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The document outlines the need for climate information services to build agricultural resilience in Rwanda and describes a USAID-funded project aiming to benefit nearly one million farmers by 2019 through improved climate risk management.

The Government of Zambia has made progress in establishing a national framework for climate change adaptation and institutionalizing disaster prevention at district and community levels through District Disaster Management Committees. However, the document notes that community-level mechanisms often become defunct between major disasters and that urgent responses to floods and droughts frequently overshadow adaptation to gradual climate change. To improve impacts, the briefing recommends strengthening the mandate and financing of district institutions and improving coordination between Local Government, NGOs, and donor-funded programmes.

The Rwanda Dairy Competitiveness Program II (RDCP II) successfully reduced the GHG emission intensity of milk production in Rwanda, with extensive systems seeing a 60% decrease and intensive systems a 47% decrease. However, because productivity interventions increased herd size and cow weight, total annual GHG emissions in the project area rose by an estimated 12% compared to business-as-usual practices. Despite this absolute increase, the growth in milk output proportionally exceeded the increase in emissions, indicating a shift toward more efficient and sustainable production patterns.

The Better Life Alliance (BLA) project in Zambia's Luangwa valley reduced greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 902,531 tCO2e/yr, primarily through the prevention of savanna degradation and conversion. The project utilized a business model linking conservation to market incentives and promoted agro-ecological soil management and reduced postharvest losses for crops including groundnuts, maize, rice, and soybeans.

Climate change in Zimbabwe is marked by rising temperatures and unpredictable rainfall, creating significant threats to livestock production including pasture shortages, disease spread, and drought. The livestock industry is currently unprepared for these challenges due to a lack of investment in infrastructure, technology, and research personnel, leading to an overall decrease in animal numbers, productivity, and profitability.

The document details a screening process to identify champion Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices in Nepal, utilizing a combination of on-farm trials, household surveys, and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The methodology evaluates technologies based on three pillars—food security, adaptation, and mitigation—alongside Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI). The process resulted in a final list of 17 champion CSAs, with specific allocations for the high-hill, mid-hill, and Terai regions. Findings indicate that farmers prioritize food security above all other criteria, and that packaging multiple technologies is more effective for building resilience than standalone practices.

The report assesses 13 'champion' climate-smart agriculture (CSA) technologies in Nepal, including plastic houses, drip irrigation, and solar-based irrigation. It identifies systemic barriers to scaling, such as a lack of skilled service providers, inadequate scientific evidence for diverse agro-ecological zones, and a reliance on project-based rather than sustainable implementation. The document proposes three scaling models—knowledge-transfer, commercial business, and policy-push—and recommends transitioning from scheme-based to performance-based subsidies to better support poor smallholder farmers.

Indonesia faces imminent energy security challenges, with demand for electricity and transport fuel expected to grow rapidly by 2030. While the government has set ambitious targets for renewable energy (23% by 2025) and emission reductions (29-41% by 2030), current investments follow a 'business as usual' fossil fuel path. Structural barriers include policy inconsistency, limited fiscal space, and a political culture of transactional politics and decentralisation that often favours the exploitation of domestic coal. However, opportunities exist in geothermal energy, waste-to-energy, and energy efficiency, alongside governance reforms like the 'One Map' initiative and increased foreign direct investment to mitigate the financial risks of transitioning to a low-carbon economy.

The document provides a guide on Global Climate Models (GCMs), distinguishing them from weather forecasts and explaining how they use socio-economic scenarios to project long-term climate trends. It emphasizes that while GCMs have coarse resolution and struggle with localized rainfall patterns—especially in Africa due to data gaps and complex features like the Congo Basin—they are sufficient for strategic planning over 5 to 40 years. The brief warns against the 'myth' that downscaled projections are inherently better, noting that additional manipulation can increase uncertainty.

The report argues that Bangladesh's state-dominated oil market and ad-hoc pricing policy create severe fiscal burdens, hinder investment, and encourage carbon emissions. It finds that oil subsidies primarily benefit the rich and upper-middle classes rather than the poor. To address these issues, the authors recommend a phased transition toward market-based pricing, the deregulation of all oil market segments to encourage private investment, and the implementation of targeted cash transfers to protect vulnerable populations from price increases.

The document examines the potential for private climate finance in Rwanda, noting that while the government has prioritized private investment in policy, a strong enabling environment for adaptation has not yet been created. It identifies significant barriers including high credit costs (interest rates up to 20%), landlocked geography, and inadequate electricity supply. The brief concludes that foreign direct investment is currently negligible and suggests that efforts should instead focus on empowering local Rwandan businesses, particularly small and medium enterprises, through tailored incentives and increased awareness of climate risks and opportunities.

