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912 results
Ecosystem-based Adaptation in Agriculture, Water Resources and Disaster Risk Reduction in the Greater Mekong Subregion
The document evaluates Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), identifying successful practices such as agroforestry, mangrove rehabilitation, and circular farming. It highlights significant policy gaps in water resources and disaster risk management (DRM), alongside barriers including poverty, tenure insecurity, and a preference for 'grey' infrastructure. The study emphasizes the need for cross-sectoral coordination, innovative financing like Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES), and the integration of local and indigenous knowledge to scale resilience.
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Document type: Research paper
Mekong Thought Leadership and Think Tanks Network Program (MTT) Flagship studies
The MTT Program supports four flagship studies focusing on the water-energy-climate nexus in the Mekong region, with a strong emphasis on gender equality and social inclusion (GEDSI). These include the SOS project on sustainable water storage in Thailand and Lao PDR; the Urban Heat Resilience project addressing urban heat islands in Thailand and Vietnam; the SAGAA project managing the transboundary Cambodia-Vietnam Mekong River Delta aquifer; and the ReTrEAT-Cities project developing participatory energy-neutral coastal retreat planning for cities in Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam facing sea-level rise.
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Document type: Briefing
Strengthening Regional Collaboration for Sustainable Development
The Strategic Collaborative Fund Phase 2 (SCF2), implemented by SEI Asia and funded by Sida, operated from 2018 to 2023 to advance the 2030 Agenda in Asia. The programme focused on four components: inter-regional cooperation (ASEAN, China, and Europe), regional cooperation in Asia on transboundary issues, learning and capacity development via MOOCs, and programme management. Key achievements include the support of the China-ASEAN Environment Cooperation Forum and the Asia-Europe Environment Forum, the development of courses on human rights and gender equality, and the promotion of inclusive climate finance and nature-based solutions in South and Southeast Asian cities.
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Document type: After-action report
SEI Environmental Strategy for Myanmar (2019-2028)
The SEI Environmental Strategy for Myanmar (2019-2028) establishes a ten-year framework to support Myanmar in meeting its commitments to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and the Paris Agreement. The strategy is organized around four primary themes: water resources management and agriculture, gender, environment and development (GED), sustainable energy, and climate change, disasters and development. SEI aims to bridge science and policy through collaborative research, capacity building for state and non-state actors, and the deployment of decision-support tools. Key priorities include improving water security in the Central Dry Zone, promoting a just transition to low-carbon energy systems, and addressing gender-based inequalities in resource access and decision-making. The strategy emphasizes a partnership-led approach to foster institutional transformation and enhance community resilience against climate-induced disasters.
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Document type: Report
Sharing the Land: Restoring Degraded Ecosystems and Improving Livelihoods Through Agroforestry
The document argues that agroforestry provides a viable alternative to monoculture reforestation and intensified agriculture by creating multi-functional land-use systems. It highlights that 'land-sharing' through agroforestry can actually support 'land-sparing' by reducing the pressure to deforest for agricultural expansion. Using case studies from Sri Lanka and Vietnam, the brief demonstrates how home gardens and forest gardens increase tree cover and improve rural resilience. It also notes the success of nitrogen-fixing species in Africa and the use of rubber and cocoa agroforests in Indonesia and globally. The authors conclude that successful implementation requires secure land tenure, local context-specific choices, and inter-agency collaboration.
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Document type: Policy brief
Learning from the pandemic: how to better integrate migrant workers in disaster risk reduction in Thailand
The document examines the heightened vulnerability of Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand during the Covid-19 pandemic and previous disasters, such as the 2004 tsunami and 2011 floods. It identifies root causes of this vulnerability, including discriminatory labour laws, precarious living conditions, and limited social protection. While the pandemic saw some pragmatic, inclusive measures—such as universal health access and visa amnesties—the brief argues that these should be institutionalized. It recommends a human-rights-based, multi-hazard approach to DRR that involves migrants in hazard mapping, provides multilingual communication, and streamlines social security access to build broader societal resilience.
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Document type: Policy brief
Water management in times of scarcity in the Mekong Region
The document examines water scarcity in the Mekong Region, highlighting a governance structure often dominated by top-down authority and a lack of enforceable water allocation rights. It notes that urban and industrial needs are typically prioritized over agriculture, leaving vulnerable groups—particularly women and the rural poor—at higher risk. The briefing also discusses the influence of international financial institutions and political motivations on irrigation infrastructure and the projected impacts of climate change, including increased temperature and seasonal rainfall uncertainty, which threaten agricultural productivity and food security.
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Document type: Briefing
waste-hero-alliance-compressed-a052c6cccc5667c8.pdf
The report examines the critical but marginalised role of informal waste workers (IWWs) in Asian cities, highlighting their contribution to resource recovery and the circular economy. Through a multi-stakeholder dialogue called the 'Waste Hero Alliance,' youth activists and IWWs identified systemic challenges—including poverty, health risks, and gender-based exclusion—and proposed five key policy visions: standardised waste disposal, official recognition of workers, access to education, affordable healthcare, and cross-sector collaboration. The document argues that a just transition to a circular economy requires integrating these workers into formal municipal systems to ensure decent work and poverty reduction.
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Document type: Report
Surveying Risk, Building Opportunity
The report establishes a risk assessment framework for the commercial real estate sector in South and Southeast Asia, focusing on the financial impacts of energy insecurity, water scarcity, and climate change. It highlights that while these risks are increasing due to infrastructure limitations and physical vulnerability, green building investments can mitigate these risks and achieve net positive returns within three years. The analysis specifically examines commercial office buildings in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, with a primary focus on India.
