Search Climate Insights Directory

March 2026 was the warmest March on record for the contiguous U.S., characterized by a historic snow drought in the West and extreme heat that increased cooling energy demand. Globally, the month was the second-warmest on record, with Arctic sea-ice reaching a near-record low maximum. In the U.S., severe drought affected 77% of the contiguous region, while Hawaii experienced record-breaking precipitation due to Kona lows.

The 12th Meeting of the San Giorgio Group (SGG12) focused on moving climate finance from ideas to large-scale delivery, emphasizing system coherence and country-level impact. The group highlighted that annual climate finance now exceeds USD 2 trillion, driven by renewable energy and transport electrification. Key priorities include reforming Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), scaling guarantees and catalytic equity, and addressing the high cost of capital in developing countries. The agenda also calls for 'radical localism' to center people in the climate narrative and suggests leveraging artificial intelligence and underutilized public financing institutions, such as export credit agencies, to accelerate the energy transition.

The document establishes a 'pathways'-based framework to track capital mobilization, distinguishing between direct and indirect flows. It defines mobilization as capital deployed following CPI support to early-stage vehicles and identifies four specific pathways: direct capitalization, vehicle replication, investment unlocked by risk-sharing/asset platforms, and additional capital raised by end investees. The brief also clarifies how this tracking differs from the Global Landscape of Climate Finance (GLCF) by including intermediary capital flows that the GLCF typically excludes.

The document highlights the growing role of energy storage in supporting the global transition to renewable energy, noting that combined wind and solar capacity has reached 3,222 GWac. It identifies China, the U.S., and the EU as leaders in total capacity, while emphasizing the trend of colocating storage with renewables in emerging markets like Chile, Türkiye, Australia, and Nigeria to manage curtailment and grid instability. Specifically, Chile is identified as the leader in Latin America, utilizing BESS to address transmission constraints and target 80% renewable electricity generation by 2030.

Analysis of the Global Oil and Gas Extraction Tracker (GOGET) reveals that the time from discovery to production for new oil and gas fields has increased significantly, averaging 15.1 years for fields starting in 2025 compared to 4.9 years between 1960 and 1980. This trend is driven by the depletion of easy-to-access reserves, forcing companies toward technically complex '20K' high-pressure reservoirs, deepwater projects, and 'acid gas' fields. Additional delays stem from stricter environmental regulations, such as the UK's 2025 requirement to include Scope 3 emissions in impact assessments, and ecological risks in protected areas. The report argues that these long lead times increase the risk of creating stranded assets and conflict with the 1.5 °C warming limit, suggesting that capital should be redirected toward renewable energy.

The document examines how the 2025 ICJ Advisory Opinion shifts climate adaptation from a voluntary domestic policy choice to a legally binding international obligation. It details the procedural and substantive obligations under the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement, the application of a 'due diligence' standard to assess state compliance, and the binding requirements for developed countries to provide adaptation finance and support. The brief also highlights the intersection of adaptation with international human rights law and other multilateral environmental agreements, recommending that states integrate these frameworks to ensure legal robustness and effective resilience.

The document examines how the ICJ's 2025 advisory opinion shifts climate adaptation from a voluntary national choice to a binding international legal obligation. It details the procedural and substantive requirements for states, the application of the 'due diligence' standard to evaluate compliance, and the mandatory role of developed countries in providing financial and technical support to developing nations. The briefing also highlights the intersection of adaptation with human rights and other multilateral environmental agreements.

The document analyzes how a 2025 ICJ Advisory Opinion establishes that states must include end-use emissions (downstream effects) in environmental impact assessments (EIAs) for fossil fuel projects. It highlights that while the opinion is non-binding, it provides authoritative legal guidance that is already influencing national and regional courts in the UK, Norway, and the EU. The brief recommends that governments update their regulations to require the quantification of combustion emissions and align these assessments with global climate objectives, such as IPCC 1.5°C pathways, to mitigate legal risks.

The document examines how a July 2025 International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion mandates that environmental impact assessments (EIAs) for fossil fuel projects include emissions from the final combustion of the extracted fuels. It highlights that while states determine the exact content of EIAs, they must account for downstream effects to meet due diligence and Paris Agreement obligations. The briefing cites precedents in the UK and EFTA Court, as well as subsequent rulings by the European Court of Human Rights and the Borgarting Court of Appeal, to demonstrate the growing legal requirement to quantify end-use greenhouse gas emissions.

The briefing examines the legal implications of the 2025 ICJ Advisory Opinion on climate change, arguing that the provision of fossil fuel subsidies may constitute an internationally wrongful act. It extends this reasoning to other harmful subsidies, such as those in agriculture and plastics, and provides recommendations for states to reduce legal risk through transparent, phased reforms and international coordination via the Coalition on Phasing Out Fossil Fuel Incentives Including Subsidies (COFFIS).