The paper examines the alignment between the African Group of Negotiators' (AGN) vision for a Global Goal for Adaptation (GGA) and the provisions of the Paris Agreement. It argues that while the Agreement establishes a GGA and recognizes the link between mitigation and adaptation, significant technical and political work is required to operationalise it. Key recommendations include establishing minimum information requirements for adaptation components of Nationally Determined Contributions (a-NDCs) to enable the aggregation of data for the global stocktake, and developing sector-specific risk metrics to track progress. The authors emphasize the need for 'material parity' between mitigation and adaptation, ensuring that adaptation support is adequate, transparent, and based on scientific temperature scenarios.

The report assesses climate variability and future projections across central, eastern, western, and southern Africa, highlighting a critical gap in observational data and a lack of consensus among climate models. It details regional risks—such as the 'east African climate change paradox' and the vulnerability of the Congo rainforest—while providing country-specific analysis for Malawi, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. The document emphasizes the need for improved high-resolution modelling and better communication of scientific uncertainty to support adaptation in agriculture, water, energy, and urban infrastructure.

The document outlines five key strategies for building effective local climate partnerships: strategic partner selection, the inclusion of marginalised and opposing groups, leveraging local actors with clear spheres of influence, ensuring mutual benefit through co-design, and employing a trusted facilitator or knowledge broker.

The document outlines five primary strategies for integrating climate compatible development into local political agendas: establishing cross-party consensus, linking climate action to development goals, aligning climate measures with sectoral objectives, utilizing local and national 'champions', and designing initiatives to benefit marginalized groups. It emphasizes that finding innovative, non-climate-specific entry points—such as energy security or economic alternatives—can lead to more enduring policy success. Examples include Uruguay's cross-party agreement on renewable energy, the use of 'water walks' in Madurai, India, and the integration of low-emission strategies into Bogor's municipal development plan.

The document outlines five key strategies for local governments to build effective climate partnerships: choosing partners strategically beyond the environmental sector, involving marginalised and opposing groups, leveraging local actors while understanding their spheres of influence, ensuring mutual benefit through co-design, and employing a trusted facilitator or knowledge broker. It illustrates these points with examples such as solar energy initiatives in Pakistan and Indonesia, climate-smart agriculture in Nepal, and coastal management in Belize.

The project developed a 2012 base year emissions inventory and projections to 2030 for Pakistan, identifying that emissions are expected to grow significantly without additional intervention. It analyzed mitigation options across agriculture, forestry, energy, industry, transport, and waste, concluding that implementing these measures could reduce emissions by over 100 megatonnes. A sensitivity analysis highlighted that GDP growth is a primary driver of future emissions, with higher growth rates leading to substantially higher GHG levels.

The report examines Colombia's struggle to transition toward green growth while remaining heavily dependent on oil and coal exports. It highlights a fragmented state where ministries tied to extractive industries often oppose environmental regulations. While the country has a low-carbon electricity grid dominated by hydropower, it is vulnerable to climate-induced droughts, leading to a push for thermal power and fracking. The report suggests linking renewable energy incentives to post-conflict rural development and leveraging a vanguard of sustainable private sector companies to drive a national transition.

The document outlines a multi-hazard study funded by the Climate and Development Knowledge Network for the Government of El Salvador, which modeled nearly 100 hazard scenarios affecting critical infrastructure. The study found that the long-term average annual loss to analyzed infrastructure is estimated at US$35.5 million, with earthquakes and floods accounting for nearly 80% of these losses and schools identified as the infrastructure type most at risk. The brief recommends using these estimates to prioritize retrofits, integrating results into local planning, expanding risk metrics, analyzing climate change impacts on specific hazards, and improving inter-ministerial collaboration.

The report establishes a business-as-usual (BAU) GHG emissions baseline for Pakistan, projecting total emissions to reach 768 Mt CO2e by 2030. Agriculture is identified as the largest emission source, accounting for over 40% of emissions in 2012. The energy sector is further divided into residential, commercial, industrial, transport, and electricity generation. The analysis highlights significant data gaps in agriculture, LULUCF, and waste sectors, and concludes that GDP growth is the primary driver of future emission levels, with a high-growth scenario potentially increasing 2030 emissions by 36% relative to the reference case.