating ecosystem needs early in the planning process. These frameworks are being tested through pilot studies in the Mekong and Magdalena river basins, as well as reflecting on work in California.

The document highlights that only one-third of the world's longest rivers remain free-flowing, with hydropower dams and other infrastructure posing severe threats to biodiversity and human livelihoods. WWF identifies specific high-risk regions—including the Amazon, Balkans, and Southeast Asia—and proposes a four-part strategy involving science, sustainable development, advocacy, and policy governance to protect these ecosystems. By 2030, WWF aims to secure legal protections for at least 15 rivers and avoid connectivity loss on 22,500 km of river.

The report finds a global increase in concern for nature loss, particularly in emerging markets, driven by digital activism and changing consumer habits. While public demand for sustainability is rising and influencing corporate behavior in sectors like fashion and cosmetics, a gap remains between public sentiment and effective government enforcement of environmental laws.

The report identifies 24 deforestation fronts across Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and Oceania, where over 43 million hectares of forest were lost between 2004 and 2017. It argues that while commercial agriculture remains the dominant direct driver, indirect pressures such as population growth, dietary shifts toward meat, and weak governance amplify forest loss. The analysis evaluates a range of responses, from area-based protections and indigenous land rights to commodity-specific certifications and REDD+ frameworks, concluding that no single approach is sufficient and that integrated, context-specific solutions are required to halt deforestation.

The report argues that while social protection is frequently used to respond to sudden-onset disasters, its potential to address slow-onset hazards like sea-level rise is underutilised. It highlights that the gradual nature of these hazards provides a unique window for transformative structural changes to address root causes of vulnerability. The authors identify significant knowledge gaps regarding urban coastal contexts and the adaptive functions of social protection, proposing three research principles: integrating slow-onset risks into social protection, prioritising transformative potential, and adapting mechanisms to specific coastal contexts.

The study examines the drivers of hydrological alteration in the Srepok River Basin, finding that land use, rainfall, and temperature each affect different hydrological parameters. It identifies the 'fall rate' as the parameter most significantly affected by all three drivers, while hydropower development specifically impacts the fall rate and reversal.

The report finds that progress toward reducing deforestation from infrastructure, extractive industries, and basic-needs activities is slow. While some governments and companies have adopted policies and commitments, implementation is often weak, transparency is limited, and large-scale development projects continue to threaten intact forests. The report emphasizes the need for a paradigm shift toward alternative development pathways and the empowerment of Indigenous peoples and local communities.

The Stockholm Environment Institute's Water Beyond Boundaries (WBB) initiative aims to evolve water planning beyond the traditional Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) framework, which the authors argue has not yet yielded sustainable outcomes. WBB focuses on three pillars: analyzing water connections beyond the immediate watershed, integrating ecosystem needs throughout the planning process, and employing multi-scale participatory approaches to address inequalities related to gender, poverty, and marginalized groups. The initiative is being piloted in the Magdalena River Basin in Colombia and the Mekong region in South East Asia, while drawing on previous work in California, USA.

The Recover Better with Sustainable Energy Guide for Southeast Asian Nations outlines the economic benefits and strategic opportunities for Southeast Asian countries to integrate sustainable energy into their recovery efforts and updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

Mighty Earth defends its role in supporting Indonesia's deforestation reductions and expresses concern that provisions of the Omnibus Law may undermine these environmental and economic successes.

Mighty Earth defends its role in supporting Indonesia's environmental goals and expresses concern that certain provisions of the recently passed Omnibus Law could jeopardize the country's progress in reducing deforestation and protecting biodiversity.

SEforALL has transitioned to a strategic model that combines global agenda-setting with data-driven in-country implementation. Key achievements include the launch of the Universal Energy Facility for mini-grids in Sierra Leone and Madagascar, support for Nigeria's 5 million solar connections programme, and the development of 'Recover Better' guides for the Caribbean and Southeast Asia to integrate sustainable energy into COVID-19 recovery. The organization is also leading preparations for the 2021 UN High-Level Dialogue on Energy and co-chairing the Energy Transition Council for COP26.

The author, representing the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities, asserts that Indigenous Peoples are the world's best stewards of nature, protecting 80 percent of remaining biodiversity. The text highlights the urgent threat posed by illegal mining, logging, and land grabbing in the Amazon Basin, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and calls for global conservation efforts to prioritize Indigenous rights and ancestral knowledge to maintain global ecological balance.

The document examines how COVID-19 transitioned from a health crisis to a systemic human development crisis in Africa, highlighting the severe economic contraction faced by energy exporters and tourism-dependent nations. It notes that while developed economies initially bore a higher infection burden, the economic downturn is universal, potentially triggering debt crises and defaults. However, the report suggests the pandemic could accelerate digitisation and a transition toward a sustainable economy powered by renewable energy.

Between January 1 and June 15, 2020, China experienced a surge in coal power development, with 17.0 GW of capacity approved and 40.8 GW planned. This trend is driven by local government efforts to stimulate GDP and economic growth following the COVID-19 pandemic, rather than actual energy demand. The report highlights that China already faces an estimated 400 GW of excess coal capacity, and this new expansion contradicts global trends and IPCC targets to limit warming to 1.5°C.

Between January 1 and June 15, 2020, China saw a significant increase in coal plant development, with 249.6 GW of capacity under development, a 21% increase over end-2019. This boom is driven by economic stimulus efforts to offset COVID-19 impacts and a relaxation of the central government's 'traffic light policy', despite an existing estimated 400 GW of excess coal-fired capacity. While some new plants are intended for long-distance transmission to the coast, the majority risk exacerbating the country's overcapacity crisis and hindering global climate targets.

The authors highlight the accuracy of previous intelligence warnings regarding pandemics to argue that similar foresight must be applied to climate change. They assert that unabated climate change will trigger global instability through food and water insecurity, mass migration, increased international tensions, and high-impact 'wildcard' events, necessitating a move toward net-zero emissions to protect global security.