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The document argues that public funding for clean energy in developing countries is insufficient and that the private sector must be the primary driver of investment. It identifies two main categories of obstacles: international investment agreements (IIAs), which may expose governments to arbitration over climate regulations, and domestic policy barriers, such as lack of clear energy signals and monopoly structures. The author suggests that technology transfer is essentially an investment problem and recommends diagnostic national studies, similar to the WTO's Integrated Framework, to identify and remove these barriers.

The document argues that corruption in public procurement is a systemic issue in Africa, costing the continent approximately $148 billion annually and serving as a primary driver of poverty. It identifies a cycle where 'grand corruption' by elites leads to poverty, which in turn fuels 'petty corruption' among underpaid public servants. The author advocates for a comprehensive approach combining political will, robust legal frameworks, transparency, and the involvement of non-state actors to reduce corruption to marginal levels.

The document is a publication catalog from the WRI Institutions and Governance Program, detailing research on the structure and outcomes of natural resource decentralizations. It lists reports, journal articles, and working papers stemming from a 2001 comparative project and subsequent initiatives focused on institutional choice, recognition, and commodity chain analysis. The research covers a wide array of countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, examining the intersection of local democracy, property rights, and environmental governance.

The document examines the 'education crisis' in Sub-Saharan Africa, arguing that the narrow focus on the UN Millennium Development Goals' target of universal primary education has compromised teaching quality and diverted funds from secondary and tertiary levels. It highlights critical barriers to progress, including the HIV/AIDS epidemic, severe teacher shortages, outdated colonial curricula, and gender disparities. The report contends that without systemic reforms—including better teacher training, increased investment in science and mathematics, and a shift toward vocational and secondary education—the region will remain economically marginalised and unable to compete globally.

The author contends that sub-Saharan Africa's underdevelopment stems from the mismanagement of economic surpluses by political elites who exploited their power to maintain high living standards and fund failing industrial projects. Comparing the divergent paths of Ghana and South Korea since 1965, the text argues that current frameworks like Nepad fail to address the power imbalance between elites and producers. To achieve development, the author proposes introducing freehold land ownership for peasants, granting producers direct access to world markets for cash crops, and establishing independent financial and technical institutions supported by foreign donors.

The report identifies political instability, crumbling infrastructure, a severe credit crunch, and the absence of the rule of law as the primary barriers to African economic development. It argues that while large-scale projects are often prioritized, the immediate economic payoff lies in the regular maintenance of existing transport and utility services and the reform of legal systems to protect property rights and enforce contracts. The document highlights a critical funding gap, noting that while Africa requires $64 billion in investments to meet growth targets, donors provide only about $14 billion annually. Corruption is identified as a pervasive corrosive force, with 52% of surveyed business organisations stating that bribes are necessary to open a business.

The document identifies that 76% of the sub-Saharan African population relies on traditional biomass for cooking, leading to deforestation, indoor air pollution, and gender inequality. It argues that while clean fuels like LPG, ethanol, and biogas offer significant health and environmental benefits, their adoption is stifled by high costs, lack of infrastructure, and socio-cultural preferences. The authors recommend national government intervention through targeted subsidies, the creation of clean cooking fuel bureaus, and the development of local sustainable energy resources for rural areas.

The document presents a dataset of 3,375 urban social disturbance events, including both violent and non-violent political activities, compiled from the Keesing’s Record of World Events. It details the selection of 23 cities in Sub-Saharan Africa and 32 in Asia, the coding scheme used to categorize event types and casualties, and the challenges associated with using news reports as a primary data source. Analysis shows an increasing trend in both total and lethal events over time, with a higher average number of events reported for Asian cities compared to African cities.

The document argues that sub-Saharan Africa is disproportionately vulnerable to climate change due to its reliance on rain-fed agriculture and limited institutional capacity, yet it contributes minimally to global greenhouse gas emissions. It highlights a tension between the high initial costs of carbon-efficient development and immediate poverty reduction needs. The author proposes 'development-led' and 'no-regrets' approaches—such as the Mad’Etole wind project in Madagascar—to align environmental sustainability with economic growth. The paper also examines financial mechanisms like the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and the World Bank's Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) as tools for funding, while noting that international financial support for adaptation has remained insufficient.

The World Resources Institute (WRI) reported total revenue of $27,765,582 and total expenses of $28,102,119 for the 2008 tax year. The organization operates three primary program services: the Climate, Energy and Pollution Program, the Institutions and Governance Program, and the People and Ecosystems Program. WRI maintains a global presence with activities and grantmaking in regions including East Asia and the Pacific, Europe, North America, South America, South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. As of the end of the year, the organization held total assets of $53,223,660 and total liabilities of $3,795,121.

The report examines how the consolidation of the global supermarket sector has shifted power to a few major retailers, creating a 'buyer-driven' commodity chain that often marginalizes smallholder farmers. While the fresh fruit and vegetable (FFV) sector offers growth potential for developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, supermarkets' stringent private standards and aggressive business practices create high barriers to entry. However, the report argues that smallholders maintain comparative advantages in labour-intensive and organic production. It suggests that cooperatives, outgrower schemes, and public-private partnerships can help smallholders overcome scale and infrastructure problems to access these lucrative markets.

