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The document argues that African regional integration remains a state-centric process, largely excluding citizens and businesses due to an information deficit and a lack of organized non-governmental constituencies. While some countries like Mauritius show successful business-government integration, most of the continent suffers from low public awareness and underdeveloped civil society organizations. The author recommends public education, high-quality research into stakeholder needs, and infrastructure upgrades to ensure that opening borders provides tangible benefits to the informal sector and private enterprise.

The Geneva Pledge, signed by 19 nations in February 2015, commits governments to foster collaboration between their human rights and climate change experts. The signatories acknowledge that climate change disproportionately affects vulnerable populations and pledge to ensure that the transition to a low-carbon economy respects human rights and ensures no one is left behind.

The document analyzes the strategic efforts of the US government (via USAID), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and companies like Monsanto to introduce GM crops into African markets. It argues that these actors bypass national precautions by promoting 'harmonized' regional biosafety policies through bodies like COMESA and ECOWAS. The report highlights the failure of GM projects, such as the virus-resistant sweet potato in Kenya, and the socio-economic risks of the 'Green Revolution' model, citing South Africa's experience where GM adoption has allegedly increased food insecurity and wealth inequality. It advocates for the adoption of the African Union's Model Law on Biosafety and a shift toward agro-ecology to ensure food sovereignty.

The report argues that USAID and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are aggressively promoting GM crops in Africa by influencing biosafety legislation and bypassing national regulations through Regional Economic Communities (RECs). It highlights the contrast between the 'precautionary approach' of the Cartagena Protocol and the 'promotional approach' of US-funded programs like the Agricultural Biotechnology Support Programme (ABSP) and the Programme for Biosafety Systems (PBS). The document uses case studies from South Africa, Kenya, and Malawi to illustrate how GM adoption can lead to corporate consolidation and increased food insecurity, while criticizing philanthropic projects like Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) as 'Trojan horses' for private agribusiness interests.

The paper critiques the 'liberal peace paradigm' in Africa, suggesting that external peacebuilding often reinforces autocratic governance by focusing on state-building and technical capacity rather than addressing systemic inequality and patronage networks. It argues that current conflicts are driven by the collective denial of individual rights to maintain power configurations, and that peacebuilding must shift toward a rights-based approach to be effective.

The paper argues that financial inclusion is essential for alleviating poverty and stimulating local economic development in Africa. It identifies significant barriers to formal banking for the rural poor, including strict 'Know Your Customer' (KYC) regulations, lack of documentation, and geographic distance from banks. Consequently, many rely on informal savings and credit schemes—such as esusu in Nigeria and susu in Ghana—and informal remittance networks, which provide flexibility but carry high risks due to lack of regulation. The author highlights M-Pesa in Kenya as a successful model of mobile-led financial inclusion, contrasting it with less successful attempts in other countries. The document emphasizes that physical infrastructure must be paired with financial literacy to be sustainable and recommends that governments create enabling regulatory environments, diversify financial products (including Islamic banking), and improve credit-reporting infrastructure for SMEs.

The briefing examines the concept of 'climate compatible development' as a means to achieve 'zero-zero'—the simultaneous eradication of poverty and the elimination of net CO2 emissions. It frames this as a 'wicked problem' requiring the integration of mitigation, adaptation, and economic transformation. The author emphasizes that success depends on policy leadership, careful design to manage winners and losers, and cross-government implementation beyond environmental ministries.

The document outlines the need for more inclusive, evidence-driven partnerships between African governments, extractive companies, and communities to move beyond raw material exports toward value-addition and beneficiation. It proposes the creation of Regional Mining Visions (RMVs) to set standards on social and environmental impacts and calls for strategic global partnerships with systemic players like China to enhance Africa's position in global minerals value chains.

The report examines the gap between Africa's strong rhetorical commitment to regional integration and the limited actual progress achieved. Using APRM data from 17 countries, it identifies systemic barriers including reluctance to cede national sovereignty, overlapping memberships in multiple regional economic communities (RECs), inadequate infrastructure, and a lack of private sector involvement. While some blocs like the East African Community (EAC) show more progress, most have not advanced beyond free trade areas or customs unions, and intra-African trade remains low compared to trade with external partners like the EU and China.

The policy brief advocates for a shift in how protected areas (PAs) in Africa are valued, moving beyond biodiversity to include measurable economic contributions. It suggests that integrating ecosystem services into national development planning and adopting innovative financing—such as payment for ecosystem services (PES), carbon offsets, and 'wildlife-friendly' product certifications—can secure investment and improve local livelihoods. The authors emphasize that PAs must be co-managed with local communities to ensure equitable benefit sharing and sustainable resource use.

