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The document examines the 'vicious cycle' where climate shocks force African nations to borrow, increasing debt service costs and limiting investments in climate resilience and social needs. It argues that the current creditor-led focus on binding contracts ignores the environmental and social impacts of debt. The author posits that the July 2025 ICJ advisory opinion establishes customary international legal obligations—specifically the duty to prevent significant environmental harm and the duty to cooperate—which should apply to debt restructuring. The brief recommends that African policymakers use this legal grounding to push for a new conceptual framework, such as the DOVE Principles, which integrates due diligence and common but differentiated responsibilities into debt negotiations.

The We Mean Business Coalition supports the development of a fossil-fuel roadmap for COP30, arguing that such a framework can provide the clarity on targets and timelines necessary for long-term corporate investment. The Coalition emphasizes that for the roadmap to be effective, it must prioritize clean electrification, grid modernization, the removal of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, and a co-developed process that addresses the differing needs of the Global North and South to ensure a just transition.

Adaptation finance for Africa remains critically insufficient, with 2023 flows to Sub-Saharan Africa reaching only USD 12.9 billion against an annual need of USD 51 billion. Public finance is the dominant source, providing 95% of Africa's adaptation funding in 2023, as adaptation projects are often small-scale, localised, and lack the standardised metrics or predictable returns required to attract private investors. Structural barriers, including complex international funding procedures and fragmented government coordination, have led to less than half of committed adaptation funds in Africa being disbursed between 2014 and 2018. While the private sector's contribution grew to USD 654 million by 2023, it remains a supporting role, with the document emphasizing that grants and concessional loans are essential to avoid exacerbating debt distress in countries where debt interest spending already exceeds health or education budgets. The briefing highlights the upcoming COP30 as a critical juncture to finalise the Global Goal on Adaptation and establish standardised indicators to improve the tracking and bankability of resilience investments.

A briefing on a workshop regarding the creation of a shared superhot rock geothermal testbed to bridge the gap between theory and deployment for high-capex geothermal innovation.

In 2024, IDFC members reported USD 173 billion in green finance commitments, a 13% decrease from 2023. Climate finance dominated these flows, accounting for 96% (USD 167 billion) of the total, with mitigation finance at USD 140 billion and adaptation finance increasing by 64% to USD 17 billion. Biodiversity finance rose to USD 8 billion, while USD 4 billion was allocated to other environmental objectives like the circular economy.

In the first three quarters of 2025, record solar and wind growth exceeded electricity demand increases, leading to a forecast of no fossil fuel growth for the full year—the first such occurrence since the Covid-19 pandemic.

The G20 is characterized as an effective platform for macroeconomic crisis response that consistently fails to address systemic inequities, debt burdens, and environmental degradation. While the forum represents 85% of global GDP, its legitimacy is contested due to the dominance of G7 members and the fact that G20 members provided $1.4tn in explicit fossil-fuel support in 2022. The report notes that recent Global South presidencies (Indonesia, India, Brazil, and South Africa) have shifted priorities toward energy transition financing, digital public infrastructure, taxation of the super-rich, and care economies. The author recommends that the G20 redefine 'crisis' to include human and planetary security and integrate justice metrics into its coordination efforts.

The report argues that tax and royalty policies for non-metallic minerals should be tailored to the specific economics of each mineral, as standard frameworks for metallic minerals may be inappropriate. It suggests that unit-based royalties are effective for minimizing administration costs when revenue potential is limited and cautions against the use of tax incentives due to their poor track record in promoting investment. The study estimates that over USD 217 billion of non-metallic minerals are produced annually across 66 countries.

The Climate Action Tracker reports that global warming projections have remained stagnant at 2.6°C for four consecutive years due to a lack of ambitious 2030 and 2035 climate targets. While the Paris Agreement has helped reduce projected warming from 3.6°C in 2015 to 2.6°C today, and renewable energy surpassed coal in electricity generation in 2025, continued fossil fuel expansion and policy rollbacks in the United States threaten to offset these gains. The gap between current targets and the 1.5°C pathway is expected to increase to 31 GtCO₂e by 2035.

The document argues that coordinated climate disinformation, largely driven by the fossil fuel industry and amplified by Big Tech, constitutes a global emergency that delays the energy transition and threatens public health and human rights. It calls on COP30 participants to move beyond the mere recognition of this threat to implement mandatory, verifiable actions and regulatory measures against the monetization of disinformation and greenwashing.

