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The report assesses five Canadian industrial carbon pricing systems, noting that while the combination of a federal benchmark and provincial tailoring has been largely effective, design differences can fragment markets. It emphasizes the need for predictable carbon pricing and continuous monitoring to prevent issues like credit oversupply.

The document argues that GDP fails to account for the 'care economy'—essential unpaid work primarily performed by women—and advocates for a cohesive, integrated system of indicators to measure these contributions. It highlights that women perform over 16 billion hours of unpaid care daily and suggests that current alternative metrics often still overlook these vital societal contributions.

The document examines the progress of carbon pricing in three Southeast Asian nations. Indonesia has an advanced regulatory framework and a functioning carbon exchange (IDXCarbon) but struggles with low trading volumes and high emission allowances. The Philippines is in the early stages of designing an emissions trading system (ETS) and exploring voluntary markets. Viet Nam is piloting an ETS for power, steel, and cement sectors, driven by its 2050 net-zero commitment and the impact of the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).

The report identifies a significant gap in climate finance reaching South African local governments, noting that less than 10% of international public climate finance flows directly to them. Municipalities face technical capacity limitations, low creditworthiness, and rigid donor requirements, which prevent them from leveraging private debt or concessional loans. While frameworks like the Climate Change Act (2024) and the National Green Finance Taxonomy (2022) provide a basis for engagement, the report argues that a lack of bankable projects and misalignment between national policies and local capabilities stall progress. It recommends structured capacity-building, improved tracking of climate finance flows, and the development of cost-reflective tariff structures to improve municipal creditworthiness and attract private investment.

The document examines how the 2025 ICJ Advisory Opinion shifts climate adaptation from a voluntary domestic policy choice to a legally binding international obligation. It details the procedural and substantive obligations under the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement, the application of a 'due diligence' standard to assess state compliance, and the binding requirements for developed countries to provide adaptation finance and support. The brief also highlights the intersection of adaptation with international human rights law and other multilateral environmental agreements, recommending that states integrate these frameworks to ensure legal robustness and effective resilience.

The document examines how the ICJ's 2025 advisory opinion shifts climate adaptation from a voluntary national choice to a binding international legal obligation. It details the procedural and substantive requirements for states, the application of the 'due diligence' standard to evaluate compliance, and the mandatory role of developed countries in providing financial and technical support to developing nations. The briefing also highlights the intersection of adaptation with human rights and other multilateral environmental agreements.

The document analyzes how a 2025 ICJ Advisory Opinion establishes that states must include end-use emissions (downstream effects) in environmental impact assessments (EIAs) for fossil fuel projects. It highlights that while the opinion is non-binding, it provides authoritative legal guidance that is already influencing national and regional courts in the UK, Norway, and the EU. The brief recommends that governments update their regulations to require the quantification of combustion emissions and align these assessments with global climate objectives, such as IPCC 1.5°C pathways, to mitigate legal risks.

The document examines how a July 2025 International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion mandates that environmental impact assessments (EIAs) for fossil fuel projects include emissions from the final combustion of the extracted fuels. It highlights that while states determine the exact content of EIAs, they must account for downstream effects to meet due diligence and Paris Agreement obligations. The briefing cites precedents in the UK and EFTA Court, as well as subsequent rulings by the European Court of Human Rights and the Borgarting Court of Appeal, to demonstrate the growing legal requirement to quantify end-use greenhouse gas emissions.

The briefing examines the legal implications of the 2025 ICJ Advisory Opinion on climate change, arguing that the provision of fossil fuel subsidies may constitute an internationally wrongful act. It extends this reasoning to other harmful subsidies, such as those in agriculture and plastics, and provides recommendations for states to reduce legal risk through transparent, phased reforms and international coordination via the Coalition on Phasing Out Fossil Fuel Incentives Including Subsidies (COFFIS).

The document argues that the ICJ's 2025 advisory opinion transforms the removal of fossil fuel subsidies from a political commitment into a legal imperative, as such subsidies may constitute an 'internationally wrongful act'. It suggests this reasoning extends to other harmful subsidies, such as those in agriculture and plastics, increasing the legal risk for states. The briefing recommends that governments implement transparent, gradual phase-out plans, prioritize social protection over production subsidies, and coordinate internationally through initiatives like the Coalition on Phasing Out Fossil Fuel Incentives including Subsidies (COFFIS).

The document argues that the ICJ's 2025 advisory opinion transforms the legal landscape for investment disputes by establishing that climate action is a binding legal obligation rather than a discretionary policy choice. This shift undermines investor claims based on 'legitimate expectations' for fossil fuel activities and provides states with stronger defenses against claims of unfair and inequitable treatment (FET) or indirect expropriation. The author recommends that states reform investment treaties to exclude climate measures from compensation claims, limit prospective damages based on future fossil fuel revenues, and negotiate agreements to neutralize survival clauses in treaties like the Energy Charter Treaty.

