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The document examines the governance of climate finance in developing countries, highlighting systemic failures in accountability, stakeholder representation, and benefit sharing. It argues that climate finance is often driven by donor priorities rather than local needs, leading to conflicts of interest and the marginalization of indigenous and local communities.

The 2011 Ugandan elections resulted in a fourth term for President Yoweri Museveni, who secured 68.38% of the vote. While some regional observers deemed the process free and fair, international bodies like the EU and AU cited widespread irregularities, including voter bribery, ballot stuffing, and intimidation. The report highlights significant internal tensions, such as the conflict with the Buganda kingdom and the potential for resource-based conflict following oil discoveries in Buliisa and Amaru districts. Regionally, Museveni's victory maintains his influence in the East African Community and his commitment to an East African Federation, despite ongoing security threats from Al-Shabaab and allegations of interference in the DRC.

The BIO-EARN programme (1999–2010) aimed to empower Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda to utilize agricultural, environmental, and industrial biotechnologies for sustainable development. Funded by Sida and coordinated by the Stockholm Environment Institute and later the Inter-University Council for East Africa, the programme focused on human capacity building, infrastructure development, and the creation of an enabling policy environment. Key achievements include the training of 30 PhD and 30 MSc students, the upgrading of 17 laboratories with over SEK 25 million in investment, and the development of stress-tolerant sorghum and disease-resistant root crops. The programme also pioneered biosafety risk assessment and intellectual property management in the region, facilitating the transition of research from laboratories to pilot-scale applications in waste water treatment and agro-processing.

The text describes a divide between the official Mining Indaba in Cape Town and the concurrent Alternative Mining Indaba. While the main event focused on investment and corporate sustainability, the alternative event highlighted systemic issues including environmental pollution in Tanzania, lack of community consultation, and the marginalization of civil society through high registration fees and restrictive questioning formats during Corporate Social Responsibility sessions.

India's engagement with Africa has evolved from a post-colonial focus on decolonisation and non-alignment to a pragmatic 'enlightened national interest' approach. This modern strategy is driven by India's need for energy security, specifically crude petroleum, and its ambition for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Trade has grown significantly, with bilateral trade reaching $39 billion in 2008–09, and Indian investment has expanded across hydrocarbons, mining, agriculture, and ICT. India continues to support African capacity building through the ITEC programme and the Pan-African e-network project, aiming to marry its traditional idealistic goals with contemporary economic and strategic needs.

The report examines how existing corruption and weak governance in forest-rich developing countries may undermine REDD objectives and how REDD resource flows could create new incentives for rent-seeking. Through case studies in the DRC, Kenya, and Tanzania, it identifies risks such as 'carbon fraud', elite capture of funds, and the marginalisation of local communities. It suggests that while REDD can act as a catalyst for improving forest governance, success depends on tailored anti-corruption measures, independent monitoring, and the integration of REDD into national development strategies.

The Indian Ocean contains 13 percent of the world's coral reefs, with over 65 percent currently at risk from local threats, primarily overfishing. Projections indicate that by 2050, all areas in the region will be considered threatened due to the combined impact of local pressures and climate-related stressors such as thermal stress and acidification. While 19 percent of reefs are within marine protected areas, only 11 percent of the region's reefs are in MPAs with effective or partially effective management.

The Reefs at Risk Revisited analysis finds that approximately 75 percent of global coral reefs are threatened by local and global pressures, with local threats affecting over 60 percent. Without intervention to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and local pressures, threatened reefs could increase to over 90 percent by 2030 and nearly all reefs by 2050. While over 25 percent of reefs are in marine protected areas, only 6 percent are effectively managed. The report identifies 27 nations as most vulnerable to reef degradation, including Haiti, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

The manual defines Conflict-Sensitive Conservation (CSC) as the programming and execution of conservation actions that account for the causes, actors, and impacts of conflict. It outlines a three-step organizational process: assessing institutional capacity, assigning human resources (such as a CSC Champion and Team), and adopting guiding principles. For field projects, it details a two-step operational process: conducting a conflict analysis using tools like conflict trees, conflict maps, and stakeholder profiles, and subsequently designing and monitoring CSC solutions. The guide emphasizes that conservation can either inadvertently fuel conflict—by restricting resource access or creating unequal benefit distribution—or support peace by addressing root causes of environmental degradation and fostering cooperation.

The 2007–08 international food crisis had a modest impact on Tanzania compared to other poor countries, with an estimated 0.5–1% of the population driven into poverty, primarily in urban areas. While short-term government interventions like export bans and tariff reductions showed limited evidence of effectiveness, long-term economic reforms since the early 2000s helped the country maintain agricultural exports. The study highlights a persistent challenge in stabilizing agricultural output growth and suggests that greater integration with global markets could serve as insurance against domestic production shocks.

