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This guide by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) examines the use of 'security for costs' (cautionnement pour frais) in Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS). It analyzes why states seek these deposits to protect taxpayers from high defense costs and speculative claims, the legal obstacles they face due to vague arbitration rules, and the current restrictive jurisprudence of tribunals. The document concludes by recommending that states integrate specific, robust security for costs provisions into their investment treaties to ensure a more equitable balance between investors and states.

This notification from the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) presents a draft outline for a new IAI Strategic Plan. The plan is designed as a 25-year roadmap to coordinate research and policy actions addressing global change in the Americas, organized around three primary themes: meeting the needs of member Parties, advancing a science agenda for regional sustainability, and ensuring the organizational sustainability of the IAI.

This fact sheet details a EUR 125 million green loan issued by Greenalia Biomass Power for the construction of a 50MW biomass plant in Teixeiro, Spain, designed to generate electricity from forest waste.

The Carbon-Free Regions Handbook: Mobility is a guide by RMI that outlines strategic actions for regional governments to reduce the carbon intensity of transportation, which currently accounts for 14% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

This briefing note provides an overview of the 2018 Talanoa Dialogue on Climate Ambition, outlining how National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) and civil society can integrate human rights-based perspectives into the process to inform future national climate commitments.

BBVA issued a EUR1bn green bond on May 14, 2018, under its SDGs Framework, marking the first such issuance by a Spanish bank. The proceeds are primarily allocated to renewable energy (83%), with smaller portions for sustainable transport, water/waste management, and energy efficiency. The bond was oversubscribed, with an order book exceeding EUR3bn and 51% of allocation going to SRI investors, primarily from France and other European nations.

ACS SE issued a EUR750m green bond on 20-Apr-2018, the first of its kind for a Spanish infrastructure company. The funds are primarily allocated to renewable energy (59%), energy distribution (20%), water management (12%), and lighting upgrades (9%), with projects located in North America, South America, Asia, and Africa.

A fact sheet detailing a EUR 220 million private placement loan issued by Ence Energia on December 15, 2017, to finance biomass energy expansion and debt refinancing in Spain.

Minutes from a preparatory NeST-Africa meeting held on April 4, 2018, focusing on South Africa's role and the broader African context leading up to the Second United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation (BAPA +40) in 2019. The meeting addressed challenges in South-South Cooperation (SSC), the evolving nature of international aid, the role of civil society in BRICS, and the development of a regional African SSC report.

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.

This briefing argues that without a carbon intensity limit of 550gCO2/kWh for capacity payments, Europe's coal plants could be 'supercharged,' extending their operational lives and crowding out cleaner energy alternatives. The document outlines existing EU policy gaps that favor coal and details how specific capacity market designs risk subsidizing fossil fuels over modern technologies like batteries and demand-side response.

This guide by Friends of the Earth International provides a compilation of strategies and experiences for communities and Indigenous Peoples to declare their territories free from threats such as REDD, financialization of nature, mining, fracking, and GMOs. It frames these declarations as exercises of autonomy and political practices aimed at realizing collective human rights and defending traditional ways of living against an extractivist corporate model.

This guide, published by Friends of the Earth International, outlines the concept and practice of declaring 'free territories' to protect lands from extractive industries, financialization of nature, and corporate imposition. It provides a framework for communities and indigenous peoples to exercise autonomy and human rights by formally rejecting projects such as mining, fracking, and GMOs.

This guide by Friends of the Earth International provides a compilation of ideas and experiences regarding the declaration of 'free territories'—areas where communities, indigenous peoples, or local governments formally reject specific harmful projects or policies. The document focuses on strategies to resist the 'financialization of nature' (FN), REDD projects, extractive industries, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to protect local autonomy and traditional ways of life.

This report summarizes progress toward Goal 10 of the New York Declaration on Forests, which focuses on strengthening forest governance, transparency, and the rule of law, while empowering indigenous peoples and local communities. It details developments in producer and consumer countries regarding illegal timber trade, the rising violence against environmental defenders, and the status of financial resources and data collection for land tenure security.

This parallel report, submitted by the Instituto Internacional de Derecho y Medio Ambiente (IIDMA) and the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, argues that Spain's continued reliance on coal-fired power plants violates children's rights to health and a sustainable environment. The authors highlight the severe respiratory impacts of air pollution on children and the contribution of these plants to global climate change, urging the Spanish government to phase out coal power.

This parallel report, submitted to the Committee on the Rights of the Child by the International Institute for Law and the Environment (IIDMA) and the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), argues that Spain's continued reliance on coal-fired power plants violates children's rights to health and a sustainable environment. The document details the health impacts of air pollution on children, the role of coal in greenhouse gas emissions, and the legal exceptions Spain has used to bypass European Union emission limits.

This briefing discusses the role of cities as primary vehicles for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), emphasizing that urban governance and knowledge-sharing between cities can address global societal problems. It highlights how decentralization and municipal empowerment enable cities to implement pragmatic solutions, which is particularly relevant for Africa's rapidly growing urban centers.

This fact sheet from the Environmental and Energy Study Institute provides an overview of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs), including battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). It details the environmental and economic benefits of PEVs, the current state of the U.S. and global markets, charging infrastructure, battery technology trends, and government incentives.

This fact sheet by the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) provides a comprehensive overview of employment in the renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors globally and within the United States as of 2016 and 2017. It utilizes data from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) to compare clean energy jobs against fossil fuel employment and detail specific subsector growth.