The document examines the complex relationship between anthropogenic climate change and forced migration, arguing that while precise numerical predictions (such as 200 million migrants by 2050) are tentative, the 'carrying capacity' of many regions will be compromised. It distinguishes between slow-onset climate processes and sudden climate events, noting that non-climate drivers like governance and poverty are equally critical. The author outlines three scenarios—'The Good', 'The Bad', and 'The Ugly'—based on IPCC emission storylines, and highlights that the poorest countries will bear the heaviest burden of displacement. The paper concludes that forced climate migrants currently 'fall through the cracks' of international law and national adaptation strategies, which often view migration as a failure of adaptation rather than a tool for it.

The report details a workshop where 40 participants discussed a variety of climate adaptation tools, ranging from information databases to computer-based decision tools and qualitative risk management processes. It identifies a general trend of integrating climate impacts as additional stressors into existing decision-making structures and highlights a gap in tools targeting the middle ground between grassroots communities and senior officials. The document also lists specific tools such as PRECIS, CRiSTAL, and ADAPT, comparing their audiences, spatial scales, and data types.

The provided text is an addendum to a 2007 research paper by Nils Petter Gleditsch, Ragnhild Nordås, and Idean Salehyan. It does not contain original analysis or findings but instead lists the data sources and references used in the main paper. The authors specify that data on armed conflict and war were sourced from the Uppsala/PRIO conflict database and the PRIO battle deaths data. The extensive reference list covers literature on environmental security, climate-induced migration, water conflicts, and the relationship between resource scarcity and violent conflict, with particular mentions of studies in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Horn of Africa, West Africa, and India.

The document assesses how water management impacts poverty in Africa, highlighting a significant gap between political rhetoric and actual investment. It argues that current trends will leave millions of Africans without safe water and sanitation by 2015. The authors propose a conceptual framework focusing on four dimensions of poverty reduction: enhancing livelihood security, reducing health risks, reducing vulnerability, and promoting pro-poor economic growth. The report emphasizes the importance of 'green water' (soil moisture) alongside 'blue water' (rivers and lakes) and calls for Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) that places poverty at its center. Key recommendations include public sector reform, stimulating internal capital investment, and adapting to climate change, which is projected to increase water stress for 75 to 250 million Africans by 2020.

The testimony compares two legislative proposals, H.R. 4800 (Solis bill) and H.R. 4591 (Gillmor bill), to amend the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for the implementation of the Stockholm, Rotterdam, and LRTAP POPs agreements. The author argues that the Gillmor bill would weaken health safeguards by introducing a cost-benefit balancing standard and preempting state regulations, whereas the Solis bill aligns with the Stockholm Convention's health-based standards and allows states to maintain stricter protections.

The report assesses the environmental prerequisites for attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), focusing on water for food, sustainable sanitation, and energy access. It argues that achieving MDG 1 (eradicating hunger) requires a 50% increase in freshwater use by 2015, which could lead to severe ecosystem trade-offs unless 'crop per drop' productivity improvements are implemented. In sanitation, the report advocates for ecological sanitation (ecosan) as a cost-effective alternative to conventional sewage systems, particularly for the growing urban target population. Regarding energy, it proposes an 'MDG Energy Vision' to provide basic clean cooking fuels and electricity to the poor, noting that the primary energy requirements for these goals are negligible compared to global consumption but essential for poverty reduction. The report estimates a total annual investment of USD 107 billion from 2005 to 2015 across these three sectors to meet MDG targets sustainably.

The document examines the ongoing WTO negotiations on environmental goods, noting that current proposed lists of goods for liberalization primarily benefit developed countries, who account for 79 per cent of exports. To create a more balanced outcome, the author suggests expanding the definition of environmental goods to include environmentally preferable products (EPPs) of export interest to developing countries—specifically non-timber forest products and natural fibre products—and implementing Special and Differential Treatment (SDT) provisions such as delayed compliance and less-than-full reciprocity.

The document analyzes the complex relationship between African diasporas and their homelands, contrasting historical forced migrations (the slave trade) with modern voluntary and forced migration. It investigates how migrants influence homeland politics through opposition movements, lobbying, and voting, while highlighting the critical economic role of remittances, particularly for island micro-states and enclaves like Cape Verde, Comores, and Lesotho. The author notes that while diasporas can provide essential financial support, they are often viewed with suspicion by authoritarian regimes and internal political actors.

The submission argues that aid to Small Island Developing States (SIDS) has declined by over 50 percent between 1994 and 2004, despite the extreme vulnerability of these states to natural disasters and economic shocks. It highlights a disparity where some states are aid-dependent (with aid exceeding GDP), while others lack basic funding for health and education. The author proposes eight reforms, including untying aid from donor procurement, harmonising donor policies, and replacing GDP per capita with a vulnerability index to assess development needs.