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2,826 documents from Stockholm Environment Institute
SEI Executive Director Johan Kuylenstierna and a group of influential thinkers set out steps to a sustainable development transition
The authors call for an immediate shift from the commitments made in 2015—specifically the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement—to concrete implementation. They identify three primary challenges: reorienting economies through investment and consumption changes, making the reduction of inequalities a central objective, and translating international agreements into national strategies. The text emphasizes the need for policy signals to redirect financial flows, the role of innovation coalitions, and the necessity of ensuring an equitable transition for workers and regions affected by the shift in energy and food systems.
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Document type: Statement
Cascading of woody biomass: definitions, policies and effects on international trade
The paper analyzes the 'cascading' principle of woody biomass, which prioritizes material use over energy use. It warns that without harmonized rules across the EU and North America, implementation could lead to complex legislative disputes over biomass classification and the exploitation of regulatory loopholes in international trade.
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Document type: Research paper
BEYOND PARIS: USING CLIMATE CHANGE SCENARIOS TO MANAGE RISK
The document analyzes how two climate scenarios, Radical Emissions Reduction (RER) and High-end Climate Change (HCC), impact four Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the stability of Saudi Arabia and Nigeria. Under RER, the transition to meet Paris Agreement targets may trigger food-versus-fuel conflicts, gender-based violence from biofuel-driven displacement, and geopolitical instability in oil-dependent states. Conversely, the HCC scenario suggests that climate-driven agricultural failure and water scarcity would exacerbate armed conflicts, global inequality, and the influence of extremist groups. The authors argue that the short-term geopolitical costs of rapid climate action must be integrated into national policy formulation to manage risks effectively.
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Document type: Policy brief
Private Climate Finance Mechanisms for SMEs
The document argues that European SMEs are critical for the green transition but are hindered by a lack of technical capacity and a poor legislative framework for private-to-private finance. Based on GreenEcoNet case studies, it finds that while SMEs prefer private financing, they lack the skills to exploit the full range of available instruments. The authors recommend a participatory policy approach, including an investors-SMEs round table and the promotion of crowdfunding, to bridge these gaps.
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Document type: Policy brief
How would phasing out U.S. federal leases for fossil fuel extraction affect CO2 emissions and 2°C goals?
The research finds that phasing out U.S. federal fossil fuel leases could reduce global CO2 emissions by approximately 100 million tonnes per year by 2030. The impact is most immediate for coal, where it could leave 4 billion short tons of coal in the ground by 2040. Oil and gas impacts are more gradual due to longer project lead times, but could eventually leave 7 billion barrels of oil and 30 trillion cubic feet of gas undeveloped by 2040. The study concludes that such supply-side measures are a significant complement to demand-side policies like the Clean Power Plan in meeting Paris Agreement targets.
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Document type: Research paper
No time to dally
The author calls for national governments to translate Paris Agreement pledges into actionable plans immediately, suggesting that NDCs should be expanded to include more economic sectors, short-lived climate pollutants, and a long-term vision aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals and the Sendai Framework. The text highlights the potential for the treaty to enter into force before 2020 due to the leadership of the U.S. and China in the ratification process.
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Document type: Statement
Addressing the cultural gap between humanitarian assistance and local responses to risk through a place-based approach
The brief contends that current disaster risk reduction (DRR) efforts often fail because they ignore local cultural interpretations of risk, leading to a disconnect between international aid and on-the-ground realities. Despite significant global investment in aid, climate-related risks continue to rise. The authors argue that failing to engage with culture results in wasted resources and can exacerbate existing inequalities related to gender, ethnicity, or disability. They call for the development of tools and frameworks that equitably reflect diverse, culturally-influenced understandings of risk to make DRR strategies more effective and context-specific.
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Document type: Policy brief
Linking disaster risk reduction, climate change and development
The study identifies that disaster risk is increasing globally, driven significantly by climate change, while the underlying causes of social vulnerability remain inadequately addressed in policy and practice. It argues that reducing vulnerability to environmental hazards requires coherent political action to correct faulty development processes and suggests that the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction aims to connect DRR with adaptation and development.
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Document type: Research paper
International Climate Change Law in a Bottom-Up World
The document reflects on the transition of international climate change law to a 'bottom-up' approach under the Paris Agreement. It highlights the uncertainty regarding how the agreement's 'ratcheting mechanism' will ensure that parties meet the goals of limiting global temperature increases to well below 2°C and pursuing 1.5°C. The author argues that the design of review processes is critical for the treaty's success and suggests that this new legal architecture allows for a broader understanding of international law's functions beyond the mere enforcement of legal obligations.
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Document type: Research paper
Balancing detail and scale in assessing transparency to improve the governance of agricultural commodity supply chains
The document introduces a methodology to bridge the gap between macro-scale footprint accounts and fine-scale traceability systems in agricultural supply chains. By integrating country-wide sub-national production data with per-shipment customs data, the approach identifies specific actors and production landscapes. This enables more accurate assessment of geographic risk variability and the identification of actor coalitions for coordinated sustainability interventions.
