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A study of 1,300 social and environmental enterprises in developing countries highlights how grassroots micro enterprises use new business models to serve their communities, while facing significant barriers to scaling up.

This report examines the intersection of agro-value chain finance and climate adaptation, highlighting how limited access to financial resources hinders productivity and increases vulnerability to climate hazards. It argues that while some microfinance models are emerging, the banking sector must proactively integrate climate risk into its strategies and develop inclusive, climate-proof financial instruments to support sustainable development.

This research paper examines the implementation of the Direct Benefit Transfer for liquefied petroleum gas (DBTL) in the Mysore district of Karnataka, India, based on interviews conducted in October 2013.

This briefing note by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) examines the role of the banking sector in providing agricultural finance that supports climate adaptation within agro-value chains, with a particular focus on developing countries in Africa and a case study on the coffee sector in Uganda.

This briefing paper examines the policy tools available to Eastern African states to foster 'national champions' in the mining sector and maximize sustainable development benefits from foreign direct investment. It analyzes the effectiveness of ownership and performance requirements and evaluates how international investment agreements, specifically Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs), may restrict the policy space of host governments.

This briefing by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) examines the policy tools available to East African states to develop 'national champions' in the mining sector and the legal constraints imposed by bilateral investment treaties (BITs). It evaluates ownership and performance requirements, contrasting their developmental utility with the restrictive nature of international investment law.

This report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) provides a detailed response to the European Commission's 2014 public consultation on investment protection and Investor-to-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) within the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Agreement (TTIP). The IISD analyzes proposed text—much of it derived from the EU-Canada Agreement (CETA)—and argues that there are significant inconsistencies between the Commission's stated goals of protecting the right to regulate and the actual legal language proposed, which the IISD suggests could still allow for expansive arbitral interpretations.

This briefing by the International Institute for Sustainable Development examines agricultural cooperatives as a model for inclusive investment. It details the types of cooperatives, their benefits for smallholders, the role of foreign investment in reducing risk and improving skills, and the necessary government support and legal frameworks to ensure their success without undue state interference.

This report reviews Myanmar's investment treaty landscape as of June 2014, analyzing the legal implications of its bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and agreements negotiated through ASEAN. It highlights significant variations in drafting and provisions across these treaties, which increase the complexity of government compliance and the risk of costly investor-state arbitration claims.

This report synthesizes regional perspectives from Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean on the capacity-building needs required to integrate sustainable development (SD) principles into national and subnational planning. Based on workshops held in 2014, the document identifies gaps in multistakeholder participation, vertical and horizontal government coordination, cross-sectoral policy integration, and monitoring, evaluation, and reporting (MER) systems to prepare countries for the post-2015 development agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This case study examines how the province of Manitoba improved the resilience of its winter road network to mitigate the economic and social impacts of warmer winter temperatures and fluctuating ice levels.

This report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) assesses a pilot program for Direct Benefit Transfer of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) subsidies in the Mysore district of India. Based on surveys and focus groups conducted in October 2013, the report finds that the scheme faced significant administrative hurdles, caused financial instability for poor households, and led some users to return to biomass fuels, ultimately resulting in the program's suspension by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas on January 30, 2014.

This report, part of a series on green industrial policy (GIP), examines the wind and solar sectors in India to provide research for developing cost-effective policies for green industries.

This document introduces a pilot study by the International Institute for Sustainable Development on China's copper supply chains. It argues that sustainability risks in inbound supply chains—such as environmental degradation and social problems in exporting countries—can threaten China's security of supply and international reputation. The project developed a methodology to assess these risks, testing it via copper and palm oil pilots and stakeholder consultations.

This document introduces a pilot study by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), supported by the U.K. Government’s Department for International Development (DFID), which examines the relationship between sustainability and security of supply risks within China's inbound supply chains, specifically focusing on palm oil.

This synthesis report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development proposes a commodity-by-commodity framework to assess sustainability risks and vulnerabilities for importers, specifically focusing on China's global resource needs. The report argues that China's reliance on inward supply chains exposes it to systemic risks—including natural hazards, local conflict, and resource nationalism—which are currently managed in a tactical rather than strategic manner.

This document introduces the methodology for the IISD Supply Risk Tool, designed to help Chinese enterprises and policy-makers assess and manage the social and environmental risks within inbound supply chains to ensure security of supply.

This document consists of two distinct sections: a policy brief introduction regarding the utilization of ASEAN-led Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) by micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and a commentary on the United Kingdom's accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and its potential public health implications.

This briefing note analyzes the role of fossil-fuel subsidies in Indonesia's social welfare strategy, arguing that while these subsidies were traditionally used to alleviate poverty and control inflation, they have become expensive, inefficient, and regressive.

This briefing note analyzes the short-term effects of fossil-fuel subsidy reform on Indonesia's energy supply chain, specifically referencing price hikes in June 2013 and the potential for shifting from subsidized LPG to electric induction cooking.