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Document type: Report
Weeding Risk
The report identifies increased agricultural input prices and higher processing costs as the most financially material impacts of climate change and water scarcity on the food and beverage (F&B) sector in South and Southeast Asia. These risks affect all examined F&B subsectors, including aquaculture, beverages, confectionary, dairy/poultry, edible oils, starches, and sugar. Financial risks are driven by decreased crop and animal yields, operational disruptions to manufacturing plants, and increased costs for water filtration and food safety. Additionally, competition for water resources creates reputational risks for food processors. The analysis specifically targets publicly listed domestic companies in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam within a sector valued at USD 40 billion.
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Document type: Report
Over Heating
The report highlights the growing vulnerability of the power sector in South and Southeast Asia to water-related risks, noting that 74 GW of existing and planned capacity for major power companies is located in water-scarce or stressed areas. It argues that while regulatory protections have historically shielded shareholders from the financial impact of water-related outages, these protections may become unsustainable as climate change and demographic pressures intensify water shortages. The document also notes a trade-off between water mitigation and carbon emissions, as technologies like dry cooling reduce water dependency but increase carbon emissions per unit of power output.
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Document type: Report
A Seven-Country Assessment of National Capacities to Track Forest Carbon Dioxide Emissions and Removal
The document outlines technical requirements for improving forest carbon monitoring in Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, South Africa, and Thailand, emphasizing the need for more frequent data updates, consistent methods, and better spatial resolution to evaluate the effectiveness of national forest policies.
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Document type: Briefing
Capacity Needs for Greenhouse Gas Measurement and Performance Tracking
The document outlines the objectives of the Measurement and Performance Tracking (MAPT) project, which aims to enhance the ability of developing countries to measure greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and track progress toward low-carbon development goals. It details scoping research conducted in Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, India, South Africa, and Thailand to identify capacity needs and common challenges. The paper emphasizes that such systems are essential for domestic policymaking, international reporting, facilitating climate finance, and generating carbon credits.
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Document type: Research paper
Transformational Climate Finance: An Exploration of Low-Carbon Energy
The paper identifies key factors and recommendations for achieving 'transformational' change in low-carbon energy, defined by large magnitude impact, non-linear growth, and long-term sustainability. Through the analysis of 20 case studies, the authors categorize experiences into transformational, potentially transformational, and missed opportunities, highlighting the roles of regulatory frameworks, financial incentives, and national ownership.
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Document type: Research paper
Mobilizing Climate Investment
The report argues that limiting global temperature rise to 2°C requires an estimated $531 billion per year of additional investment in energy supply and demand technologies in developing countries by 2050. To achieve this, the authors propose 'readiness' activities—small-scale, long-term public investments in enabling environments—to leverage private sector capital. Key findings emphasize that international support is most effective when it is demand-driven, integrated into national institutions, and targeted at specific investment barriers. The report provides a framework for these activities and offers recommendations for the Green Climate Fund to support a paradigm shift toward low-emission development.
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Document type: Report
Governing the Power Sector
The Thai power sector is dominated by three government-owned enterprises—EGAT, MEA, and PEA—which has resulted in limited competition and systemic inefficiencies. While supply security is stable, the current governance allows utilities to pass unfair costs, such as 'Take-or-Pay' contract burdens, to consumers. Additionally, the sector faces significant social conflicts stemming from the environmental and livelihood impacts of power plants, coal mining, and gas infrastructure projects.
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Document type: Report
Unlocking Private Climate Investment
The paper analyzes the roles of OPIC and Ex-Im Bank in climate finance, noting that together they intermediated 37% (over $2 billion) of total US assistance to developing countries for climate activities between 2010 and 2012. It argues that tailoring financial instruments—such as loans, guarantees, and insurance—to specific sectoral risks can unlock private finance. The authors highlight a complementary relationship where OPIC often acts as a first-mover for high-risk projects, while Ex-Im Bank provides inexpensive concessional debt for more established players. Recommendations include increasing instrument flexibility, addressing institutional barriers like employee incentives and staffing, and improving coordination between public financial institutions to streamline due diligence and co-financing.
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Document type: Research paper
A Community Action Toolkit: A Roadmap for Using Environmental Rights to Fight Pollution
The toolkit is designed to empower marginalized communities, particularly in middle- and low-income countries, to fight pollution by leveraging environmental rights. It provides eight modules containing research indicators, worksheets, and templates to help users conduct policy research, collect pollution data, and build advocacy campaigns. Developed through the STRIPE project, the toolkit's methodology is based on five years of experience in Indonesia, Thailand, Mongolia, Jamaica, Morocco, and Tunisia. The document argues that strengthening these rights is essential for pollution accountability and the realization of the right to a healthy environment.
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Document type: Guide
Developing an Electric Mobility Roadmap for Vietnam: Global Experiences From National Case Studies
The document outlines a four-phase framework for developing an e-mobility roadmap: planning and preparation, visioning, development, and implementation, monitoring, and revision. It emphasizes the importance of stakeholder engagement, prioritizing specific vehicle segments for electrification, and utilizing both monetary and non-monetary incentives to drive adoption. Key global examples include India's investment in battery manufacturing and one-stop shop information portals, Singapore's focus on charging infrastructure in multi-dwelling buildings, and Thailand's comprehensive target-setting for EV stock and production.
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Document type: Research paper
Statistical Land Use Change Emissions From Deforestation and Land Occupation for Crops
The World Resources Institute and partners have developed a standardized geospatial dataset to operationalize the GHG Protocol’s Land Sector and Removals Guidance for corporate reporting. The dataset provides emission factors for 42 major crops across global, national, provincial, and municipal levels for the years 2020–24, covering carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. Findings indicate significant variation in emissions by crop and region, with subnational data revealing 'hotspots' that national averages obscure.
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Document type: Research paper