The report details a workshop in Douala, Cameroon, focused on the implementation of REDD+ in Africa. Key discussions centered on the need for cost-effective safeguard information systems, the scalability of Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) from subnational to national levels, and the role of agriculture as a driver of deforestation rather than a direct part of REDD+. Participants emphasized the necessity of transparent, equitable financing that prioritizes local experts and the integration of gender and indigenous perspectives to ensure multiple co-benefits beyond carbon sequestration.

The report analyzes the surge in foreign acquisitions and long-term leases of agricultural land and water, driven by food and energy security concerns and the 2008 food crisis. It highlights a critical lack of transparency and public contracts, which obscures the impact on local communities. The authors argue that a complex interplay between national laws, investment contracts, and International Investment Agreements (IIAs) often prioritizes foreign investor protections over the rights of local users and the regulatory autonomy of host states, potentially hindering sustainable development and public health measures.

The briefing examines the status of the BTWC in Africa during the Seventh Review Conference in December 2011. It highlights that while 37 African countries are States Parties, several others have either signed without ratifying or remain non-members. The author argues that universalisation is hindered by a lack of resources and domestic legislation, and suggests that the BTWC should be framed within a developmental context to increase engagement. Key recommendations include strengthening the Implementation Support Unit (ISU), improving biosafety measures in African laboratories, and engaging the African Union to address the perception that weapons of mass destruction (WMD) are primarily a concern of the developed world.

The document is a workshop report detailing the regional dimensions of conflict in the Great Lakes Region of Africa. It examines how the proliferation of small arms and light weapons (SALW), the illegal exploitation of natural resources, and forced displacement create a cycle of instability. The report analyzes the role of regional bodies like the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and the East African Community (EAC) in promoting sustainable peace, while highlighting systemic challenges such as weak governance, impunity for human rights violations, and a dependence on external funding.

The document details a workshop on the regional dimensions of conflict in the Great Lakes Region, analyzing how factors like the proliferation of small arms and light weapons (SALW), illegal exploitation of lootable natural resources, and forced displacement create a self-perpetuating cycle of instability. It examines the role of regional bodies like the ICGLR and EAC in promoting peace and highlights the critical need for good governance, human rights protections, and coordinated regional strategies to address the root causes of violence.

The report analyzes urban sanitation trends across Sub-Saharan Africa, China, India, South East Asia, and Latin America, while examining the technical and social interactions between these systems and menstrual waste disposal. It finds that menstrual products, particularly those with super-absorbent materials, frequently cause blockages in water-borne sewerage systems and reduce the design life of on-site pit latrines. The document argues that menstrual management is largely ignored in sanitation design, leading to privacy issues for women and operational failures in infrastructure. It recommends the use of solid waste streams for menstrual product disposal and the design of 'women-friendly' facilities that include private waste bins and hand-washing stations.

This fact sheet describes a project aimed at improving energy access in least developed countries by evaluating low-GHG alternatives to traditional biomass. The project focuses on three emission sources: non-renewable biomass, lifecycle fuel emissions, and products of incomplete combustion, such as black carbon. Using peri-urban case studies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Delhi, India, the project examines the socio-economic and cultural factors influencing the adoption of efficient cookstoves and cleaner fuels like LPG, ethanol, and electricity. In Delhi, the study compares advanced stove options against baseline data, while in Dar es Salaam, it focuses on charcoal supply chain constraints and efficiency.

The report employs a Household Energy Economic Analysis (HHEA) model based on discrete choice analysis and stated preference surveys to understand why clean cooking technologies often fail to penetrate Sub-Saharan African markets. By surveying households in Addis Ababa, Dar es Salaam, and Maputo, the study argues that product-specific attributes—such as stove price, usage cost, safety, and smoke levels—are as critical as socio-economic factors in determining consumer choice. The findings reveal that low-income households are significantly more sensitive to upfront stove prices than usage costs, while higher-income groups show a greater willingness to pay for reduced smoke and increased safety. The report concludes that for bio-ethanol stoves to be viable, particularly for the poor, policies must address both the initial purchase price through subsidies or microfinance and the ongoing fuel costs.

The document argues for a paradigm shift from linear to circular urban metabolism in sanitation, emphasizing the recovery of water, energy, and nutrients. It critiques conventional centralized sewerage for its high energy costs and nutrient loss, proposing instead a variety of decentralized and source-separating systems. The report provides a multi-level planning framework (Sanitation 21) and highlights the importance of participatory, demand-driven approaches to overcome socio-cultural and institutional barriers, illustrated through global case studies.

The report advocates for Zero Net Deforestation and Forest Degradation (ZNDD) by 2020 to protect biodiversity and mitigate climate change. Using the Living Forests Model developed with IIASA, it analyzes various scenarios, including a 'Do Nothing' baseline and a 'Target' scenario. The findings suggest that while ZNDD is technically possible in the short term, maintaining it beyond 2030 will require unprecedented increases in agricultural productivity and significant shifts in global consumption patterns, particularly regarding animal calories. The document highlights critical trade-offs, such as the risk of shifting environmental pressure to non-forest biomes like grasslands and the potential for increased agricultural pollution due to intensification.