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A blog post authored by representatives from the Center for International Environmental Law, Greenpeace International, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International urging Council of Europe Member States to recognize the human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment during the May 16-17, 2023, Summit in Reykjavik, Iceland.

This report analyzes the 2022 activities of United Nations Human Rights Treaty Bodies (HRTBs) regarding state obligations in the context of climate change. It tracks the increasing frequency of climate-related recommendations in state review processes and examines specific trends in mitigation, fossil fuel regulation, adaptation, and the protection of vulnerable groups, including Indigenous Peoples and persons with disabilities.

This report by the Center for International Environmental Law and the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights analyzes the 2022 activities of seven UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies (HRTBs) regarding climate change. It documents an increase in climate-related references in State reporting procedures and highlights key developments in General Comments and individual communications, specifically the landmark Billy et al. v. Australia case.

This report by the Climate Policy Initiative provides detailed blueprints for three types of financial aggregation instruments—municipal pooled procurement, municipal green bonds, and municipal insurance pooling—to help cities close the urban financing gap for climate infrastructure.

This briefing by the Center for International Environmental Law and the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights synthesizes the 2022 activities of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) regarding climate change. It details the Committee's interactions with State parties through the review process, its focus on mitigation, adaptation, and fossil fuel financing, and the publication of General Comment No. 26 on land and economic, social and cultural rights.

The UN High-level Dialogue on Energy (HLDE), held on 24 September 2021, convened over 130 global leaders to accelerate the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) and the transition to net-zero emissions by 2050. The event resulted in the first-ever global roadmap for SDG7 and the announcement of over 160 Energy Compacts, which committed more than USD 400 billion in new finance and investment to combat energy poverty and decarbonize energy systems.

This report by the Climate Bonds Initiative analyzes post-issuance reporting practices for 694 green bonds (USD 212bn) issued between November 2017 and March 2019. It finds that while use-of-proceeds (UoP) reporting is widespread, impact reporting is less common and highly unstandardized. The study evaluates reporting quality through a scoring system, identifies best practices, and advocates for a global, harmonized reporting framework to move beyond binary labels toward absolute, entity-level sustainability assessments.

This briefing by the International Institute for Sustainable Development examines Environmental Fiscal Reform (EFR) in the Nordic countries, highlighting how the alignment of taxes, subsidies, and spending has decoupled economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions and provided a model for post-pandemic economic recovery.

This report analyzes the environmental implications of the 2022 amendments to the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS), managed by the World Customs Organization (WCO). The author explains how the creation of specific commodity codes for environmentally sensitive products and environmental goods improves trade monitoring and facilitates the negotiation of trade agreements aimed at climate and environmental sustainability.

This briefing features archaeologist Marcy Rockman discussing the critical but often overlooked role of archaeology and cultural heritage in climate change response. Rockman argues that the U.S. approach to heritage is fragmented and underfunded compared to natural resource management, leading to a lack of social science integration in major climate assessments. She proposes the creation of a federal Climate Heritage Coordination Office and increased NGO engagement to better utilize historical data on sustainability and human adaptation to inform modern climate strategies.

This report by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR) synthesizes the work of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) regarding climate change up to 2020. It details the Committee's use of General Recommendations, Joint Statements, and the State reporting procedure to establish that States have human rights obligations to protect women from climate-related harms and ensure their participation in climate policy.

The 2020 Global Green Economy Barometer, published by the Green Economy Coalition, assesses the progress of the global shift toward green and fair economies. It argues that while there are signs of acceleration in energy transition and a growing public demand for change, the 'brown economy' still dominates due to fossil fuel subsidies, financial short-termism, and economic models that ignore natural capital. The document calls for systemic economic reform moving from extraction to restoration and from GDP-centric measures to wellbeing and nature-based accounting.

This research paper by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) examines the role of infrastructure banks in closing the global infrastructure financing gap. It analyzes best practices from various international institutions and provides eight strategic recommendations for countries establishing their own infrastructure banks to mobilize private capital and promote sustainable development.

This research paper by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) analyzes the use of fiscal instruments within Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) submitted to the UNFCCC by November 20, 2015. The review identifies trends in how countries employ fossil fuel subsidy reform (FFSR), clean energy subsidies, and carbon pricing to support low-carbon development and GHG mitigation.

The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) presented a vision to the Arctic Council's Sustainable Development Working Group on March 1, 2015, advocating for the acceleration of renewable energy deployment in the Arctic through the removal of fossil fuel subsidies and the implementation of clear long-term policy targets.

This report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) provides an overview of the UNFCCC climate change negotiations held in Bonn from March 29 to April 8, 2009. It details the progress and points of contention across the four pillars of the Bali Action Plan—mitigation, adaptation, technology, and financing—as countries worked toward a comprehensive post-2012 climate agreement intended for adoption at COP 15 in Copenhagen in December 2009.

This report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) details the outcomes of the UNFCCC climate change negotiations held in Bonn from March 29 to April 8, 2009. It outlines the progress made across the four pillars of the Bali Action Plan—mitigation, adaptation, technology, and finance—as parties worked toward a global post-2012 climate agreement intended for conclusion at COP-15 in Copenhagen in December 2009.

This research paper examines the relationship between greenhouse gas emissions and human well-being, using China as a primary case study. It analyzes how income per capita, energy production mixes, and geography correlate with CO2 emissions across 174 countries and 30 Chinese provinces, arguing that current high-consumption lifestyles in rich countries are incompatible with low-emission stabilization targets.

This briefing by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) examines the role of agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU) in climate change mitigation. It analyzes the potential for carbon sequestration in developing countries, the technical and financial obstacles to including these sectors in international agreements, and the specific policy positions and regulatory frameworks of Canada.

This briefing, produced by the ISEAL Alliance and the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), summarizes legal opinions on the ability of governments to reference voluntary international standards, specifically non-product related Process and Production Method (npr PPM) standards such as social and environmental criteria, in government procurement under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.