The document argues that the ICJ's 2025 advisory opinion transforms the removal of fossil fuel subsidies from a political commitment into a legal imperative, as such subsidies may constitute an 'internationally wrongful act'. It suggests this reasoning extends to other harmful subsidies, such as those in agriculture and plastics, increasing the legal risk for states. The briefing recommends that governments implement transparent, gradual phase-out plans, prioritize social protection over production subsidies, and coordinate internationally through initiatives like the Coalition on Phasing Out Fossil Fuel Incentives including Subsidies (COFFIS).

The document argues that the ICJ's 2025 advisory opinion transforms the legal landscape for investment disputes by establishing that climate action is a binding legal obligation rather than a discretionary policy choice. This shift undermines investor claims based on 'legitimate expectations' for fossil fuel activities and provides states with stronger defenses against claims of unfair and inequitable treatment (FET) or indirect expropriation. The author recommends that states reform investment treaties to exclude climate measures from compensation claims, limit prospective damages based on future fossil fuel revenues, and negotiate agreements to neutralize survival clauses in treaties like the Energy Charter Treaty.

The document analyzes how the ICJ's 2025 Advisory Opinion rejects the 'lex specialis' doctrine, establishing that the UN climate regime and other multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), human rights law, and customary international law mutually inform and reinforce one another. It argues that states must integrate climate considerations into the implementation of treaties such as the Convention on Biological Diversity and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea to demonstrate due diligence and avoid legal consequences for non-compliance.

The IISD recommends that the EU uphold its Arctic fossil fuel extraction moratorium to ensure energy security, protect fragile ecosystems, and maintain policy coherence with the European Green Deal. The document argues that Arctic fossil fuels are too expensive, high-risk, and slow to develop to be viable, noting that new fields would only become operational after the EU should have advanced its net-zero pathway. It further suggests phasing out imports from the Barents and northern Norwegian seas to reduce security risks and align with partners like Canada and Greenland, who have implemented similar bans.

The ICJ's 2025 Advisory Opinion establishes that states have binding legal obligations to protect the climate system, which includes phasing out fossil fuel production and subsidies. This finding challenges the legal basis for many investor-state claims, as it undermines the 'legitimate expectations' of investors in carbon-intensive industries and provides states with stronger defenses against claims of fair and equitable treatment (FET) violations. The brief argues that the prospect of ISDS can cause 'regulatory chill,' deterring necessary climate action. It recommends that states reform investment treaties through sector-based carve-outs, restrict forward-looking damages based on projected fossil fuel revenues, and coordinate withdrawals from outdated agreements like the Energy Charter Treaty.

The document examines the 2025 ICJ advisory opinion, which establishes that climate obligations are not isolated to the UN climate regime but are reinforced by other multilateral environmental agreements and human rights law. It argues that states must implement these obligations in an integrated manner to demonstrate due diligence and avoid legal consequences for inaction.

The report analyzes the systemic invisibility of the care economy in national statistics, specifically how GDP overlooks unpaid care work disproportionately performed by women. It reviews five primary measurement approaches: time-use surveys, economic valuation (opportunity and replacement costs), policy indices/scorecards, quality-of-life metrics, and household satellite accounts. Using case studies from Canada, Bangladesh, the UK, and Africa, the document demonstrates that unpaid care can represent a significant portion of national wealth—for example, estimated at 25% to 37% of Canada's GDP in 2021. The report concludes that moving beyond GDP requires a cohesive, integrated system of measurement to recognize care as a structural pillar of development and a fundamental investment in human capabilities.

The report examines a diverse array of transition mechanisms, including Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPs), national sectoral processes in countries like Germany and Chile, and first-mover alliances such as the Powering Past Coal Alliance. It highlights the necessity of national ownership, structured social dialogue, and blended finance to overcome political gridlock and ensure a just transition. The analysis reveals significant gaps in international support, particularly a shortfall in grants and concessional finance for Global South countries and a lack of coordinated global guidance for designing transition roadmaps.

The document outlines a structured approach to the global transition away from fossil fuels (TAFF), emphasizing that current production and consumption plans are misaligned with 1.5°C pathways. It proposes that effective TAFF roadmaps must be anchored in science, justice, and national ownership, while integrating elements such as subsidy reform, economic diversification, and decommissioning. The guide highlights the necessity of international coordination between producer and consumer countries to manage systemic risks, reform global finance, and ensure a just and orderly transition.

The document highlights a critical gap in investment governance: while international investment treaties have undergone significant reform, investor-state contracts remain largely marginalized and outdated. These contracts often contain stabilization clauses and tax incentives that restrict a state's regulatory space and can neutralize treaty-level safeguards. The brief also notes a rise in contract-based investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), which is often more opaque than treaty-based arbitration. To address these risks, the authors recommend strengthening national institutional coordination, centralizing and assessing existing contracts, and developing national model contracts. Globally, they advocate for integrating contract reform into broader investment governance discussions and developing regional guidance to reduce negotiation asymmetries.