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This briefing by the South African Institute of International Affairs outlines the objectives and expected outcomes of the 4th Session of the UN Environmental Assembly (UNEA-4). The session focuses on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12, aiming to address unsustainable consumption and production patterns to support the UN 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development.

A fact sheet detailing a USD 225 million green bond issued by AC Energy on January 29, 2019, to finance solar, onshore wind, and geothermal assets in Southeast Asia and Australia.

This Stockholm Environment Institute briefing examines the barriers to gender equality in the agricultural sectors of South and Southeast Asia. It argues that Women's Economic Empowerment (WEE) strategies, which focus on market access and productivity, often fail to achieve true gender equality because they ignore systemic patriarchal norms and power imbalances. The document provides evidence from rice value chains and home gardening projects in Cambodia, Pakistan, and Vietnam to illustrate how women remain marginalized as secondary labor with limited control over resources, and recommends a shift toward transformative approaches that address the root cultural and political causes of inequality.

This outcome document details the proceedings and commitments from a cross-cutting roundtable on Climate Action and Resilience held during UNFCCC COP 24 in Katowice, Poland, on December 10, 2018. Organised by The Climate Resilience Network, the event focused on scaling up investments to enhance climate resilience for the most vulnerable people and countries, emphasizing the need for inclusive, people-centered actions and the integration of local and indigenous knowledge.

This briefing by the Stockholm Environment Institute discusses the potential climate, environmental, and social impacts of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Southeast Asia. It highlights the risks of 'carbon lock-in' from coal and fossil fuel investments and the ecological threats posed by hydropower dams in the Mekong region. To mitigate these risks, the authors propose a participatory decision-making framework based on transparency, stakeholder inclusion, and adherence to international sustainable finance standards.

This briefing by the Climate Bonds Initiative explains how green securitisation—the process of creating asset-backed securities (ABS) from low-carbon assets—can unlock finance for small-scale projects. It details various structures including synthetic ABS, PACE ABS, solar ABS, and green mortgage-backed securities, highlighting how aggregating small assets allows institutional investors to provide capital to SMEs and urban infrastructure.

A fact sheet detailing a green bond issuance by Sindicatum Renewable Energy, a Singapore-based company focusing on small-scale renewables in South and Southeast Asia.

The 2018 New York Declaration on Forests (NYDF) Progress Assessment Goals Summary reports that the world is not on track to meet Goal 1, which aims to halve the rate of natural forest loss globally by 2020 and end it by 2030. While net forest loss has declined when accounting for regrowth, gross tree cover loss has increased, and tropical deforestation emissions have risen, peaking in 2016.

This report assesses progress toward Goal 4 of the New York Declaration on Forests, which focuses on supporting alternatives to deforestation driven by basic needs, such as subsistence farming and fuelwood collection. The document highlights a significant lack of aggregate global data to measure progress, relying instead on proxy indicators like the distribution of clean cookstoves and related financial funding.

This document provides the technical annexes for the Renewable Energy Scale-Up Facility (RESF), detailing the financial modeling, assumptions, and expected impacts of a proposed USD 100 million equity fund designed to scale up wind and solar projects in developing regions, particularly Latin America.

This synthesis brief details the Stockholm Environment Institute's (SEI) efforts to support the implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement. Key areas of focus include the need to phase down fossil fuel production, the creation of a transparent reporting framework, and the importance of equitable mitigation shares, noting that wealthy nations like the US and EU are currently falling short. The brief highlights specific case studies in Kenya and sub-Saharan Africa, and introduces tools such as LEAP and the NDC Explorer to help countries plan and track their climate goals.

This briefing note by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) examines the impacts of large-scale private agricultural investments on local livelihoods, water resources, land tenure, and gender equality. It argues that while such investments can create employment and market opportunities, ill-designed contracts often lead to environmental degradation, water scarcity, and the marginalization of rural communities, particularly women. The document advocates for an integrated approach to planning, utilizing a 'social tenure model' and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to ensure sustainability and inclusivity.

A fact sheet outlining five strategic lessons for local governments to establish successful, long-lasting partnerships for climate compatible development, derived from a CDKN-ICLEI learning programme involving partners in South and Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

The Global Resilience Partnership (GRP) advocates for a shift from traditional water control and recovery-based humanitarian aid toward a resilience-based approach that integrates natural water cycles and local knowledge into design and investment.

This executive summary assesses progress toward Goal 2 of the New York Declaration on Forests (NYDF), which aims to eliminate deforestation from agricultural commodity supply chains by 2020. The report finds that while corporate commitments are increasing—particularly for palm oil and wood products—implementation remains inconsistent, with significant gaps in time-bound actionable plans, traceability to the production level, and compliance reporting. The report highlights that the majority of tropical deforestation is concentrated in Indonesia, Brazil, Malaysia, and Paraguay, making targeted action in these countries critical.

This briefing describes the first phase (2015–2016) of the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) Initiative on Transforming Development and Disaster Risk (TDDR). The initiative aims to integrate disaster risk reduction (DRR) with sustainable development by analyzing how developmental processes create and accumulate risk, focusing on trade-offs, social inequity, and transformative governance.

This report by the Climate Policy Initiative analyzes the scale and distribution of Chinese finance for overseas coal power projects, highlighting China's role as a major provider of finance and the potential impact of its 2015 commitment to control public investment in high-carbon overseas projects.

This World Bank Group report provides a framework for using investment contracts to maximize the benefits and minimize the risks of large-scale agricultural projects in developing countries. It identifies five key positive outcomes and five primary weaknesses associated with these investments, offering specific legal and contractual options to ensure sustainable development and the protection of local communities.

This document introduces a review of international fuel pricing systems intended to support Indonesia in strengthening its 2015 pricing mechanism and protecting consumers from price volatility. It also briefly mentions discussions on Indonesia's battery electric vehicle ecosystem, carbon pricing progress in Southeast Asia, and the scale of Indonesia's energy subsidies in 2024.

This SEI briefing synthesizes research from 2011-2014 on the expansion of the oil palm and biofuels industry in Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. It finds that while governments promote these industries for energy security and poverty reduction, the actual benefits to local communities are often skewed or unsubstantiated. Key issues identified include unclear land tenure leading to disputes, the vulnerability of small-scale producers who struggle with certification and market access, and systemic failures in the implementation of environmental laws and dispute resolution mechanisms. The report argues that investments often precede inclusive development planning and recommends prioritizing 'upstream' social and economic planning to ensure sustainable outcomes.