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This briefing provides updates on the status of U.S. legislative and budgetary actions affecting bioenergy, including farm bill programs, EPA boiler regulations, and Department of Energy funding for 2012.

In a speech delivered on November 10, 2011, at the South African Institute of International Affairs, French Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Alain Juppé discussed the necessity of a new global governance framework that integrates Africa's emerging influence. He outlined four primary shared challenges—economic crisis, development, security, and the environment—and advocated for the reform of the UN Security Council and the creation of a World Environment Organisation to better reflect current global realities.

Friends of the Earth U.S. issued a statement expressing support for the Occupy Wall Street movement, arguing that economic and environmental justice are inextricably linked. The organization calls for a systemic overhaul of financial and economic systems to prioritize people and the planet over corporate profit and market fundamentalism.

A statement by the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) arguing against the continued subsidization of fossil fuels and the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, advocating instead for a transition to competitive renewable energy technologies to ensure long-term energy security and economic competitiveness.

This policy brief examines the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission, launched in 2009 to establish India as a global leader in solar energy and make solar power affordable by 2022. It analyzes the Mission's three-phase implementation strategy, focusing on grid-connected projects, off-grid applications for rural populations, and the development of domestic manufacturing and R&D. The document highlights the tension between using competitive bidding to lower tariffs and the risk of attracting inexperienced developers, while also critiquing the Mission's limited focus on the most energy-poor citizens and the lack of mandatory environmental impact assessments.

This report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) analyzes the trade-related obstacles preventing the inclusion of agriculture as a sectoral approach to mitigation within international climate change negotiations. It highlights the tension between developed nations' desire for a work program and developing nations' fears that agreed-upon 'good practice' standards could be used as unilateral trade barriers, while also addressing concerns regarding food security and market-based mechanisms.

This policy brief by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) examines the competitiveness challenges and carbon leakage risks facing the mining and metals industry due to diverse global carbon pricing policies. It discusses policy mechanisms to mitigate these risks, such as free allowances and border carbon adjustments, while emphasizing the industry's strategic role in providing materials necessary for low-carbon infrastructure.

This research paper by the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) analyzes the potential implications for South Africa if the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Doha Development Agenda (DDA) were to reach a conclusion. It examines the political economy of the negotiations, focusing on the 'market access agenda' across three core areas: agriculture, non-agricultural market access (NAMA), and services. The authors argue that because the 'exchange rate' between NAMA and agriculture favors developed nations, South Africa's best strategy for a successful outcome would be to preserve its NAMA carve-out and seek greater agricultural liberalisation from developed countries, while offering more concessions in the services sector, specifically in telecommunications, transport, and energy.

This report by the Stockholm Environment Institute evaluates the current state of climate economics, arguing that economic modeling has lagged behind climate science. The authors advocate for a precautionary, standards-based approach to policy—such as maintaining a 2°C warming limit—rather than relying on traditional cost-benefit frameworks that often underestimate catastrophic risks and the importance of future generations.

This policy brief introduces the Climate Impact Equity Lens (CIEL), a tool developed by the Stockholm Environment Institute to analyze climate change impacts on individuals rather than relying on aggregate regional or global economic models. CIEL identifies 'winners' and 'losers' by comparing the costs of climate damages against the savings gained from not investing in emission reductions. The brief argues that while many currently benefit from inaction, the majority of the global population will suffer net losses by 2100, and almost everyone will be a net loser by 2150, necessitating more stringent and fair climate policies to protect the most vulnerable.

The Climate Impact Equity Lens (CIEL) is a tool developed by the Stockholm Environment Institute to calculate net climate impacts for individuals rather than regional averages. By comparing climate damages against the savings gained from not investing in emission reductions, CIEL demonstrates that while some individuals are currently 'net winners,' the vast majority of the global population will become 'net losers' by 2100 and 2150 as damages outpace savings.

A letter from various organizations to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction urging the committee to avoid disproportionate cuts to farm bill programs, specifically highlighting that mandatory conservation programs have already seen over $2 billion in cuts since 2008.

This report documents a policy dialogue held in Johannesburg on 12 October 2011, co-organized by the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) and the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM). The meeting examined how the entry of emerging powers—specifically China, India, and Brazil (CIB)—affects Africa's relations with the European Union (EU) and other traditional partners, focusing on development strategies, triangular cooperation, natural resource management, and regional infrastructure.

This research paper examines the evolving role of African nations in international affairs following the Cold War, noting a shift from being passive objects of foreign policy to gaining relevance through multilateralism and consensus-based decision-making, despite continued financial dependency.

This 2011 report by Friends of the Earth International documents global struggles to enforce community and Indigenous rights against corporate power. It highlights successful and ongoing resistance to mega-dams in Malaysia, mining in the Philippines and Costa Rica, and oil extraction in Nigeria and North America. The report also promotes community-based forest governance in Indonesia and Cameroon, and food sovereignty initiatives in Colombia and Uruguay, arguing that local, sustainable management of natural resources is a necessary alternative to the neoliberal corporate model.

This report by Friends of the Earth International (ATI) details global campaigns to defend community rights against corporate interests and neoliberal paradigms. It highlights various case studies where local and indigenous communities have resisted extractive industries, such as mining in Costa Rica and the Philippines, oil exploitation in Nigeria, and tar sands in Canada and the US, while promoting alternatives like community forest governance and food sovereignty.

This workshop report by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) examines the technical challenges of implementing nodal pricing in European power markets to facilitate the integration of intermittent renewable energy. It compares the European approach, including the EU Target Model, with the experience of US Independent System Operators (ISOs) and PJM, focusing on the conflicts between market flexibility and system security, the integration of energy and reserve markets, and the use of shadow prices to inform grid investment.

This fact sheet from the Environmental and Energy Study Institute explains the mechanics, energy sources, and benefits of district energy systems, which provide centralized heating and cooling to multiple buildings via underground pipe networks.

H.R. 2401, titled the 'Transparency in Regulatory Analysis of Impacts on the Nation Act of 2011', is a bill that proposes the creation of a presidential committee to analyze the cumulative and incremental economic and operational impacts of specific Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules and actions on energy and manufacturing in the United States.

A research paper by the Climate Policy Initiative San Francisco that uses residential energy use data and regression analysis to measure the actual impact of state building energy codes in the United States, comparing these results to engineering simulation models.