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The February 2024 Peace & Security Council Report evaluates the outcomes of the 37th African Union (AU) summit, the performance of Comoros as AU chair, and the AU's response to crises in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It also examines the decline of electoral norms across the continent and the necessity of protecting civilians in urban warfare.

This report by the African Future Policies Hub, APRI, and LSE assesses the economic impacts of a proposed global shipping carbon tax on African states. Using a CGE model and a case study of Ghana, the authors find that while GDP impacts are limited, a shipping levy would increase commodity prices, reduce household incomes, and exacerbate existing freight cost imbalances for African nations. The report recommends that the International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopt measures that allow for the redistribution of revenues as direct grants to climate-vulnerable countries for out-of-sector mitigation and resilience projects.

This policy brief by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) argues that geoengineering technologies are speculative 'fixes' that fail to address the root causes of the climate crisis and instead risk accelerating biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse, and human rights violations.

This report provides a technical transfer pricing framework for lithium, designed to help developing countries accurately tax lithium exports. It details the differences between brine and mineral extraction, analyzes the global supply chain dominated by a few key producers and the Chinese refining market, and explains how to use price-reporting agency indices to determine fair market value based on product grade and specifications.

This report provides a transfer pricing framework for determining the price of lithium minerals, specifically applying the Comparable Uncontrolled Price (CUP) method. It details the physical characteristics of lithium deposits, production processes for brines and spodumene, and the economic factors influencing market prices to help developing countries ensure appropriate tax revenue from lithium exports.

This report, based on the 2023 Energy Access Investment Forum (EAIF), outlines the potential and challenges of green mini-grids in sub-Saharan Africa. It emphasizes the need for patient growth capital, improved regulatory frameworks, and the integration of productive uses of energy to ensure the commercial viability and sustainability of distributed renewable energy (DRE) solutions.

This research paper examines the role and challenges of youth climate activism in Africa, highlighting the disproportionate impact of climate change on young Africans despite the continent's low global emissions. It discusses the motivations of youth activists, the barriers they face—including financial constraints and political repression—and the gap between tokenistic representation and meaningful policy inclusion in forums like COP28.

The December 2023/January 2024 edition of the Peace & Security Council Report evaluates the African Union's (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC) performance in 2023, highlighting a trend toward discussing thematic issues over sensitive country crises. It examines the challenges of consensus-based decision-making, the upcoming 2024 AU chairship and PSC membership elections, and the potential impact of the UN's New Agenda for Peace on African security architecture.

This background note provides energy production and demand forecasts for Africa and the global community up to 2043, based on the International Futures (IFs) forecasting platform. It details the transition of energy sources, the growth of African energy demand driven by population increases, and the status of fossil fuel reserves and renewable energy projects across the continent.

This briefing note examines the current state and projected future of hydropower in Africa up to 2043. It highlights the gap between the continent's vast untapped potential and its current installed capacity, while detailing specific large-scale projects in Ethiopia, Tanzania, and the DR Congo.

This research paper by FSD Africa analyzes the integration of gender strategies within the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) of 31 African countries. Using the IUCN's Environment and Gender Information (EGI) framework, the study finds that while most African NDCs mention gender, there is a significant lack of gender analysis, sex-disaggregated data, and gender-responsive budgeting. The paper highlights a disconnect between the mobilization of climate finance and gender intentionality, noting that countries with high funding levels often fail to prioritize gender-responsive budgets.

The November 2023 Peace & Security Council Report examines the diplomatic implications of the first Saudi-Africa summit, the coordination between the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) and the UN Security Council's A3 members, the precarious state of South Sudan's transition toward elections, and the AU's efforts to integrate youth into peacebuilding and economic integration via AfCFTA.

An open letter from a coalition of movements, Indigenous Peoples, and civil society organizations urging the European Union to implement strict human rights, environmental, and governance safeguards within the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) to prevent the exploitation of resource-rich countries in the Global South during the energy transition.

The July 2023 Peace & Security Council Report by the Institute for Security Studies examines the outcomes of the fifth mid-year coordination meeting between the African Union (AU) and regional economic communities (RECs). It highlights systemic coordination failures in peace-making, the challenges of AU institutional reforms, and the potential of new initiatives like the Africa Facility to Support Inclusive Transitions (AFSIT) to deter unconstitutional changes of government. The report also discusses the security vacuum created by the withdrawal of the UN mission (MINUSMA) from Mali.

This policy brief by the South African Institute of International Affairs advocates for the upscaling of marine and coastal ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) within the Southern African Development Community (SADC). It highlights the vulnerability of coastal and island states to climate risks and argues that integrating EbA into national policies and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) can simultaneously address climate adaptation, biodiversity conservation, and socio-economic development.

This research paper analyzes the evolving energy relations between Germany and Africa, noting a shift from traditional development cooperation toward a broader approach combining energy diplomacy, foreign policy, and technical cooperation. The author highlights a tension between Germany's commitment to a 'just transition' and its strategic interests in securing both renewable energy (particularly green hydrogen) and fossil fuel imports to ensure energy security.

The report examines the complex interplay of governance, peace, and security in the Horn of Africa, highlighting a shift from interstate to intra-state conflict. It analyzes how structural drivers—including climate change, demographic pressures, and technological advances—interact with political instability and geopolitical competition from global and Middle Eastern powers. The document evaluates the effectiveness of multilateral bodies like IGAD, the AU, and the UN, noting their struggles to maintain relevance amidst hardening state sovereignty and institutional fragility.

This report examines the use of risk mitigation and transfer (RMT) instruments to enable utility-scale renewable energy investments in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). Through case studies in Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, and Zambia, the authors analyze how financial instruments from development finance institutions (DFIs) help projects reach financial close by addressing offtaker, political, and currency risks. While RMTs have successfully protected existing projects during recent economic shocks, the report finds they are currently insufficient to enable new projects in countries facing severe debt distress, such as Zambia.

This guide by RMI provides a comprehensive overview of the electric vehicle (EV) battery supply chain, detailing the four stages of production: upstream (mining), midstream (processing and cell manufacturing), downstream (assembly), and end-of-life. It examines the current global dominance of China, the risks associated with supply chain concentration, and the human rights and environmental challenges inherent in mineral extraction. The document also analyzes US legislative efforts, such as the Inflation Reduction Act, aimed at diversifying the supply chain, increasing domestic production, and ensuring ethical sourcing.

The May 2023 Peace & Security Council Report by the Institute for Security Studies examines the African Union's (AU) responses to crises in Sudan and Chad, the slow adoption of structural vulnerability assessments, the complexities of the AU-EU partnership, and the challenges facing the 'Silencing the Guns' initiative.