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The report details the results of the BONUS RETURN project, which identified and evaluated ecotechnologies for recovering nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon from wastewater and agriculture in the Baltic Sea Region. While agricultural waste recovery often showed positive net present value, wastewater technologies typically required expensive infrastructure, leading to negative net present values. The project emphasizes that transitioning to a circular nutrient economy requires shifting away from linear 'silo' thinking, harmonizing EU regulations for phosphorus, and adjusting fertilizer pricing to account for environmental externalities.

The SEI Initiative on Gridless Solutions examines decentralized, modular technologies as complements to grid-based systems for basic services. While innovation has accelerated, the initiative identifies significant barriers to expansion, including regulatory mismatches, lack of financing, and a poor understanding of end-user expectations. The program focuses on mapping value chains, analyzing the politics of decentralized electricity in East Africa, studying off-grid sanitation in Latin America, and exploring disaster risk management in Small Island Development States. Additionally, the sWASH & grow project evaluates success factors for scaling off-grid water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) innovations.

The report argues that while social protection is frequently used to respond to sudden-onset disasters, its potential to address slow-onset hazards like sea-level rise is underutilised. It highlights that the gradual nature of these hazards provides a unique window for transformative structural changes to address root causes of vulnerability. The authors identify significant knowledge gaps regarding urban coastal contexts and the adaptive functions of social protection, proposing three research principles: integrating slow-onset risks into social protection, prioritising transformative potential, and adapting mechanisms to specific coastal contexts.

The research evaluates in-home emissions from rocket-style biomass stoves, forced draft gasifiers, and liquified petroleum gas (LPG) stoves in rural India. Utilizing a sample of 253 in-home emission tests—the largest of its kind and the first large-scale study of LPG stoves—the study examines the impact of these stoves on household air pollution and the climate, specifically regarding the release of carbon dioxide and methane.

This research paper explores the political economy of climate adaptation projects by combining the 4E typology (enclosure, exclusion, encroachment, and entrenchment) with system mapping. Using the solar electricity system in Turkana, Kenya as a case study, the author argues that integrating these tools helps connect theoretical change processes to empirical reality and allows for the construction of causal pathways from projects to impacts.

The research evaluates future food security using the FEEDME model, incorporating IPCC climate scenarios and Shared Socio-economic Pathways. The findings suggest that while climate change affects crop yields, population growth is the primary driver of undernourishment prevalence, with rapid population growth correlating with the worst food security outcomes.

The report argues that achieving Zero Hunger requires a geopolitical understanding of food security, as unilateralism and competition over resources, trade disruptions, and armed conflict create barriers to eradicating hunger. It highlights that climate change further complicates these dynamics by reshaping both the physical environment and political calculations, necessitating integrated policy analysis.

The report estimates that a net increase in investment of approximately 66 billion SEK is required to decarbonise Swedish heavy industry by 2045. This includes 50 billion SEK for the four largest emission sources—steel, petrochemicals, refining, and cement—and 15 billion SEK for carbon capture and storage (CCS) in the pulp and paper sector to achieve net-zero. The analysis reveals that financing challenges vary by sector: steel and petrochemicals face high capital expenditure (CAPEX) hurdles due to the need for transformative new processes, while cement and refining are primarily constrained by high operational expenses (OPEX) associated with adding CCS. The report argues that while the total costs are manageable compared to other national infrastructure spending, current carbon pricing under the EU ETS is insufficient to drive these investments, necessitating increased public risk-sharing and targeted industrial policy.

The study examines the drivers of hydrological alteration in the Srepok River Basin, finding that land use, rainfall, and temperature each affect different hydrological parameters. It identifies the 'fall rate' as the parameter most significantly affected by all three drivers, while hydropower development specifically impacts the fall rate and reversal.

