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The paper explores the intersection of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), arguing that digital innovations can overcome traditional barriers to intra-African trade. It highlights the role of blockchain in enhancing supply chain transparency and financial inclusion for MSMEs, and AI in improving agricultural productivity. The authors emphasize that while COVID-19 accelerated the adoption of ecommerce and fintech, significant gaps in internet connectivity, data infrastructure, and regulatory frameworks must be addressed to realize the AfCFTA's full potential.

The document argues that gender-blind climate interventions risk deepening inequalities and undermining resilience. It proposes a project cycle that begins with representative stakeholder committees and gender-disaggregated data collection to understand differential vulnerabilities. The guide details tools like 'problem tree' analysis and the 'resilience wheel' to design transformative solutions. It emphasizes the use of SMART and SPICED indicators to track progress, illustrated through five case studies in Cambodia, Tanzania, Malawi, Nigeria, and Ecuador, which demonstrate the 'double win' of achieving both climate goals and gender empowerment.

The report documents community-led responses to the Covid-19 pandemic and climate risks across the Global South, highlighting the role of social capital, women's leadership, and local innovation in maintaining development progress. It identifies specific grassroots solutions—such as community grain banks, urban kitchen gardens, and village savings groups—and argues for a shift in external support toward flexible, locally-led financing and partnerships that recognise the expertise of community-based organisations.

The report examines urban flooding in five cities across Ghana, South Africa, and Kenya, highlighting the vulnerability of informal settlements to climate-exacerbated rainfall and poor urban planning. It compares the maturity of South African cities in integrating EbA into policy against the more response-oriented, 'grey' infrastructure bias in Kenyan cities. Key findings emphasize that collaborative, whole-of-society governance and the integration of green and grey infrastructure are most effective for long-term resilience.

The report finds that finance for energy access in high-impact countries (HICs) remains critically insufficient. In 2019, tracked electricity finance in HICs fell to USD 32 billion, with residential access funding at less than one-third of the required annual investment. Clean cooking investment has stagnated around USD 130 million annually, far below the USD 4.5 billion needed. While private investment in clean cooking reached a peak of USD 56 million in 2019, multilateral DFI support plummeted. The report emphasizes the need for climate-resilient infrastructure, as seen in Mozambique, and highlights divergent technological paths in Ghana (LPG) and Vietnam (biogas).

The document argues that while climate obstruction is well-studied in the Global North, it remains largely unexplored in the Global South. It proposes ten research themes to analyze how developmentalism, political leadership, transnational links, and domestic energy policies contribute to the delay of climate action. The authors highlight the role of 'organized hypocrisy' where sovereignty claims are used to shield unsustainable practices, and note the influence of external donors and the potential for green technology to create new socio-ecological injustices.

The annex evaluates the gap between the economic mitigation potential of forests and the quantitative targets set in NDCs for 32 high-potential countries. It identifies a global annual finance need for forest protection and restoration ranging from USD 45 billion to USD 460 billion, while noting that current 'green finance' flows are significantly lower than 'grey finance' flows directed toward sectors like agriculture.

The COP26 Resilience Hub served as a convening platform for the UNFCCC’s Race to Resilience, bringing together state and non-state actors to prioritise adaptation and resilience. The report identifies five core messages: the necessity of scaling Locally Led Adaptation (LLA), the urgent need for increased and diversified adaptation finance (preferring grants over loans), the requirement to bridge knowledge and implementation gaps, the role of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) across urban, coastal, and rural contexts, and the essential inclusion of marginalised groups—including women, youth, and Indigenous peoples—in decision-making. It also highlights the emergence of 'Loss and Damage' as a critical focus and notes a significant gap between current adaptation finance flows and actual needs.

The COP26 Resilience Hub Synthesis Report outlines five core messages for advancing global climate resilience: the necessity of Locally Led Adaptation (LLA), the urgent need for diversified and increased adaptation finance (preferring grants over loans), the bridging of knowledge and implementation gaps, the role of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) across urban, coastal, and rural settings, and the requirement to center marginalized groups—including women, youth, and Indigenous peoples—in decision-making. The report details thematic insights across ten areas, including finance, water, food, energy, and health, while emphasizing the need to scale these efforts toward COP27.

The report identifies 23 financial transaction mechanisms and 35 enabling frameworks aimed at protecting and restoring nature. It categorizes these mechanisms into fiscal interventions, regulatory instruments, new government-enabled markets, traditional market-based instruments, and hybrid mechanisms. The authors argue that while innovation is high in identifying revenue streams, most mechanisms lack scale due to a reliance on public funding, a need for high private-value-capture potential, and a lack of performance certainty for large capital providers.

