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The document argues that secure land tenure is a prerequisite for agroecological transitions in Africa, as it provides the security necessary for farmers to invest in long-term sustainable practices. It highlights how colonial legacies of land dispossession continue to create systemic inequalities and tenure insecurity across different African regions. The brief provides specific analysis of land systems in countries such as Kenya, South Africa, Benin, Uganda, and Malawi, noting that while some national policies recognize agroecology, institutional support often remains tied to industrial, input-intensive agriculture. It concludes with recommendations for donors to shift toward long-term, locally led, and gender-sensitive funding models that prioritize land rights and social equity.

The 2025 F-List identifies 1,217 fossil fuel contracts held by 709 advertising and PR agencies. It introduces the Fossil Fuel Income Risk Exposure (FFIRE) index, which finds that Edelman has the highest financial vulnerability to fossil fuel revenue at 5.64%. The report highlights a conflict of interest regarding Edelman's role in the COP30 UN Climate Talks and notes that Omnicom Advertising Group now holds the most contracts on the list following its merger with IPG, being the only network with contracts across all 10 oil and gas majors.

The report identifies a systemic failure within the UNFCCC where justice efforts are fragmented across isolated mechanisms, allowing for symbolic recognition without the redistribution of power. It proposes an integrated justice framework—comprising distributive, procedural, recognitional, restorative, and transformative justice—to diagnose gaps and guide policy. The author argues that the JTWP risks becoming a 'talking shop' unless it is operationalised through binding commitments, a permanent coordination body, and sector-specific pathways beyond the energy sector. Key recommendations for COP30 include adopting ILO Guidelines as foundational principles and mandating integrated justice assessments in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

Global climate finance reached a record USD 1.9 trillion in 2023, with private contributions exceeding USD 1 trillion for the first time. While mitigation finance more than doubled between 2018 and 2023, driven by energy and transport, adaptation finance remains significantly underfunded at USD 65 billion. Investment is heavily concentrated in East Asia and the Pacific, Western Europe, and North America, with 80% of finance sourced domestically. Despite growth, a substantial gap remains to meet the estimated annual need of USD 6.3 trillion by 2030.

Global energy transition investments reached a record USD 2.4 trillion in 2024, yet remain insufficient to meet the 1.5°C pathway. While solar PV and battery storage show strong growth, other technologies like wind and green hydrogen face significant headwinds. Investment is heavily concentrated in China and advanced economies, leaving least developed countries (LDCs) and Sub-Saharan Africa severely underfunded and dependent on international public finance.

The document outlines the challenges of researching climate obstruction in restrictive political environments, focusing on participant safety, data security, and the navigation of political 'red lines'. It recommends flexible research designs, such as using snowball sampling and reframing sensitive topics, to mitigate risks associated with government surveillance and data manipulation in non-democratic states.

The document assesses the pervasive role of the informal economy in Ethiopia, noting that it accounts for 80-90% of national employment and approximately one-third of GDP. It highlights a disconnect between official national surveys, which show a decline in informality, and international estimates that suggest the sector remains dominant. The analysis focuses on the drivers of informality—including rural-to-urban migration and structural exclusion—and the challenges of formalization, such as bureaucratic burdens and limited financial access. In Addis Ababa, the city administration has shifted from viewing informal trade as 'illegal' to implementing regulations (such as Regulation No. 184/2025) to recognize and gradually integrate street vendors into the formal economy.

The document argues that Africa's potential for a demographic dividend depends on accelerating the demographic transition—reducing child mortality and fertility—and converting a larger working-age population into economic growth through job creation and governance. It contrasts the youthful population of Africa with the ageing populations of Europe and the Netherlands, suggesting strategic opportunities for labour mobility and trade. Using the International Futures (ifs) model, the author presents a 'Demographics and Health' scenario where targeted investments in contraceptives, maternal health, and WASH infrastructure lead to a smaller, wealthier, and better-educated population by 2050, reducing extreme poverty by 48 million people.

The report finds that global progress toward SDG 7 is off track, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. While electricity access reached 92% in 2023, 666 million people remain unconnected. Clean cooking access stands at 74%, leaving 2.1 billion people dependent on polluting fuels. Renewable energy's share of total final energy consumption was 17.9% in 2022, and global energy intensity improved by 2.1% in 2022. International public financial flows to developing countries for clean energy reached USD 21.6 billion in 2023, though this remains below the 2016 peak of USD 28.4 billion.

The document examines the waste management crisis in Africa, specifically focusing on the release of methane and black carbon from open burning and poor landfill practices. It highlights the disproportionate health risks to women and children and the marginalization of informal waste workers. The paper advocates for transitioning to a circular economy and implementing strategies such as composting, anaerobic digestion, and gas capture systems to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and unlock economic value.

