Search Climate Insights Directory

This fact sheet by RMI defines green banks as public or quasi-public entities designed to leverage public funds to attract private capital for low-carbon, climate-resilient investments. It outlines their role in filling market gaps, reducing perceived risks for investors, and helping countries implement their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement.

The 2020 Global Electricity Review by Ember analyzes global electricity generation changes in 2019, highlighting a record 3% fall in global coal-fired generation and a corresponding 2% drop in power sector CO2 emissions. While the EU and US saw significant coal collapses, China's coal generation rose, making it responsible for over half of global coal generation for the first time. Wind and solar generation grew by 15%, though the report notes that this growth rate is slowing and may be insufficient to meet Paris Agreement goals without concerted global effort.

This March 2020 report by Global Energy Monitor and partners tracks the global development of coal-fired power plants in 2019. It highlights a general global decline in new coal plant starts and pre-construction activity, contrasted with a net increase in global capacity driven primarily by China. The report details the shift in financing away from Western commercial banks toward public finance, particularly from Japan and China, and notes a record low in global coal plant utilization.

Boom & Bust 2020 is a report by Global Energy Monitor and partners analyzing global coal-fired power plant development in 2019. It details a general decline in the pipeline for new coal capacity, driven by financial restrictions and climate commitments, though this trend is countered by significant new capacity coming online in China.

The 'Boom and Bust 2020' report by Global Energy Monitor and partners analyzes global coal power plant trends in 2019. It highlights a general decline in new coal project proposals and construction, though China remains a significant outlier with continued capacity increases. The report emphasizes the growing gap between current trends and the IPCC's requirement to reduce coal power by 80% by 2030 to limit global warming to 1.5°C.

This report by Global Energy Monitor and partners analyzes global coal-fired power plant trends in 2019, noting a general decline in new project planning and construction, contrasted by a net increase in global capacity driven primarily by China.

The 2019 Global Coal Plant Tracker report reveals a contradictory trend: while the global pipeline for new coal plants has shrunk by two-thirds since 2015 and generation fell by 3% in 2019, net global capacity actually increased by 34.1 GW due to a surge of new plants in China. Western commercial banks have largely ceased direct financing for coal, but Chinese state banks and Indian state-owned finance corporations continue to provide significant funding. The report emphasizes that current trends are insufficient to meet the IPCC's goal of an 80% reduction in coal use by 2030 to limit global warming to 1.5°C.

This guide by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) examines the increasing trend of states terminating old-generation bilateral investment treaties (BITs) to reform investment regimes. It details the legal mechanisms for termination under international law, analyzes common termination and survival clauses, and provides recommendations for states on how to manage the extinction of these treaties and draft new ones.

This policy brief by the Climate Policy Initiative examines recent developments in climate adaptation finance, highlighting the growing gap between estimated adaptation costs and current funding levels. It discusses the roles of the UNFCCC Adaptation Committee and the Adaptation Fund, the challenges in tracking adaptation finance flows, and the economic risks associated with nature loss as identified by the World Economic Forum. The document argues that addressing these challenges requires a fundamental rethinking of production, redistribution, and equity to support the most vulnerable populations.

This case study by Natural Justice details the legal battle between the Urgenda Foundation and the State of the Netherlands, resulting in a Supreme Court ruling that the Dutch government is legally obligated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to protect human rights.

This research paper examines the capacity of green bonds to bridge the global adaptation finance gap, specifically focusing on private sector involvement. The author concludes that while green bonds can finance adaptation, they currently do so to a very limited extent and are unlikely to significantly close the finance gap due to geographic mismatches, project scale issues, and a general lack of corporate climate risk awareness.

This report by RMI argues that the global climate should be viewed as a foundational infrastructure asset. It compares the high costs of climate inaction—categorized as direct physical losses, indirect economic growth reductions, and market uncertainty—against the relatively lower costs of preventive investments in energy efficiency, grid modernization, and carbon pricing.

This briefing note by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) explains how civil society can use the UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies (HRTBs) reporting procedure to hold states accountable for climate change policies. It details the process of submitting parallel reports to secure country-specific recommendations, which can then be leveraged for national advocacy and litigation.

This guide, published by the Center for International Environmental Law in January 2020, provides instructions for drafting shadow reports to United Nations Human Rights Treaty Bodies (HRTB). It focuses on documenting the links between national climate inaction (or harmful climate solutions) and the violation of state human rights obligations.

This guide by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) explains how civil society can use the United Nations human rights treaty body (HRTB) reporting process to advocate for climate-related policy recommendations and hold states accountable for their human rights obligations in the context of climate change.

This guide by the Center for International Environmental Law provides a structured framework for organizations to draft parallel reports to UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies (HRTBs). It explains how to document the links between a state's climate inaction or ill-designed climate responses and its failure to meet human rights obligations, offering specific recommendations on content, formatting, and submission deadlines for various committees.

This guide by Friends of the Earth International (ATI) argues that gender justice and the dismantling of the patriarchy are essential for systemic transformation and the achievement of social and environmental justice. It advocates for a grassroots, anti-capitalist feminism to challenge interconnected systems of oppression, including capitalism, racism, neocolonialism, and heteronormativity.

This guide by Friends of the Earth International (ATI) argues that gender justice and the dismantling of patriarchy are essential for systemic transformation toward a sustainable and peaceful world. It defines popular and anti-capitalist feminism as a key tool for achieving equality and system change, emphasizing the intersectionality between patriarchy and other systems of oppression such as capitalism, racism, and neocolonialism.

This guide by Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) outlines a conceptual framework for achieving gender justice and dismantling patriarchy as essential components of broader systemic change. It advocates for grassroots, anti-capitalist feminism and ecofeminism to address the interlinked systems of oppression—including capitalism, racism, neocolonialism, and heteronormativity—that exploit women, LGBTQ+ people, and nature.

This report details the history and current state of e-commerce negotiations at the WTO, focusing on the Joint Statement Initiative (JSI). It examines how existing WTO rules apply to digital trade, the growth of the JSI membership to 83 countries, and the critical divides between developed and developing nations regarding data flows, customs duties, and technical capacity.