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The report examines the role of sustainable debt in transitioning the agri-food sector to net-zero, highlighting the need for finance to reach smallholder farmers. It introduces new Climate Bonds Sector Criteria for Agriculture Production and Deforestation and Conversion Free (DCF) Sourcing to standardize green activities. The analysis reveals that while sovereign issuers dominate the AFOLU sustainable debt market, there is a critical need for more material KPIs beyond scope 3 GHG emissions and greater transparency in the loan market to scale impactful investments.

The report finds that Equinor's investment strategy prioritizes oil and gas expansion and shareholder returns over renewable energy, with 2023 investments in oil and gas being 6.2 times higher than those in renewables. The analysis indicates that Equinor's 2030 production targets will be 61% higher than levels required for NZE alignment, and the company continues to develop 'climate bombs' in the Barents Sea and Vaca Muerta. Furthermore, Equinor is expanding its gas power capacity by 80% by 2030 and lacks a specific target for scope 3 emissions, which constitute 96% of its total emissions.

Reclaim Finance finds that Shell's investment strategy prioritizes oil and gas expansion and shareholder returns over renewable energy, leading to production levels and LNG capacities that significantly exceed NZE requirements by 2030. The report notes that Shell has reduced its carbon intensity targets and relies heavily on unproven carbon capture and offsets, while its renewable energy growth remains marginal compared to its fossil fuel output.

The report claims that TotalEnergies is not transitioning to clean energy, instead planning to increase oil and gas production by 2-3% per year by 2028. It highlights that the global bond market is a critical funding source, providing 68% of the company's financing between 2016 and 2022. The document asserts that banks and investors use bonds to indirectly support projects like EACOP and Mozambique LNG while avoiding direct loan risks, and calls for an immediate end to the issuance of new bonds to align with 1.5°C warming limits.

The research examines the drivers, barriers, and 'seeds' of circular economy (CE) practices within the SADC region, arguing for a contextually sensitive approach that moves beyond Global North narratives. It identifies critical drivers such as rapid urbanisation, e-waste challenges, and climate change, while highlighting systemic barriers including lack of uniform regulatory frameworks and knowledge disparities. The authors propose a multi-level resource use system that integrates indigenous solutions with disruptive technologies and recommends regional collaboration through the SADC Secretariat and AU to harmonise CE strategic frameworks, fiscal policies, and educational curricula.

The document explores the potential of superhot rock energy in Africa, highlighting its capacity to provide massive amounts of carbon-free electricity and its potential to drive economic growth and energy access.

The document outlines a 24-month readiness program (April 2024 to March 2026) implemented by the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) for Ethiopia. It focuses on four main areas: building the capacity of the Ministry of Planning and Development (the new NDA) and the Ministry of Finance; supporting the pre-accreditation of the Development Bank of Ethiopia (DBE) to access the GCF Private Sector Facility; establishing essential coordination mechanisms including a No-Objection procedure and an operational manual; and developing a GCF Country Programming Document and two high-quality project concept notes based on pre-feasibility studies. The program also includes the creation of a knowledge management portal and international learning visits to countries such as Rwanda, South Africa, or Tanzania.

The document identifies a short-term opportunity for African gas producers to fill global supply gaps caused by the war in Ukraine, but warns that new infrastructure investments face a high risk of becoming stranded assets as the world moves toward net-zero.

The document warns that Mozambique and Tanzania face significant risks of stranded gas infrastructure due to declining global markets, prices, and investor capital. It argues that both export-focused LNG projects and domestic gas-led industrialisation strategies are economically vulnerable, noting that using gas for power and industry is likely to remain an expensive option.

Between December 2023 and February 2024, carbon pollution drove abnormal warmth for approximately 80% of the global population. Roughly 4.8 billion people experienced at least one day of temperatures that would be 'virtually impossible' without climate change. The report highlights extreme temperature anomalies in the U.S. upper Midwest and Canada, as well as high Climate Shift Index (CSI) levels in tropical regions of Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Caribbean. It also documents associated extreme weather events, including record-breaking heat in Australia and deadly floods in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The European Union has signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia to secure critical raw materials (CRM) essential for green and digital transitions. These agreements aim to reduce the EU's heavy reliance on imports from quasi-monopolistic suppliers, particularly China. However, the paper identifies significant obstacles, including the DRC and Zambia's lack of comprehensive national CRM policies, high levels of corruption and political instability, and the continued dominance of Chinese mining interests in both countries. The author argues that for these partnerships to succeed, the EU must prioritize industrial and economic alignment over geopolitical security agendas and find ways to de-risk investments for the European private sector, potentially by strengthening state-owned mining companies in the partner countries.

