Search Climate Insights Directory

The report outlines key elements of credible sovereign transition plans, focusing on science-based targets, investment and policy action plans, and governance and transparency measures. It emphasizes the role of green budgeting, the mobilization of private capital, and the importance of internationally interoperable taxonomies in reducing climate-related risks for sovereign bondholders.

ClientEarth advocates for a shift from 'paper commitments' to legal action to address the ocean crisis. The briefing prioritises the enforcement of existing frameworks, such as the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), to protect marine biodiversity and combat climate change. It specifically calls for the elimination of harmful fisheries subsidies, the banning of bottom trawling in marine protected areas (MPAs), and the ratification of the BBNJ Agreement to protect the high seas. The document also highlights the need for a 'Protection Principle' that makes ocean conservation the default norm and outlines specific legal priorities for the EU, Mediterranean, China, and the UK.

The document outlines the operationalization of Indonesia's Sustainable Finance Committee (SFC) under Law No. 4/2023. It proposes a three-tier governance structure involving the Ministry of Finance, Bank Indonesia, and the Financial Services Authority (OJK) to bridge institutional silos and align national climate targets with financial market mechanisms. The paper emphasizes the need for a formal Government Regulation to ensure the SFC's authority, the creation of a centralized data platform for ESG transparency, and the use of sectoral coalitions to co-create bankable financial solutions for priority sectors like energy and transport.

Global Energy Monitor identifies a significant opportunity to install nearly 300 GW of solar capacity on surface coal mines closed since 2020 or expected to close by 2030. These sites are highly suitable due to their proximity to existing grid infrastructure and the fact that they are already cleared of vegetation. While China leads in operational conversions, substantial potential exists in Australia, Indonesia, India, and the United States. The transition could create over 570,000 total jobs (permanent and temporary), potentially offsetting global coal mining job losses by 2035. However, challenges include complex land ownership, higher capital costs for remediation compared to greenfield sites, and the need for regulatory frameworks to ensure a just transition for local communities.

The document argues that despite the COP 28 agreement to transition away from fossil fuels, production continues to rise, led by wealthy nations. It calls for COP 30 to establish differentiated phase-out timelines based on historical responsibility, mandate annual progress reports, and launch the Belém Action Mechanism for Just Transition. The briefing emphasizes that the transition is economically feasible if Global North countries redirect fossil fuel subsidies and tax polluters to mobilize over USD 5,000 billion annually for climate finance, prioritizing grants over loans to avoid exacerbating debt in the Global South.

The report examines the limitations of rigid debt rules in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs), proposing a transition to a 'constrained discretion regime'. It argues that current rules-based approaches often lead to complexity and unenforceability, particularly when multiple fiscal rules are layered incrementally. The authors recommend replacing rigid ceilings with flexible 'debt anchors' embedded in a broader institutional framework featuring independent fiscal councils, transparent disclosure rules, and a clear distinction between long-term sustainability goals and short-term budgetary instruments.

The study analyzes 320 adaptation investments totaling $133 billion across 12 countries, finding an average economic internal rate of return (EIRR) of 26.7%. Using the Triple Dividend of Resilience (TDR) framework, the authors demonstrate that benefits from induced economic development and social/environmental gains often double the value of avoided losses, meaning many investments are viable regardless of whether a climate disaster occurs. The paper highlights significant synergies between adaptation and mitigation, noting that nearly half of the evaluated projects yield GHG emission reductions. It recommends that multilateral development banks and governments adopt common reporting frameworks and disaggregate benefits to attract private capital.

The report argues that the global ocean economy must transition from business-as-usual to a nature-positive model to avoid an estimated US$8.4 trillion in economic value loss by 2036. It introduces the AR3T (Avoid, Reduce, Restore & Regenerate, Transform) action framework to help companies in four key sectors—offshore wind, coastal and marine tourism, shipping, and seafood—halt and reverse biodiversity loss. The document emphasizes that nature positive is a collective societal goal, requiring absolute gains in nature rather than relative net gains or offsets. It provides specific technical recommendations for each sector, such as using nature-inclusive design in offshore wind, implementing sustainable siting in tourism, reducing vessel noise in shipping, and eliminating destructive fishing practices in the seafood sector. The report also highlights the necessity of integrating social equity and Indigenous knowledge into conservation efforts, asserting that a nature-positive future must also be 'people positive'.

The Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) is a Brazilian-led initiative designed as an investment fund to provide financial incentives for tropical forest nations to protect their forest cover. By pooling public and private capital—with a target of $125 billion—the fund intends to generate annual payments of up to $4 billion, distributed at a rate of $4 per hectare of standing forest. While the TFFF aims to support Indigenous Peoples and local communities with a proposed 20% allocation of national payments, Global Witness emphasizes the need for direct fund access, legal land tenure, and stricter financial regulations to prevent private capital from continuing to fund deforestation.

