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The report finds significant institutional gaps in Trinidad and Tobago's readiness for climate adaptation across food production, coastal zone management, and tourism. While basic climate data is available via the Trinidad and Tobago Meteorological Service, there is a critical lack of sector-specific vulnerability assessments, formal prioritisation processes, and national platforms for information exchange. Coordination is strongest in coastal zone management through a Cabinet-appointed Steering Committee, but overall mainstreaming of adaptation into national planning remains limited, with current efforts led by the Environmental Management Authority to integrate climate priorities into development sectors.

The government of St. Maarten established the Man of War Shoal Marine Park, protecting 1,500 hectares of coral reefs and sea grasses, after the St. Maarten Nature Foundation used a WRI tool to demonstrate that these ecosystems contribute US$58 million annually to the economy through tourism and fisheries.

The Basque Country exhibits a high resource dependency, with a Total Material Requirement of 108 tons per capita in 2004, 83% of which is imported. This consumption pattern drives significant environmental and social degradation abroad, including oil spills in Nigeria, deforestation for palm oil in Indonesia, toxic pollution from nickel mining in Russia, and watershed degradation from tin mining in Bolivia. The document argues that the economic prosperity of developed regions is linked to an unsustainable use of global resources and calls for a transformation in consumption and production patterns to meet basic human needs without exceeding planetary limits.

The document details the transition of the IAI to a tripartite structure with directorates in Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. It reports that the Science-Policy Liaison Directorate in Buenos Aires is operational, while the Integrated Operations and Finance Directorate in Montevideo awaits parliamentary ratification and the Science Development Directorate in Brazil is under review. Additionally, it notes a failed attempt at electronic voting for SAC vacancies due to lack of quorum and warns of a looming membership continuity crisis in the SAC. The report also mentions the IAI's participation in the ENSOCIO-LA project and the World Climate Research Program (WCRP) Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean.

The report details the transition of the IAI to a tripartite management scheme with offices in Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil. While agreements are in place and staff appointed in Argentina and Uruguay, the agreement with Brazil remains under study. Additionally, the report highlights a critical lack of continuity in the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) due to unfilled vacancies and expiring mandates, and notes the IAI's participation in the ENSOCIO-LA project and the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) for America and the Caribbean.

The report examines the increasing pressure on Indonesia's land resources due to national development plans and palm oil expansion. It proposes the use of Natural Capital Assessment (NCA)—a process of mapping social, biophysical, and economic data—to identify land suitable for production while protecting critical ecosystems. The document outlines NCA principles based on the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, reviews various technical mapping tools, and provides case studies from Kalimantan and Trinidad & Tobago to illustrate the necessity of combining technical data with political commitment to achieve sustainable land-use changes.

The briefing explores how natural capital assessment (NCA) can help Indonesia resolve tensions between short-term economic gains and long-term environmental and social health. It highlights a 'window of opportunity' created by legal developments, such as Law No. 32/2009 and Constitutional Court ruling MK45, and the need for low-carbon development. The text details the principles of NCA—relevance, credibility, and legitimacy—and reviews technical tools like WRI's Suitability Mapper, which identified 3.3 million hectares of potentially suitable degraded land for oil palm in Central Kalimantan. It concludes that technical data alone is insufficient without the political will and commitment of local decision-makers to integrate these findings into spatial planning.

The document outlines a practitioner's approach to creating NAMAs that align with low-carbon, climate-resilient development (LCCRD) planning. It details a two-track methodology: the NAMA Quick Screen, which uses a five-step qualitative process to identify promising mitigation options and develop NAMA concepts for the UNFCCC registry; and the NAMA Deep Screen, a seven-step technical process that calculates GHG emission baselines, marginal abatement costs (MACs), and sustainable development co-benefits to produce detailed NAMA proposals. The guide emphasizes the necessity of local validation with government and private sector stakeholders to ensure actions are feasible and aligned with national priorities. It also provides a framework for linking identified mitigation options to specific implementation barriers and appropriate climate finance instruments, such as grants, concessional loans, and carbon market financing.

The document outlines a six-step framework for MEA Outcome Planning, utilizing IEA tools to bridge the gap between international environmental commitments and national action in the Caribbean. It emphasizes the use of the Driving Forces-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework to identify synergies between different MEAs and align them with human well-being and development goals. The guide introduces five specific tools: MEA Priorities Mapping, MEA Synergies Mapping, the Challenge Scenario, Policy Mapping, and Rapid MEA Stress Testing, culminating in the creation of a policy planning brief for high-level decision-makers. It also provides guidance on adaptive policy-making and the use of SMART targets and indicators to track progress.

The report finds that while global economic impacts of market-based measures (MBMs) for international aviation and shipping are small, effects vary significantly by country. Small, remote island states dependent on air tourism, such as Samoa, face the highest GDP risks, while large economies like China and India experience minimal impacts. The study concludes that MBM revenues and increased demand for Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) offsets can be used to mitigate these undesired economic effects.