The document examines how the green energy transition in Africa could trigger conflict due to land displacement, environmental damage, and inequitable benefit distribution. It identifies five key categories of legal protections—land and resource rights, environmental and social protections, compensation and benefit sharing, access to information and participation, and access to justice—that can mitigate these risks. While many Sub-Saharan African countries have enacted basic protections, the brief emphasizes that the quality of implementation, institutional capacity, and political will are essential to prevent a 'green resource curse'.

The document outlines strategic priorities to combat youth unemployment in Uganda, emphasizing the need for anti-corruption measures, investment in agribusiness infrastructure, and the alignment of education curricula with 21st-century labour market demands.

The Lobito Corridor is a 1,300 km railway line in Angola, extending into the DRC, designed to transport minerals to the EU and US. While several MoUs have been signed to secure critical raw materials (CRMs) and EV battery value chains, the author argues the project faces significant risks due to China's established supply chains, the TAZARA railway alternative, and the EU and US's lag in EV technology. The paper suggests that the EU and US should move beyond raw material extraction to support comprehensive industrialization across Africa.

The document outlines a roadmap for Malawi's future prosperity by focusing on youth-centric policies. It advocates for the integration of youth voices in national planning, the creation of a transformative education investment plan, the incorporation of mental health services into primary healthcare, and a shift toward community-based disaster risk reduction. These recommendations stem from a participatory research project using foresight methodologies like Futures Literacy Labs and the Three Horizons Framework, highlighting the urgent need for resilience following events such as Cyclone Freddy.

The GCF Board's 37th meeting in Tbilisi, Georgia, resulted in the approval of 15 funding proposals totaling USD 736.4 million and the adoption of the 2024 administrative budget of USD 112.4 million. Key strategic outcomes include the endorsement of the Readiness Strategy 2024–2027, which allocates USD 501.5 million to enhance country ownership and direct access, and the confirmation of USD 9.3 billion in pledges for the second formal replenishment (GCF-2). The Board also established an ad hoc Committee on Human Resources Matters to address systemic compensation and policy issues. Significant discussions occurred regarding the potential for a regional presence to reduce operational bottlenecks and the ongoing debate over the financing of results-based payments for REDD+, which was deferred to the next meeting.

The document outlines a framework for empowering Tanzanian youth through three strategic priorities: accelerating technological advancement with gender-inclusive training, ensuring unrestricted access to information via digital literacy and connectivity, and reforming employment policies to create inclusive economic growth. Based on youth-led participatory research using foresight methodologies, it identifies critical gaps in education, mental health support, and youth representation in decision-making, while calling for public-private partnerships to modernize vocational training and digitize government services.

The document outlines a strategic framework to harness the potential of Zambia's youth population, which comprises over 70% of the population under age 30. Based on participatory research using Futures Literacy Labs and the Three Horizon Framework, it identifies critical gaps in political representation, education, and technology. The brief proposes four strategic priorities: mandating youth quotas in decision-making bodies, fast-tracking the Climate Change Bill of 2022 to support agri-tech innovation, reforming curricula to emphasize practical skills for employment, and implementing a National Internet Connectivity Plan to bridge the digital divide.

The report evaluates the impact of FSD Africa's regulatory interventions in African capital markets, highlighting the importance of tailoring international best practices to local contexts and the need for formal implementation support. It identifies capacity constraints at both regulator and market participant levels as significant barriers to the adoption of new frameworks, such as Islamic finance regulations in WAEMU and corporate bond guidelines in Ghana. The document recommends a sequenced and clustered approach to future interventions, with an increasing focus on green and sustainable finance once foundational regulatory structures are established.

The report argues that climate and biodiversity crises disproportionately affect marginalized groups and that nature-based solutions (NbS) must integrate gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) to be effective. It outlines three core components of GESI in NbS: recognizing differences in needs and capacities, facilitating equitable participation in decision-making, and promoting the fair distribution of benefits. The document provides a five-step implementation cycle—system understanding, risk assessment, option identification, implementation, and monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL)—supported by case studies from Vietnam, Cuba, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Bolivia.