The document warns that Canada faces significant economic risks if it follows the United States' lead in rolling back climate policies, as the rest of the world continues to transition toward clean energy. It highlights the rapid growth of electric vehicles globally, the expansion of carbon markets in China and India, and the implementation of carbon tariffs in the EU and UK. To maintain competitiveness and diversify exports, the author urges the Canadian federal government to strengthen industrial carbon pricing, finalize methane regulations for oil and gas, complete clean electricity investment tax credits, and publish a domestic climate taxonomy.

The author contends that while the U.S. has retreated from climate policy, global momentum toward a low-carbon economy continues, posing a risk to Canada's oil-dependent economy if it does not keep pace. The text highlights the rapid growth of electric vehicles in China, the expansion of carbon markets in China and India, and the implementation of carbon tariffs in the EU and UK. It recommends that the Canadian federal government prioritize industrial carbon pricing, methane regulations, and a national climate taxonomy to ensure competitiveness in non-U.S. markets.

The joint submission argues that rather than mandating UK investment, the government should clarify fiduciary duty laws to allow trustees to consider wider societal and environmental impacts and regulate strategic asset allocation advice provided by investment consultants.

The IMO's new Net-Zero Framework is criticized as a 'defeat for the climate' because it replaces a universal carbon levy with a hybrid fuel standard and weak carbon pricing. The author contends that the scheme will only reduce emissions by about 10% by 2030—half of the IMO's own base target—and will generate insufficient revenue ($11-12 billion annually) to support the transition to zero-emission fuels, which requires $12-24 billion per year.

The Canadian Climate Institute advocates for the federal government to accelerate the modernization of industrial carbon pricing to address economic uncertainty and climate goals. The author proposes three primary actions: strengthening emissions performance standards to prevent credit gluts, harmonizing and linking provincial carbon markets to remove trade barriers, and providing long-term policy certainty through price trajectories beyond 2030 and carbon contracts for difference. The document argues that the current 2026 review timeline for provincial and territorial systems is too slow and should be accelerated to protect investment and competitiveness against global peers like the EU, UK, and China.

The Canadian Climate Institute advocates for the modernization of industrial carbon pricing as a top federal priority to counter economic uncertainty and maintain competitiveness against China and Europe. The author proposes three main improvements: strengthening emission performance standards to prevent credit market saturation, interconnecting provincial carbon markets to increase liquidity and remove interprovincial trade barriers, and providing long-term policy certainty through price trajectories beyond 2030 and carbon contracts for difference. The document urges the federal government to accelerate the review process for provincial and territorial systems, which is currently slated for 2026.

Operation Overload is a high-volume Russian influence campaign that impersonates over 80 organisations, including media outlets and universities, to sow division in democratic nations. In early 2025, it targeted 10 countries—primarily Germany, France, and Ukraine—using AI-cloned voices and forged logos to spread narratives against Ukraine and destabilise domestic politics. While most content had limited organic reach, one video claiming USAID paid celebrities to visit Ukraine garnered over 4.2 million views. The operation relies on bot networks and commercial services to amplify its content and frequently tags research organisations to distract them with debunking requests.

The document argues that traditional nationalistic industrial models must shift toward collaborative frameworks to avoid excluding developing nations from green value chains. It suggests strategies such as disaggregating energy-intensive production to regions with abundant renewables, moving from 'technology transfer' to 'sharing of know-how', and utilizing industrial clusters to reduce costs and aggregate demand. The paper emphasizes the role of Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) in providing concessional capital and the potential for 'climate-smart' public-private partnerships, including philanthropic funding, to bridge financial gaps. It highlights the importance of regional trade frameworks and the need to recycle revenues from carbon border measures back into developing economies to catalyze green industrialisation.

The report critiques the reliance on Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) for power system planning, noting that while useful for tracking historical technology costs, it fails to account for system-wide needs, generation profiles, and integration costs. It highlights that clean firm technologies can reduce overall system costs despite higher LCOEs. The authors recommend moving toward comprehensive system-level analyses that model temporal and spatial constraints to optimize decarbonization pathways.

The Clean Air Task Force (CATF) argues that the EU must update its Nuclear Illustrative Programme (PINC) to better support nuclear energy through technology-neutral state aid, streamlined regulatory frameworks for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), and strengthened domestic fuel supply chains to reduce reliance on Russia.

The briefing highlights the failure of the UK Department for Transport (DfT) to hold auto manufacturers accountable for illegal defeat devices, which allow vehicles to exceed emissions limits. Citing ICCT analysis, it suggests 2.4 million UK vehicles may be affected. Commissioned research from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air estimates that since 2009, excess emissions from these devices have caused 16,000 premature deaths and a £96bn economic burden in the UK, with further significant health and financial costs projected through 2040 if no action is taken.