The document argues that coordinated disinformation campaigns, primarily funded by the fossil fuel industry and disseminated via Big Tech and media, are delaying the energy transition and threatening public health and human rights. It calls for COP30 in Belém to move beyond the mere recognition of this issue to mandatory, verifiable actions and regulatory measures against the monetization of disinformation and greenwashing.

The briefing argues that for a transition away from fossil fuels to be equitable, advanced economies must lead with more aggressive emission reductions. Using the IEA's Net Zero Emissions (NZE) scenario, it highlights that advanced economies need to reduce oil emissions by 40% and gas emissions by 33% by 2030, compared to significantly lower targets for emerging and developing economies. The document warns that recent failures to reduce emissions have led to a decline in the ambition of these targets in updated IEA models.

The document highlights the rapid global growth of solar energy, noting a 31% jump in generation in the first half of 2025 and its cost-effectiveness compared to fossil fuels. It advises journalists to move past 'alternative energy' framing, treat intermittency as a manageable issue rather than a fundamental obstacle, and be skeptical of 'weird solar' innovations that cannot compete with mass-produced panels. The guide also provides specific examples of solar applications, from agrivoltaics in Illinois to mini-grids in Nigeria and resilience hubs in Houston.

The policy brief examines how water scarcity empowers non-state armed groups, delegitimizes state authority, and fuels transboundary disputes, while proposing that the US utilize its technological leadership and mediation experience to maintain geopolitical stability.

Clean Air Task Force (CATF) outlines its priorities for COP30, advocating for 'pragmatic climate action' that integrates decarbonization with socioeconomic development. The statement highlights a disconnect between African nations' climate commitments and their development plans, while urging immediate action on methane emissions from agriculture, fossil fuels, and waste. CATF promotes a diverse technology suite, including nuclear and geothermal energy, to ensure energy security and economic viability across different regional contexts.

The report finds that while total emissions from 25 major emitters may peak by 2026, current policies are insufficient to meet the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C goal. Fifteen countries are likely on track to meet their 2030 unconditional NDC targets, while nine are off track, including the US, UK, and Japan. Projections for the US have worsened due to policy rollbacks, and eight countries are already projected to miss their 2035 unconditional NDC targets.

Reclaim Finance reports that the vast majority of TotalEnergies' top shareholders voted in favor of management resolutions at the 2025 general assembly, including the re-election of directors and CEO remuneration. This support persists despite the company's decision to stop 'Say on Climate' votes and its increased investment in oil and gas projects, which Reclaim Finance describes as a 'climaticide' strategy that ignores IPCC and IEA recommendations for a 1.5°C trajectory.

Reclaim Finance reports that the vast majority of TotalEnergies' top global, European, and French shareholders approved management resolutions at the 2025 annual meeting, including CEO remuneration and director re-election. The analysis highlights a disconnect between these votes and science-based climate recommendations, noting that TotalEnergies remains the 6th largest oil and gas field developer globally as of 2024 and has increased planned oil and gas production. While a few shareholders like Union Investment and Ofi Invest AM voted against specific strategic resolutions, the overall average approval rate for management proposals was 94.8%. Reclaim Finance criticizes shareholders for prioritizing short-term financial returns, such as dividends and share buybacks, over the energy transition.

The report evaluates the climate transition progress of global private financial institutions (FIs) using the Net Zero Finance Tracker (NZFT). While target adoption has expanded, the quality of these targets remains weak, particularly regarding fossil fuel phase-outs. Implementation has improved in areas like climate risk disclosure, but real-world impact is limited: financed emissions have decreased only slightly since 2019, and credit financing remains heavily skewed toward fossil fuels. Direct finance for clean and transition energy projects grew by 18% annually from 2019 to 2024, reaching nearly USD 126 billion, though this investment is concentrated in advanced economies.

While global renewable energy additions continue to break records, primarily driven by solar and China, current forecasts suggest a tripling by 2030 is not guaranteed without increased government ambition and implementation. The document highlights a misalignment between rapid deployment and national targets, which risks underinvestment in critical enabling systems such as grids, storage, and flexibility. It specifically emphasizes the need to scale up wind energy through supply chain unlocking and stable policy mechanisms, while urging parallel investment in infrastructure to prevent solar curtailment and bottlenecks.