The document discusses the need for lower-middle-income countries (LMICs) and low-income countries (LICs) to optimize their limited public spending on food and agriculture. It highlights that many sub-Saharan African nations fail to meet the Maputo goal of allocating 10% of national budgets to these sectors and often employ trade policies that implicitly penalize farmers to protect poor consumers. To address this, the FAO's Policy Monitoring and Analysis of Food and Agriculture (SAPAA) program uses a Pareto-optimality tool to help governments reallocate budgets across measures such as irrigation, seed subsidies, and rural electrification. A study of six sub-Saharan African countries (Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Uganda) suggests that optimizing budgets for 2025-2030 could create nearly one million non-farm rural jobs, lift 2.8 million people out of poverty, and enable 16 million more people to afford a healthy diet by 2030 without increasing total spending.

The policy brief outlines three critical benchmarks for 1.5 °C-aligned NDCs: tripling renewable energy capacity and doubling energy efficiency by 2030, phasing out new fossil fuel projects with production declines of 65-95% by 2050, and eliminating fossil fuel subsidies by 2025 for G7 nations and 2030 for others. It highlights a significant 'production gap' where major producers plan to increase output despite climate imperatives. The authors recommend that new NDCs include quantitative phase-out targets, commitments to no new exploration licenses, and national roadmaps for subsidy reform that prioritize social protection and clean energy investment.

The document argues that carbon markets can fill a critical funding gap for African smallholder farmers, who received only 0.8% of climate finance in 2023. It highlights that soil carbon interventions provide dual benefits of climate mitigation and adaptation by improving soil health, water retention, and crop yields. However, the briefing notes that African agriculture remains underrepresented in carbon markets, with only 12 identified projects across the continent. Barriers include high soil sampling costs, strict evidence requirements for baselines, and a lack of localised research. The author recommends that policymakers avoid 'one-size-fits-all' regulations and instead prioritise projects that deliver non-carbon co-benefits like food security and nutrition.

National renewable energy targets for 2030 currently aim for a collective doubling of capacity rather than the tripling agreed upon at COP28, despite market forecasts suggesting such a goal is achievable, particularly for solar and battery storage.

The document analyzes the global distribution of agricultural methane emissions, highlighting that while low- and middle-income countries produce the most, high-income countries have higher per capita emissions due to consumption patterns. It proposes a transition toward climate-smart agriculture through technology, policy reform, and targeted finance, particularly for smallholder farmers in Africa, to meet global reduction targets by 2030.

The paper explores the intersection of gender inequality and climate change, particularly in Africa, highlighting how women are disproportionately affected by climate-related displacement, food insecurity, and energy poverty. It details structural barriers in employment, land ownership, and political representation that limit women's adaptive capacity. The document reviews international frameworks like the Paris Agreement and the Lima Work Programme on Gender, and calls for COP29 to prioritize honoring financial pledges, increasing women's access to clean energy, and investing in gender-disaggregated data to ensure a just social order.

The research examines the viability of private sector-led mini-grids in Kenya, highlighting how political interference and regulatory uncertainty affect value co-creation. It concludes that a business model's success depends on its ability to maintain core frugal innovation principles—reliability, affordability, simplicity, and adaptability—while navigating external pressures.

Namibia is developing a sectoral MEL system for agriculture as a pilot for its broader National Adaptation Plan (NAP) process. The approach involved establishing indicator baselines in 2023, revising indicators for adaptation specificity in 2024, and conducting capacity building for national and regional stakeholders. The system relies on a data flow from regional extension officers to national ministries, with the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) providing oversight and the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform (MAWLR) handling implementation and reporting. Key challenges identified include skills gaps, budgetary constraints, and data fragmentation, while the document emphasizes the necessity of mainstreaming gender-specific indicators to address systemic inequalities.

The SEI strategy 2025–29 focuses on accelerating the implementation of climate and environmental goals through three primary impact areas: climate transitions, nature and resources, and health and wellbeing. The institute aims to move beyond goal-setting to action by boosting research on implementation, exploring emerging topics like critical raw materials and AI, and strengthening research-to-policy networks. Operationally, SEI seeks to enhance its 'One SEI' approach to integrate its distributed regional centres and diversify its funding to ensure financial resilience.

Global climate finance reached USD 1.46 trillion in 2022, showing resilience despite global crises. While advanced economies saw steady growth driven by domestic policy and stimulus, emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) experienced inconsistent trends, with significant recoveries in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia between 2020 and 2022. Private sector contributions to mitigation finance exceeded 50% in several EMDE regions, and finance to least developed countries (LDCs) more than doubled from 2018 to 2022.