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The report examines how risk mitigation and transfer (RMT) instruments, such as political risk insurance and guarantees from development finance institutions (DFIs), help utility-scale renewable energy projects reach financial close in West and Central Africa. While these tools are critical for addressing offtaker and political risks, the authors argue they are insufficient to overcome structural macroeconomic barriers, including high sovereign debt and insolvent state-owned utilities. The report highlights innovative models, such as the re-deployable modular solar solution in Cameroon and the use of viable businesses as anchor loads in Ghana, as potential pathways for deployment in high-debt contexts.

Global Witness analysis indicates that industrial rubber plantations in West and Central Africa caused nearly 520km2 of deforestation between 2000 and 2020. The report highlights that the EU imports over 30% of rubber from six key African producers, yet rubber was excluded from proposed EU anti-deforestation laws following tyre industry lobbying. The study links this deforestation to three multinational companies—Olam, Halcyon Agri, and Socfin—which are financed by major European banks. Additionally, the report documents severe impacts on local and indigenous communities, including land loss, lack of water, and violent repression in countries like Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria.

The UNEP Regional Seas Programme employs a regionalized approach to ocean governance, coordinating actions across 18 Conventions and Action Plans involving over 146 countries. While it has achieved significant milestones in pollution management and biodiversity conservation, its effectiveness is hindered by political instability, funding gaps, and weak enforcement.

The document assesses the integration of the UNFCCC's Cancun safeguards into the national legal frameworks of Ghana, Liberia, and the Republic of Congo. It finds that while broad principles of participation and transparency exist in constitutions and forestry laws, they often lack practical procedural detail or consistent implementation. The briefing highlights a gap between high-level policy goals and the legal reality for local communities and indigenous peoples (LCIPs), particularly regarding land tenure and equitable benefit sharing. It suggests that REDD+ can act as a catalyst for legal reform, leveraging existing mechanisms like Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) and the EU's FLEGT-VPA initiative to strengthen forest governance.

The document serves as an overview for a legal toolkit designed to help law-makers address the complexities of forest conversion laws. It identifies five key areas for legal attention: land allocation, clearing permits, timber rules, environmental protection, and community rights. The toolkit is based on an analysis of legal frameworks in nine tropical countries and focuses primarily on the regulation of large-scale projects to balance economic growth with environmental and social protections.

The document identifies five key risks in Ghana's forest conversion laws, including legal uncertainty regarding mining in reserves, the criminalization of smallholders due to complex licensing, and a lack of coordinated land-use planning. It argues that these gaps facilitate illegal deforestation and community rights violations. To address this, ClientEarth recommends clarifying the legal status of forest reserves, implementing the Land Use and Spatial Planning Act 2016, simplifying smallholder registration, and increasing the resources and transparency of enforcement agencies like the Forestry Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The document identifies six key risks in Liberia's forest conversion laws, including land use conflicts and community dispossession, and suggests reforms such as passing the Land Rights Bill and implementing multi-stakeholder land use planning.