The document analyzes how the ICJ's 2025 Advisory Opinion rejects the 'lex specialis' doctrine, establishing that the UN climate regime and other multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), human rights law, and customary international law mutually inform and reinforce one another. It argues that states must integrate climate considerations into the implementation of treaties such as the Convention on Biological Diversity and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea to demonstrate due diligence and avoid legal consequences for non-compliance.

The Nature-Based Solutions Inventory for Belize catalogues 37 projects implemented from 2018 to 2025 across all districts. These initiatives, led primarily by NGOs and community-based organisations, focus on reforestation, mangrove and coral reef restoration, and climate-smart agriculture to mitigate risks from sea level rise, hurricanes, and droughts. The report highlights a shift from grey infrastructure to NbS, supported by national policies like the National Landscape Restoration Strategy and international funding from entities such as the Adaptation Fund and Global Affairs Canada.

The report details the findings of a two-part survey conducted between June and September 2025 with over 60 respondents from academia, government, and civil society. The results indicate a shift in priorities away from traditional investment protection and toward managing the negative impacts of investment and maximizing positive spillovers. While treaties are seen as useful for dispute settlement and international cooperation, national laws are overwhelmingly viewed as the most appropriate tool for addressing sustainable investment and investor accountability. The report also explores technical aspects of treaty reform, including the potential for treaties to scale up renewable energy and the preference for non-adjudicatory compliance mechanisms.

The IISD recommends that the EU uphold its Arctic fossil fuel extraction moratorium to ensure energy security, protect fragile ecosystems, and maintain policy coherence with the European Green Deal. The document argues that Arctic fossil fuels are too expensive, high-risk, and slow to develop to be viable, noting that new fields would only become operational after the EU should have advanced its net-zero pathway. It further suggests phasing out imports from the Barents and northern Norwegian seas to reduce security risks and align with partners like Canada and Greenland, who have implemented similar bans.

The report assesses the alignment of ARSO's regional agriculture and forestry standards with the EUDR. While ARSO demonstrates strong institutional governance and a solid baseline for legal compliance, it lacks critical technical requirements for EUDR readiness, specifically regarding the December 31, 2020 cut-off date, plot-level geolocation, and structured ex ante risk assessments. The author recommends that ARSO adopt EUDR-aligned definitions of deforestation, mandate polygon-level mapping for plots over 4 hectares, and increase transparency regarding audit outcomes to help African producers maintain market access to the EU.

The ICJ's 2025 Advisory Opinion establishes that states have binding legal obligations to protect the climate system, which includes phasing out fossil fuel production and subsidies. This finding challenges the legal basis for many investor-state claims, as it undermines the 'legitimate expectations' of investors in carbon-intensive industries and provides states with stronger defenses against claims of fair and equitable treatment (FET) violations. The brief argues that the prospect of ISDS can cause 'regulatory chill,' deterring necessary climate action. It recommends that states reform investment treaties through sector-based carve-outs, restrict forward-looking damages based on projected fossil fuel revenues, and coordinate withdrawals from outdated agreements like the Energy Charter Treaty.

The document examines the 2025 ICJ advisory opinion, which establishes that climate obligations are not isolated to the UN climate regime but are reinforced by other multilateral environmental agreements and human rights law. It argues that states must implement these obligations in an integrated manner to demonstrate due diligence and avoid legal consequences for inaction.

The report analyzes the systemic invisibility of the care economy in national statistics, specifically how GDP overlooks unpaid care work disproportionately performed by women. It reviews five primary measurement approaches: time-use surveys, economic valuation (opportunity and replacement costs), policy indices/scorecards, quality-of-life metrics, and household satellite accounts. Using case studies from Canada, Bangladesh, the UK, and Africa, the document demonstrates that unpaid care can represent a significant portion of national wealth—for example, estimated at 25% to 37% of Canada's GDP in 2021. The report concludes that moving beyond GDP requires a cohesive, integrated system of measurement to recognize care as a structural pillar of development and a fundamental investment in human capabilities.

The assessment evaluates the viability of nature-based solutions (NbS) in Johannesburg's Jukskei River catchment, including riparian restoration and urban tree planting. Using the SAVi methodology, the report finds that these interventions are economically viable, with a discounted benefit-to-cost ratio (BCR) of 3.06 and cumulative net benefits of ZAR 152 million from 2025 to 2050. The most significant benefits are avoided health costs from water pollution and avoided infrastructure damage from flooding.