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Document type: Research paper
Climate change, irrigation and hydropower
The study finds that the combined impact of climate change and expanded irrigation will generally reduce river runoff, with the most significant negative impact on hydropower production occurring in the Kizilirmak basin. While reservoirs in the Devoll basin improve water availability during low flow periods, reservoirs in the Kizilirmak basin increase water losses through evaporative surfaces and by enabling larger irrigation withdrawals.
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Document type: Research paper
Systematic exploration of scenario spaces
The paper introduces Scenario Diversity Analysis (SDA), a methodology designed to create scenario sets that are mathematically maximally diverse, avoiding the common pitfalls of conservatism and imbalance. The authors demonstrate the utility of SDA by applying it to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) emissions scenarios, finding that the existing storylines were not maximally diverse.
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Document type: Research paper
Modeling Andean Páramo
The study developed a WEAP system model for the Quiroz-Chipillico watershed in Peru's Piura region to address the lack of understanding regarding hydrological processes in tropical páramo wetlands. By simulating various scenarios based on stakeholder input, the model assesses river headflow, reservoir levels, and downstream water demand. The findings indicate that while climate variables like temperature and precipitation influence water production, land use changes are expected to be the primary driver of hydrological responses in the páramo and their subsequent downstream effects.
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Document type: Research paper
Ríos del Páramo al Valle: Building Climate Adaptation Capacity in Water Resources Planning
The Ríos del Páramo al Valle project (2012-2015) utilized a participatory robust decision support (RDS) process to help Colombian regional water governance agencies (CARs) and academic institutions integrate climate considerations into watershed planning. Key findings highlight the need for stronger personnel commitments from CARs, streamlined model-building processes to reduce frustration, and better characterization of data uncertainties to increase trust in modelling tools. Governance recommendations include better alignment between watershed planning and mandated planning instruments, as well as improved learning exchanges between regional and national levels to overcome challenges posed by Colombia's decentralized water governance system.
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Document type: Report
Ríos del Páramo al Valle: por urbes y campinas creando capacidad de adaptación en la planeación de recursos hídricos
The 'Ríos del Páramo al Valle' project utilized Robust Decision Support (RDR) methodologies to help Colombian environmental authorities plan water resources under climate change. Key outcomes included the training of regional and national leaders and the evaluation of alternatives to reduce climate vulnerability. The report identifies critical barriers to success, including insufficient data (socioeconomic and technical), the need for stronger commitment from senior management within Regional Autonomous Corporations (CAR), and the necessity of integrating basin planning with existing national planning instruments to overcome challenges posed by Colombia's decentralized water governance system.
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Document type: Report
Marine Trade-offs
The research evaluates public preference and welfare effects regarding the siting of wind farms versus marine protected areas off the coast of Estonia. Using a latent class mixed logit model, the study finds that while conventional wind farms are generally opposed in favor of marine protected areas, 'environmentally-friendly' wind farms provide welfare benefits that are not statistically different from those of marine protected areas.
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Document type: Research paper
Slutrapportering to Riksbanken Jublieumsfond Project: CADWAGO - Climate change adaptation and water governance - reconciling food security, renewable energy and the provision of multiple ecosystem services
The CADWAGO project examined water governance transformations to enhance climate change adaptation. Key findings highlight that power imbalances and conflicts of interest often distort deliberative processes, while extreme climate events can act as catalysts for collaborative, non-neoliberal governance shifts. The project advocates for moving from a 'security' narrative of water—which it argues can amplify inequities—toward a 'water equity' narrative that empowers diverse stakeholder constellations.
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Document type: Report
Low carbon energy transition in Estonia
The report analyzes Estonia's energy transition from a system heavily dependent on oil shale to one based on low-carbon sources by 2050. Using LEAP, Balmorel, and EMPS models, it evaluates four scenarios: Baseline (BAU), Carbon Neutral (CN), 100% renewable (RES), and 100% renewable with increased demand (RES+). Key findings highlight that while wind and biomass have significant potential, achieving a carbon-neutral sector requires phasing out oil shale by 2040, expanding interconnections with the Nordic Power System (specifically Sweden and Finland), and implementing policy reforms such as removing fossil fuel subsidies and increasing investment support for small-scale renewables and energy efficiency.
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Document type: Report
Climate change adaptation in Swedish forestry: Driving forces, risks and opportunities (MSW report)
The report identifies that adaptation in Swedish forestry is driven by practical knowledge, risk awareness, and trust in climate science. It argues that for adaptation information to be effective, it must be user-oriented, delivered by trusted intermediaries like forest advisers, and supported by peer-to-peer learning. Furthermore, the document advocates for a co-production model of research involving both scientists and stakeholders to increase engagement, and suggests that adaptation planning must be systemic, accounting for both direct and indirect impacts across national borders.
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Document type: Report
The State of Corporate & Government Water Reporting in India
The report finds significant misalignments and information asymmetries between India's corporate and government water reporting frameworks, concluding that existing mechanisms are ill-equipped to monitor progress toward water-related SDGs. While government reporting focuses on community risk and access, corporate reporting emphasizes business risk and non-consumptive impacts. The study highlights a critical lack of reporting on water infrastructure and compliance across both sectors. Furthermore, analysis of India's top 200 businesses reveals low overall sustainability disclosure, with a stark divide between private sector firms and state-owned enterprises, and a significant 'black box' of data due to the large informal economy.
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Document type: Report