Search Climate Insights Directory

This guide by the Climate Policy Initiative explains the role of guarantees as financial instruments to transfer risk from borrowers or lenders to third parties, such as multilateral development banks or governments. It details the types of risks covered, the impact on borrowing costs, the institutional and regulatory capacities required for effective implementation, and the specific challenges facing the deployment of guarantees for climate-related projects in emerging and mature markets.

This briefing by the American Gas Foundation, presented to Congressional staff, outlines the potential of Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) as a carbon-neutral energy source derived from biomass, landfills, and wastewater treatment facilities. It highlights RNG's versatility across multiple sectors, its compatibility with existing pipeline infrastructure, and its potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create jobs.

A 1988 policy report by the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) calling for the U.S. President and Congress to prioritize energy policy to combat global warming, improve international economic competitiveness, and enhance energy security. The document advocates for a multi-pronged approach centered on energy efficiency, renewable energy, reforestation, and international leadership to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

This report by Ember provides an interim analysis of 15 draft National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) from EU Member States, focusing on the power sector transition. It finds that while wind and solar capacity targets have increased significantly since 2019, they still fall short of REPowerEU goals. The analysis highlights a critical lack of quantified targets for electricity storage and flexibility, as well as poor data quality and transparency across the submitted plans.

This fact sheet by Friends of the Earth International describes the European Investment Bank (EIB) as a powerful yet 'invisible' public financial institution owned by EU member states. It argues that the EIB operates with significant legal obscurity and lacks the transparency, environmental standards, and public accountability found in similar institutions like the World Bank. The document details specific criticisms from NGOs regarding the EIB's lack of environmental expertise, its failure to support the Kyoto Protocol, and its resistance to public information requests.

This research paper examines the complex relationship between anthropogenic climate change and forced human migration. It challenges simplistic predictions of mass migration, arguing that displacement is driven by a combination of climate processes (slow-onset changes) and climate events (sudden hazards), mediated by non-climate factors such as governance, poverty, and adaptive capacity. The author outlines three speculative scenarios for future migration based on IPCC emission storylines and discusses the significant development implications for the poorest countries, which are expected to bear the greatest burden of providing for climate migrants.

The Fossil-Fuel Subsidy Reform Communiqué advocates for the accelerated elimination of fossil-fuel subsidies to meet global climate targets, citing economic, environmental, and social benefits while emphasizing the need for transparency and protections for vulnerable populations.

This guide outlines the process for issuing green bonds in China, detailing the identification of eligible assets, the role of independent reviews, and the necessity of tracking and reporting procedures to ensure transparency and investor confidence.

This white paper examines the integration of Life Cycle Costing (LCC) within sustainable public procurement (SPP), arguing that current models often fail to deliver the best value for taxpayers by overemphasizing upfront purchase prices over long-term operational and environmental costs. The authors identify systemic barriers—including conflicting capital and revenue budgets, a lack of professional expertise, and data gaps—and recommend that LCC be integrated into high-level public expenditure and resource allocation policies rather than remaining a routine procurement task.

This report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) explores the communication channels, education opportunities, and networking patterns of youth across the circumpolar region. Based on a limited sample of 19 interviews and media scans, the study identifies a lack of youth-specific mainstream media, significant barriers to formal education in Northern Canada, and a reliance on personal, face-to-face interaction for effective engagement. The report highlights the role of the OOKPIK website in hosting directories of youth networks and media to improve connectivity among young Northerners.

The 'State of Global Environmental Governance 2024' report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) analyzes the intersection of environmental governance and a global 'polycrisis' characterized by geopolitical instability, climate disasters, and financial crises. It highlights a trend toward 'greenlash' and the increasing role of international courts in enforcing environmental commitments, while noting that global governance remains largely siloed across the Rio Conventions and other multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs).

This case study examines the governance and progress of the European Union's efforts to phase out fossil fuel subsidies by 2020, specifically focusing on the mandatory removal of hard coal mining subsidies by 2018 and the broader goals for oil, gas, and coal.

This research paper examines how arms transfers to Libyan rebels by France and Qatar undermine the United Nations arms embargo and violate end-user certificate agreements, highlighting the lack of international monitoring and enforcement in arms control systems.

This document is an introductory text for Monograph 46, which compiles papers from a November 1999 conference in Pretoria, South Africa, titled "Building stability in Africa: The challenge for the next millennium." The conference was part of a larger international project, "Challenges of peacekeeping and peace support: Into the 21st century," coordinated by the National Defence College in Stockholm to explore more effective ways of managing regional conflicts and peace support operations.

This report summarizes a public seminar held on November 20, 2009, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, jointly organized by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and the Ethiopian International Institute for Peace and Development (EIIPD). The seminar, titled "Copenhagen Talks on Climate Change and Africa's Response," focused on strengthening a common African position regarding mitigation, adaptation, and compensation ahead of the Copenhagen climate negotiations.

This report analyzes South Africa's election as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) for the 2019–2020 term. It examines the current geopolitical dynamics of the Council, the expectations placed on South Africa as a regional power, and provides strategic recommendations for the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) to maximize the country's international visibility and influence.

The provided text consists of fragmented pages from a Rocky Mountain Institute report titled "REINVENTING FIRE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA," containing primarily headers and two data visualizations regarding emergency energy savings and solar PV costs.

The document introduces 'natural capitalism,' a proposed new industrial paradigm that values natural and human capital alongside financial and manufactured capital. It argues that conventional industrial capitalism is unsustainable because it treats nature as a free, infinite resource, leading to the rapid depletion of living systems and ecosystem services. To avert ecological and social disaster, the text proposes four interrelated strategies: radical resource productivity, biomimicry, a service-and-flow economy, and direct investment in natural capital.

This report chapter argues that the solution to global freshwater scarcity is not increasing supply through costly and environmentally damaging infrastructure, but radically increasing water productivity through efficiency and demand-side management across agriculture, landscaping, buildings, and industry.

This report chapter argues that climate change can be mitigated profitably through a 'resource productivity revolution.' It details the science of the greenhouse effect and asserts that energy efficiency, renewable energy, and sustainable land-use practices are more cost-effective than continuing fossil fuel reliance or investing in nuclear power. Using examples from the U.S., Sweden, and India, it demonstrates that reducing carbon emissions can lower costs and improve living standards.