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The document advocates for a shift in how Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) approach climate action, moving beyond simply maximizing climate finance volumes to ensuring their entire investment portfolios align with the Paris Agreement. It emphasizes the need for MDBs to stop supporting CO2-emitting energy sources, mainstream climate risks for a world 3-4°C warmer, and support the strengthening of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

The research identifies a systemic 'siloed approach' where Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are managed by separate institutions, typically environment ministries for NDCs and central cabinet-level offices for SDGs. To overcome this, the paper proposes five core elements for joined-up implementation: coordinating institutions, aligning targets, joint mainstreaming into policy planning, optimizing financial resources, and creating mutually reinforcing monitoring frameworks. The study argues that integrating these agendas reduces transaction costs, fosters 'win-win solutions', and helps ensure a just transition by applying the 'leaving no one behind' principle to climate action. It highlights that while some countries have begun linking these frameworks, a fully integrated approach requires significant shifts in institutional and financial structures to avoid the 'cherry-picking' of targets by line ministries.

The document outlines a methodology for tracking nature-based solutions (NBS) investments in sub-Saharan Africa by scanning multilateral development bank portfolios. Between 2012 and 2021, the World Bank and African Development Bank led 85 NBS-related projects with combined total budgets of $12.1 billion, of which $4.5 billion was specifically for NBS components. The research identifies Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo as the countries with the highest project counts and notes that NBS are being used to address urban flooding, coastal flooding, and water security while providing co-benefits for biodiversity and carbon sequestration.

The study examines the extent to which agrifood policies in Kenya, Uganda, and India incorporate electricity needs for mechanization, water access, and postharvest processing. It argues that integrating electricity infrastructure can increase crop cultivation and income while reducing food loss. To improve policy effectiveness, the paper recommends establishing time-bound mandates, interministerial coordination, financial incentives, and public-private partnerships to align agrifood systems with sustainability and climate resilience goals.

The WRI Results Framework establishes a structured system to plan and evaluate programmatic progress across three primary human systems: food, land & water; energy; and cities. It sets specific global targets for 2030 and WRI intervention targets for 2027, focusing on outcomes such as reducing agricultural land demand by 100 Mha, increasing the share of zero-carbon electricity by 9% in target geographies, and improving urban climate resilience. The framework integrates Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and utilizes a tiered approach of global, intervention, and country-specific targets, supported by impact indicators for people, nature, and climate.

The document argues that over 1.2 billion city dwellers lack reliable access to basic services, creating an "urban services divide" that hinders economic development and climate goals. It proposes seven transformations—ranging from partnering with alternative service providers to supporting informal workers—to improve equity, prosperity, and sustainability in rapidly growing cities.

The fact sheet examines the role of informal reclaimers in African cities, highlighting their contribution to waste diversion and the barriers they face, such as health risks and lack of policy recognition. It advocates for a transition from a linear 'take-make-waste' model to an inclusive circular economy where reclaimers are recognised as key stakeholders and involved in earlier stages of the product life cycle, including design. The document provides a status quo analysis and opportunities for various actors—including national and local governments, producers, and civil society—to formalise and support the informal waste sector.