The document critiques the 'Green Economy' and the financialization of nature, specifically the creation of markets for environmental services. It argues that by dividing nature into measurable units, these markets allow corporations to use 'offsetting' as a 'permit to pollute or destroy' in one area by promising protection elsewhere. The author contends that this process ignores the complex, dynamic nature of ecosystems and the social, cultural, and spiritual values of land. The report highlights the negative impacts on indigenous peoples, who lose control over their territories through restrictive contracts, and provides examples of the failure of biodiversity offsets in the EU, Australia, Brazil, and Costa Rica.

The document critiques the 'green growth' paradigm and the financialization of nature, specifically the creation of markets for ecosystem services. It argues that these mechanisms, such as biodiversity offsets and carbon credits, do not stop environmental degradation but instead provide corporations with a 'social license to destroy' by allowing them to compensate for damage in one area by protecting another. The report highlights the negative impacts on Indigenous territories, the failure of existing offset programs in the EU and Australia, and the risk of 'devaluation' when economic priorities shift, as seen in Costa Rica. It concludes that these financial tools are instruments for capital accumulation and cost reduction rather than genuine ecological protection.

The document critiques the 'Green Economy' and 'green growth' frameworks, asserting that they redefine nature as a collection of 'ecosystem services' to create new financial markets. It argues that these markets, particularly biodiversity and carbon offsets, serve as cost-cutting tools for corporations to bypass environmental regulations and maintain industrial production. The report highlights the risks to indigenous and traditional communities, including loss of territorial control and the imposition of opaque contracts. It provides examples of failed offsetting programs in the EU, Australia, Brazil, and Namibia, concluding that financialization is a 'false solution' that exacerbates ecological crises.

The 2015 IGF Annual General Meeting in Geneva brought together over 230 participants to discuss the integration of environmental, social, and economic planning into the mine life cycle. Key discussions centered on the necessity of early mine closure planning, the alignment of mining activities with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the challenges of financing reclamation. The meeting also presented pilot assessments of the Mining Policy Framework (MPF) in the Dominican Republic, Uganda, and Madagascar, highlighting gaps in socioeconomic benefit optimization and post-mining transition laws.

The document provides a practitioner-focused guide to securing community land rights in Africa, detailing case studies on resolving land conflicts, strengthening local governance, and resisting forced resettlement. It emphasizes the importance of community self-definition, the use of Biocultural Community Protocols, and the necessity of multi-pronged advocacy strategies involving legal education, media engagement, and the building of alliances between grassroots movements and sympathetic government actors.

The document examines how the International Criminal Court's (ICC) approach to victim and witness participation can contribute to healing and social recognition for those affected by mass violence. It highlights that while the court process can provide a sense of justice and a public platform for suffering, its therapeutic success depends on procedural justice—specifically benevolence, neutrality, and respect—and the provision of psychosocial support. The brief also notes the tension between the court's legal objectives and victims' expectations for reparations, which some may perceive as a means of silencing their accounts.

The document argues that traditional techno-economic approaches to energy access are insufficient and proposes an ecosystem services lens to better understand how biomass use affects human welfare and the environment. It details three primary research methodologies: demand-side surveys, supply and value chain analysis, and economic modeling of consumer choice, with a particular focus on the charcoal sector in sub-Saharan Africa.

The guide outlines a process for civil society organizations to monitor adaptation finance, from analyzing national contexts and compiling international data to mapping funding flows and designing local tracking tools. It emphasizes the use of evidence-based advocacy to ensure funds reach the most vulnerable populations.

The report argues that conservation initiatives frequently violate the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, despite an increasing international legal consensus on their protections. It asserts that responsibility for upholding these rights extends beyond states to include international organisations, businesses, and NGOs. The authors analyse a vast array of international instruments and find that while normative trends are moving toward greater recognition of rights, enforcement and redress remain significant challenges. The document concludes by suggesting the creation of core standards, stakeholder guidance, and potentially a dedicated global grievance mechanism or 'Roundtable on Ethical Conservation' to ensure just conservation practices.

The document analyzes why the APRM process in Zambia has lost momentum despite early innovative practices. It identifies a lack of funding, poor coordination within civil society, and the disbandment of the civil society APRM Secretariat in 2011 as key drivers of this decline. The authors argue that the APRM has become dominated by the government post-review and is not central to Zambia's broader governance discourse. Recommendations include integrating the APRM into national development plans, increasing media coverage, and improving budgeting guidance from the continental APRM Secretariat.