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This briefing by RMI analyzes the state of the global energy transition entering 2025, highlighting record growth in cleantech and falling costs despite ongoing challenges in methane reduction and energy efficiency.

This guide by the Global Climate and Health Alliance provides a framework for the climate and health community to help governments integrate health considerations into their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), specifically for the 'NDCs 3.0' due in 2025. It outlines seven criteria for health-inclusive NDCs, practical steps for government implementation, and strategies for civil society to advocate for health-centric climate policies.

This research paper by Global Energy Monitor analyzes India's steel industry, arguing that its current strategy of expanding coal-based capacity before implementing decarbonization—a "build now, decarbonize later" approach—risks creating massive stranded assets and locking in high emissions. The document details the industry's heavy reliance on blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF) and coal-based direct reduced iron (DRI) production, while evaluating the potential and limitations of green hydrogen, scrap-based production, and renewable energy integration to meet India's 2070 net-zero goal.

This policy brief examines the foreign and development relations between Africa, the European Union (EU), and Germany, arguing that these relationships are still characterized by 'coloniality'—the persistence of unequal power dynamics and colonial logic. The author analyzes how EU and German policies in security, raw material acquisition, and development aid often marginalize African agency, prioritize European economic interests, and employ 'saviourism' through top-down interventions. The document provides specific case studies from Mauritania, Mali, South Sudan, Namibia, and Zambia to illustrate these dynamics and concludes with recommendations for genuine decolonization, including respecting African demands on trade and resource beneficiation.

This briefing by Zero Carbon Analytics examines how a potential US slowdown in clean technology investment and deployment under a Donald Trump presidency could create market opportunities for emerging economies, specifically China, Brazil, and India.

The ninth FOCAC Beijing Summit (2024) marked a re-calibration of China-Africa relations, with China pledging USD 50.7 billion over three years. African leaders demonstrated increased agency, shifting focus from raw aid to value-added trade, technological transfer, and green energy. Key outcomes include a USD 1 billion deal to rehabilitate the Tazara railway and a strategic increase in Chinese security assistance via the Global Security Initiative. The summit highlights a growing ideological and geopolitical divide, as China offers an alternative governance model to Western liberal democracy and aggressively pursues the African EV and digital markets.

This policy brief argues for the adoption of progressive tax instruments—including Financial Transaction Taxes (FTT), net wealth taxes, property taxes, and Resource Rent Taxes—to combat extreme poverty and economic inequality, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. It highlights the regressive nature of current African tax structures and provides a case study for South Africa, suggesting that a combination of these taxes could generate hundreds of billions of rands to fund social protection and basic income guarantees.

This report outlines the potential and challenges of the global bioeconomy, emphasizing the need for an integrated, equitable, and sustainable approach to financing and governance to support a low-carbon, nature-positive economy.

This policy brief analyzes the EU Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) and the UK Critical Minerals Strategy (CMS), evaluating their potential to support African industrialization. It argues that both frameworks are primarily driven by domestic energy and economic priorities, focusing on reducing dependency on China and mitigating geopolitical risks. The author contends that current capital allocations and the emphasis on domestic processing capacity are insufficient to attract private investment for African value addition and beneficiation, suggesting a need for a shift in political and commercial relations to align with African industrialization goals.

A statement of solidarity delivered by the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD) at the 16th Annual Conference of the Southern African Development Community Organisation of Public Accounts Committees (SADCOPAC), calling for African solidarity to address debt crises and reform global economic governance.

This policy brief examines China's dominant role in Africa's critical minerals sector, highlighting the tension between increased investment and the lack of local value addition. It argues that while China's infrastructure-led approach and state support provide a competitive edge, African nations must shift from exporting raw materials to developing domestic processing and refining capabilities to avoid the 'resource curse' and benefit from the global energy transition.

This policy brief examines the global race to secure critical minerals for green and digital industrial revolutions, detailing the strategies of the US, EU, UK, Canada, and China. It argues that African countries can leverage their mineral wealth through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) by adopting a 'climate-resilient developmental regionalism' approach to build regional value chains and achieve sustainable structural transformation.

The report "Financiando uma Bioeconomia Global Sustentável" (September 2024) analyzes the current and future interaction between finance and the bioeconomy. It advocates for a sustainable, equitable, and nature-positive bioeconomy as a cornerstone for a low-carbon global economy, emphasizing the role of the G20, international cooperation, and innovative financial instruments to bridge investment gaps and protect biodiversity.

This technical brief by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) summarizes key findings from the IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report (Working Group II) regarding gender, equity, and justice in climate change adaptation. It translates technical scientific data into accessible messages and illustrative examples, specifically contextualized for African geographies, to help practitioners implement more inclusive and effective adaptation strategies.

This technical brief from the Climate Adaptation and Protected Areas (CAPA) Initiative provides a framework and checklist for practitioners and policy-makers to assess and design nature-based solutions (NbS) for climate change adaptation, focusing on gender-responsiveness, social inclusion, and conflict sensitivity.

This report by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and the Global Initiative for Economic, Social & Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR) analyzes the 2023 activities of UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies (HRTBs) regarding states' human rights obligations in the context of climate change. It tracks the increasing frequency of climate-related references in state reporting procedures and examines specific themes such as fossil fuel extraction, the right to a healthy environment, loss and damage, and intergenerational equity.

This report from the Institute for Security Studies analyzes the activities and structural challenges of the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC). It evaluates the performance of the fifth Panel of the Wise, the coordination between the PSC and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the resurgence of mercenarism in Africa, and the underutilization of policing in peace support operations. Additionally, it outlines the priorities of Cameroon during its chairship of the PSC.

This fact sheet describes a legal challenge brought by The Green Connection (TGC) and Natural Justice (NJ) against the environmental authorisation granted to Total Energies EP South Africa Block 567 (Pty) Ltd for oil and gas exploration off the coast of the Western Cape. It details the grounds for judicial review and reports Total's July 2024 announcement of its intention to withdraw from exploration block 567.

This fact sheet by Natural Justice details a legal challenge brought by The Green Connection (TGC) and Natural Justice (NJ) against the environmental authorisation granted to Total Energies EP South Africa Block 567 (Pty) Ltd for oil and gas exploration off the Western Cape coast. It specifically addresses a joinder application by Total to include Shell in the proceedings following Total's July 2024 announcement of its withdrawal from block 567.

This policy brief by the South African Institute of International Affairs examines the gap between Africa's vast renewable energy potential and its current capacity. It highlights the continent's critical role in the global energy transition due to its abundance of solar, wind, and hydro resources, as well as essential critical minerals. The document outlines systemic barriers to progress, including insufficient financing, a heavy reliance on imported technology, and a lack of local manufacturing. It proposes strategic interventions for the African Union and G20 to enhance technology transfer, mobilize climate finance, and integrate African nations into green value chains beyond the supply of raw materials.