The document argues that while Africa views migration as a demographic and development issue, the European Union has increasingly adopted a securitised approach. It identifies four key entry points for strengthening the Africa-EU partnership: remittances, legal labour migration pathways, international protection, and voluntary returns and readmissions.

The document argues that Southern Africa urgently needs climate adaptation funding, specifically for planned relocation, to protect populations from slow-onset climate impacts. It highlights a significant gap in adaptation finance, noting that most funding is directed toward mitigation or countries with high institutional capacity rather than the most vulnerable. The author advocates for planned relocation as a last-resort, voluntary, and developmental tool, warning against the poor outcomes associated with forced or poorly managed historical resettlements.

The document examines the shift in Mozambique's strategy from treating the Cabo Delgado insurgency as a criminal matter to accepting international military support. It details the failures of the Russian Wagner Group, the role of the Dyck Advisory Group, and the subsequent deployments of Rwandan forces and the SADC Military Mission (SAMIM). While foreign troops have achieved quick gains, such as recovering Mocímboa da Praia, the brief highlights a critical lack of transparency regarding bilateral agreements and warns that insurgents are now dispersing into smaller groups in southern districts.

The report finds that energy finance in high-impact countries (HICs) is critically insufficient to meet SDG7 targets. In 2019, tracked electricity finance in HICs fell to USD 32 billion, with residential access funding at only one-third of the required annual investment. Clean cooking investment has stagnated around USD 130 million annually, far below the USD 4.5 billion needed. While there is a positive shift away from fossil fuel electricity generation and an increase in private finance for clean cooking, significant gaps remain, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. The report advocates for increased climate resilience in infrastructure, the scaling of decentralized energy solutions, and the integration of clean cooking into national climate policies and NDCs.

The document details 15 on-the-ground projects in Brazil, Guatemala, Kenya, Madagascar, Mexico, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. These initiatives focus on improving water security through rainwater harvesting and irrigation, enhancing food security via conservation agriculture and school gardens, and diversifying livelihoods to reduce pressure on natural ecosystems. The projects are co-designed with local communities based on data collected through key informant surveys to address specific threats such as drought, erratic rainfall, and soil degradation.

The report highlights 10 specific rivers globally that are threatened by hydropower development, arguing that such projects are based on outdated 20th-century thinking. It asserts that the 'renewable revolution'—specifically the falling costs of solar and wind power—allows the world to meet climate and energy goals without damming remaining free-flowing rivers. The document advocates for a 'LowCx3' (low-cost, low-carbon, low-conflict) approach to energy grids and calls for the protection and restoration of river systems to maintain biodiversity and climate resilience.

Freshwater fishes, comprising 51% of all known fish species, are facing an unprecedented extinction crisis due to habitat degradation, pollution, and climate change. Despite their critical role in global food security for hundreds of millions of people and their contribution to multibillion-dollar industries, they remain overlooked by policymakers. The report calls for a strategic global transition to restore freshwater ecosystems through a six-pillared recovery plan.

The report highlights that while Africa currently produces and consumes a small fraction of global plastics, a 'business as usual' trajectory could lead to a 375% increase in consumption by 2060. It identifies systemic failures across the plastics life cycle—from production to secondary markets—and argues that existing policy frameworks are fragmented and overly focused on end-of-life waste management. The document advocates for a comprehensive, life-cycle approach, the integration of the informal waste sector, and the development of a new legally binding global treaty to combat plastic pollution.

The document argues that the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed structural weaknesses in global health security and created a 'triple burden' for LMICs, who must manage pre-existing noncommunicable diseases, endemic infections, and the pandemic response. It advocates for a shift from 'vertical' disease-specific funding to a 'whole systems approach' to avoid zero-sum resource shifts. The author emphasizes that domestic resource mobilisation (DRM), including tax reforms and 'best buy' spending efficiency, is the only sustainable path for healthcare strengthening, as official development assistance (ODA) is prone to a 'panic-neglect' cycle. The briefing also calls for a temporary waiver of TRIPS intellectual property provisions to ensure equitable vaccine and medicine access, drawing lessons from the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa.

The document finds that African LICs' economic responses to COVID-19 were modest and suboptimal compared to developed nations, primarily due to pre-pandemic structural weaknesses such as high debt, inflation, and limited fiscal space. While expansionary monetary policy was the most common tool, fiscal stimulus was generally low (1% to 2% of GDP), with exceptions like Senegal, Niger, and Mozambique. The brief highlights a significant financing gap in donor support and argues that recovery requires a shift toward data-driven policy, increased digital and financial inclusion, and the independence of monetary and debt management authorities.