Search Climate Insights Directory

This guide outlines the necessity of conducting social analyses when using Aqueduct Food data to ensure water and agricultural policies are socially equitable. It highlights how vulnerable groups—such as women in Malawi, pastoralists in the Sahel, and displaced communities in India—are disproportionately affected by resource management decisions. The document provides a set of guiding questions and a list of resources from organizations like the World Bank and FAO to help decision-makers identify and mitigate adverse social impacts.

This guide by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) outlines a four-step process for government officials and practitioners to develop a national landscape of climate finance, drawing on CPI's experience since 2011 in tracking investments for low carbon and climate resilient actions.

This report consists of a series of expert commentaries analyzing the global geopolitical and domestic implications of the January 6 Capitol Hill attacks. The contributors discuss how the event affected the perception of U.S. democracy and influenced the foreign policies and internal political dynamics of the United Kingdom, Brazil, South Africa, Turkey, and India.

This research paper analyzes US President Donald Trump's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, arguing that he treated the crisis as a campaign stage. The author contends that Trump pursued a laissez-faire 'herd immunity' strategy, not for epidemiological reasons, but to frame himself as a protector of the working class and small business owners against a perceived 'elite' scientific and political establishment.

This annex to the 2021 NYDF Goal 7 Progress Report provides technical and economic mitigation potential estimates for forest-related activities, analyzes the ambition of forest targets in National Determined Contributions (NDCs), and estimates the global finance needs and public finance flows for forest mitigation.

This report summarizes the outcomes of the Green Economy Coalition (GEC) Global Meeting held from November 29 to December 3, 2021. The event brought together 359 participants from over 45 countries to discuss strategies for a green and fair COVID-19 recovery, focusing on nature, inequality, and the energy transition. The meeting culminated in a 'Declaration on a green COVID-19 recovery' calling for structural economic transformation to achieve nature-positive and net-zero economies.

The COP26 Resilience Hub Synthesis Report outlines key messages and future directions for climate adaptation and resilience, emphasizing the need for locally led action, diversified finance, and the integration of nature-based solutions. It synthesizes findings from the Resilience Hub's activities at COP26, focusing on three pillars (urban, coastal, and rural) and ten thematic areas to guide action toward COP27.

This report analyzes regional trends in cooling access gaps for 2021, focusing on high-impact countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and the Caribbean. It highlights an overall increase in populations at highest risk—specifically the rural and urban poor—across all regions, with the COVID-19 pandemic cited as a contributing factor to rising poverty and cooling access challenges.

This report examines the socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the specific challenges posed by the cold chain requirements of early vaccines, which threatened equitable global access to immunization.

This policy brief analyzes the fiscal implications of the gradual phase-out of coal production in Colombia, focusing on the role of royalties and the economic vulnerability of producing regions like Cesar and La Guajira. It examines production trends, international trade dynamics, and the impact of the General Royalties System (SGR) reform, concluding that current policy measures are insufficient to offset the projected decline in coal demand and revenue.

The World Resources Institute (WRI) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to environmental protection and sustainable development. For the 2021 tax year, WRI reported total revenue of $193,968,394 and total expenses of $183,476,237, focusing its efforts on global challenges including climate, energy, food, forests, water, oceans, and sustainable cities.

This policy brief examines the global plastic pollution crisis, arguing that current waste-management strategies are insufficient because they focus on the waste stage rather than the production stage. The author discusses the limitations of recycling, the role of the petrochemical industry, and the potential for a new global treaty to address the lifecycle of plastics.

This briefing by the South African Institute of International Affairs examines strategies for sustainable resource mobilisation to strengthen global healthcare systems, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. It argues for a shift from disease-specific 'vertical' funding to a 'whole systems approach' that addresses the triple burden of non-communicable diseases, existing infections, and pandemic response gaps. The document emphasizes the importance of domestic resource mobilisation (DRM), the need for equitable vaccine distribution through the ACT-Accelerator and COVAX, and the potential for LMICs to leverage lessons from the AIDS epidemic to challenge intellectual property barriers via TRIPS waivers.

The Recover Better with Sustainable Energy Guide for South Asian Countries outlines the energy access challenges and economic risks facing South Asian nations during the pandemic, urging leaders to utilize recovery efforts to transition toward sustainable development and updated Nationally Determined Contributions.

The Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2021 evaluates 57 of the world's highest greenhouse gas emitters, finding that no single country is currently on a path compliant with the Paris Agreement goals. While the European Union improved its ranking to 16th place, the report highlights a stark divide between leading nations and G20 members like the USA, Saudi Arabia, and Russia, who are rated 'very low'.

The 'Climate and Society' game is a training tool designed to illustrate how social, economic, and physical attributes—such as gender, age, and socio-economic status—create varying levels of climate vulnerability and adaptive capacity. Using fictional scenarios in Ethiopia, India, and Latin America, the game encourages participants to 'walk in other people's shoes' to identify barriers to participation in climate planning. The guide provides strategies for making consultations and adaptation interventions more inclusive by adjusting timing, location, and personnel to accommodate marginalized groups.

This executive summary by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) evaluates the alignment of global power sector investment with the Paris Agreement goals for 2018. Using a new science-based methodology, CPI finds that significant investment continues to flow into fossil fuel power, putting the world on a temperature trajectory exceeding 3.2°C. The document highlights a critical gap in asset-level transaction data and provides recommendations for public and private actors to halt carbon-intensive investments and accelerate the decommissioning of fossil fuel plants.

This policy brief examines the restart of agriculture negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) in September 2020 under Chair Gloria Abraham Peralta. It analyzes the challenges of achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and shifting global trade dynamics, while outlining seven key negotiating areas and potential pathways for progress.

This report by Ember evaluates the availability, quality, and transparency of timely electricity data across various countries in Asia and Oceania. It establishes a scoring framework based on eight criteria—including time granularity, fuel breakdown, and ease of access—to rank national data sources and identify gaps that hinder the tracking of the energy transition.

This briefing by the World Resources Institute outlines three strategic steps for the Biden administration to re-establish the United States as a global leader in climate action following the 2020 presidential election. It emphasizes the need for a robust national climate commitment, increased financial support for developing nations, and the integration of climate change into core foreign policy to rebuild international trust and align with global trends toward net-zero emissions.