The Stockholm Environment Institute's Water Beyond Boundaries (WBB) initiative aims to evolve water planning beyond the traditional Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) framework, which the authors argue has not yet yielded sustainable outcomes. WBB focuses on three pillars: analyzing water connections beyond the immediate watershed, integrating ecosystem needs throughout the planning process, and employing multi-scale participatory approaches to address inequalities related to gender, poverty, and marginalized groups. The initiative is being piloted in the Magdalena River Basin in Colombia and the Mekong region in South East Asia, while drawing on previous work in California, USA.

The report examines the bioeconomy potential of Croton megalocarpus Hutch in Kenya through a case study of Eco Fuels Kenya (EFK). EFK has developed a circular value chain that transforms croton nuts into biofuel, poultry feed, organic fertilizer, and biopesticides, providing alternative income for over 5,000 subsistence farmers. While the model demonstrates success in gender inclusion and resource value-addition, it faces challenges from a lack of national bioeconomy policy, inadequate government incentives, and climate-related yield fluctuations.

The document highlights a significant misalignment between government energy production plans and Paris Agreement goals, noting that governments planned to extract 60% more oil, 70% more gas, and 280% more coal by 2030 than is consistent with a 1.5°C pathway. It suggests that NDCs and LT-LEDS can be used to communicate pathways, targets, and policy measures to manage the transition away from fossil fuels while ensuring a just transition for affected workers and communities.

The paper maps global research on ecotechnologies for recovering carbon and nutrients from municipal and domestic wastewater, highlighting the need for policies and funding to address eutrophication and planetary boundary breaches.

The authors use the COVID-19 pandemic as a case study to examine the role of governance in societal transformation, arguing against the belief that climate-resilient development can be engineered through purely rational policy decisions. They propose that navigating the 'turbulent nature of transformation' requires solidarity, socially equitable governance, and inclusive politics.

The paper catalogues 49 articles (containing 56 studies) and 18 literature reviews to identify research clusters and gaps in demand-side climate policies. It finds a concentration of research in the Anglo-Saxon world, a focus on animal protein and its substitutes, and a surge in publications since 2016. The authors identify specific behavioral intervention clusters—such as priming, defaults, and social norms—that are ready for systematic review, while noting a relative lack of research on food waste compared to consumption.

The document argues that the transition to low-carbon energy systems does not inherently improve social fairness or inclusivity. It finds that renewable energy projects often fail to address structural inequalities and power asymmetries regarding resource distribution, meaning that without early intervention, existing socio-cultural and socio-economic inequalities are likely to be replicated in new energy regimes.

The 2019 Production Gap Report, produced by SEI and partners, identifies a significant gap between government fossil fuel production plans and the levels required to limit global warming to 1.5°C or 2°C. The report aims to shift climate discourse toward targeting both production and consumption, influencing policymakers in countries such as Norway and the United States.

The document argues that Sub-Saharan Africa's high dependence on traditional biomass, such as fuelwood and charcoal, leads to negative sustainability outcomes, including increased vulnerability to climate change and poverty. To transition toward modern bioenergy, the text proposes four strategies: strengthening linkages between Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and bioenergy across sectors, developing context-specific markets rather than importing external models, increasing land productivity through integrated landscape approaches, and better integrating climate change mitigation with adaptation strategies.

The report assesses the nascent green bonds market in Africa, noting that while it is gaining traction as a tool for climate mitigation and adaptation, it remains underdeveloped. The market is currently dominated by a few states and represents less than 1% of global issuance volumes. Key barriers to growth include institutional incapacity, a lack of national frameworks, and low awareness, although prospects for expansion are high as more states plan issuances or develop national guidelines.

The document introduces the LEAP-IBC tool, which quantifies the co-benefits of reducing greenhouse gases and short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) on public health and air quality. Applying this framework to Bangladesh's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and National Action Plan to reduce SLCPs, the study finds that full implementation by 2030 would significantly reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, black carbon, and PM2.5, leading to a decrease in ambient PM2.5 concentrations and the avoidance of approximately 112,000 premature deaths.