The document presents a screening exercise that identified 26 NAMA concepts for Trinidad and Tobago across six UNFCCC sectors. It analyzes the country's high per-capita emissions driven by the petrochemical industry and proposes specific mitigation measures in energy, industry, transport, agriculture, forestry, and waste to support a transition to a low-carbon economy.

The interview explores the need to integrate economic models with social and environmental outcomes, the role of ICTs in facilitating global sustainability through information access and stakeholder communication, and the specific vulnerabilities of small island states in the Caribbean. Angela Cropper critiques the failure of global leadership since the 1992 Rio Earth Summit and argues for a shift from intergovernmental commitments toward broader societal transformation.

The document analyzes the International Bar Association's Model Mining Development Agreement (MMDA 1.0), providing a template and narrative to ensure mining contracts promote sustainable development, transparency, and equitable resource distribution. It details key contractual areas including land tenure, royalties, taxation, and community obligations, while emphasizing the use of international standards like the IFC Performance Standards and EITI. Additionally, the report investigates the existence of similar model agreements for the oil and gas sector, concluding that no internationally accepted model currently exists despite the availability of various national form contracts.

The report argues that many climate-economics models rely on a 'no-development' assumption for the poorest countries, which underestimates future emissions and weakens the urgency for rich countries to reduce their own emissions. By comparing three scenarios—'Without Development', 'Development with Carbon', and 'Development without Carbon'—the author demonstrates that if low-income countries achieve rapid economic growth similar to India's, the global emissions budget will be exhausted much faster unless aggressive decarbonization policies and financial support from wealthy nations are implemented. A case study of Latin America and the Caribbean illustrates these dynamics, showing that cumulative regional emissions could double if growth accelerates without policy intervention.

The document argues that Caribbean states are highly vulnerable to ecological limits, climate change, and economic instability, necessitating a shift toward a 'green economy'. It identifies systemic barriers such as political disincentives, brain drain, and outdated regulations, while proposing a foundation based on human security, good governance, and pan-Caribbean cooperation. The proposed green economy model emphasizes reducing dependency on high-carbon energy imports, optimizing domestic supply chains, and implementing 'triple bottom line' business principles to ensure long-term prosperity and social equity.

The report examines Brazil's transition from a net food importer to a net exporter over nearly three decades. It finds that national food availability is more than sufficient, with per capita availability exceeding nutritional requirements by about one third. The document concludes that food insecurity in Brazil is driven by the inability of the poor to afford food rather than a lack of supply, and that international trade has not negatively impacted food security at the national level.

The report examines the environmental, social, and economic impacts of unconventional oil extraction, focusing on tar sands and oil shale. It highlights that these resources produce significantly higher greenhouse gas emissions than conventional oil and cause severe local ecological damage, such as boreal forest destruction in Canada. The document criticizes the EU's Fuel Quality Directive for potentially underestimating the carbon intensity of these fuels and urges the EU to discourage their import and investment. It also details the involvement of European companies in projects across Venezuela, Madagascar, Congo, Russia, Jordan, and Morocco, warning that such developments in countries with weak governance risk exacerbating the 'resource curse' and undermining Millennium Development Goals.

The report criticizes the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for promoting a 'flawed model' of large-scale, export-oriented agrofuels in Latin America and the Caribbean. It argues that these projects, driven by demand from the US and Europe, lead to deforestation, biodiversity loss, and human rights abuses, such as violent land grabs in Colombia. The document asserts that agrofuels are not a viable climate solution due to land-use emissions and calls for the IDB to shift funding toward small-scale, local energy projects and truly clean renewables like wind and solar.

This report by the World Resources Institute establishes a tiered methodology to estimate the economic value of coral reefs in the Caribbean, focusing on three key services: tourism and recreation, fisheries, and shoreline protection. Applying this tool to Tobago and St. Lucia, the study finds that coral reef-associated tourism provides the highest economic impact, contributing approximately 15% of GDP in Tobago and 11% in St. Lucia. Shoreline protection is also highly valued, with annual potentially avoided damages estimated between US$18–33 million for Tobago and US$28–50 million for St. Lucia. While reef-associated fisheries have a smaller direct financial impact, they provide critical social safety nets and cultural value. The report argues that quantifying these benefits is essential for informed coastal management and policy decisions, particularly in the face of threats from overfishing, pollution, and climate change.

The report analyzes the landscape of investor-state disputes in 2006, noting a shift toward non-ICSID arbitration venues and a lack of transparency in ad hoc proceedings. It examines specific cases involving land reform, intellectual property, and privatization, while highlighting legal contradictions in rulings against Argentina. The document also discusses the practice of 'treaty-shopping' and the ongoing debate over the distinction between legitimate government regulation and indirect expropriation.