The IMF’s April 2025 Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa presents a clear warning: regional growth is slowing, debt pressures are mounting, and donor assistance is declining. Yet the report outlines critical opportunities particularly in domestic revenue mobilization, structural reform, and private sector activation that can shape a more resilient …
As COVID-19 swept the globe, deepening existing fault-lines in societies and generating fear and uncertainty, many governments used the pandemic as a pretext to clamp down on civic freedoms, sparking protests in many countries. The annual State of Civil Society Report 2021, by global civil society alliance CIVICUS, shows that …
This guidance highlights the key issues, benchmarks, and standards in four main areas of environmental management in mining—water, biodiversity, waste management, and emergency preparedness and response—and governments' role in ensuring that each is managed in support of sustainable development.
This report presents findings of a national-level, government-led analysis of interactions among targets that are part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for Sri Lanka. The report was undertaken to support more coherent implementation of the country’s sustainable development agenda. The results provide input for priority setting across different parts …
The paper argues that existing governance systems in the region generally fall short of the adaptive capacity required to navigate complex and volatile problems such as the COVID-19 pandemic. A combination of factors such as endemic corruption, weak state-society relations, and the stubborn legacies of the colonial project in the …
The focus of this brief is on national climate governance with only partial discussion of the complementary federal governance structures required, which will be addressed elsewhere. Consequently, the scope of this discussion is substantially limited to mitigation as adaptation concerns, in particular, need far greater attention to state and local …
This research report provides an overview of the Social Assessment for Protected and Conserved Areas (SAPA) methodology and describes the results of SAPA’s application at six protected areas in Kenya and Uganda. These case studies provide a practical illustration of the kind of information generated by SAPA, and integrate outcome …
The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) has developed a State of the Environment (SoE) report for the Pacific islands, the first of its kind. It reveals areas of progress as a result of conservation efforts, as well outstanding and newly emerging issues. The report focuses on 31 …
It is on the precarious and ever-shifting terrain of Indian federalism that a modern edifice of climate governance must be built. Where is the firm ground? Are there enduring characteristics of centre-state relations that let us arrive at a relatively stable description of Indian climate governance? In this working paper, …
The International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food) has released a new report in collaboration with the ETC Group: 'A Long Food Movement: Transforming Food Systems by 2045'. It map out two very different futures for food systems, people and the planet. First, what do the next 25 …
The Asia-Pacific region has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, with over 250 000 deaths as of March 2021 and a decrease in GDP by 4.3% in ASEAN and by 2.0% in Emerging Asia in 2020. The pandemic acted as a magnifying glass on pressing water and sanitation challenges …
Deforestation rates are significantly lower in Indigenous and Tribal territories where governments have formally recognized collective land rights, according to a new report. Jointly published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Fund for the Development of Indigenous Peoples of Latin America and the …
Today’s unprecedented growth of data and their ubiquity in our lives are signs that the data revolution is transforming the world. And yet much of the value of data remains untapped. Data collected for one purpose have the potential to generate economic and social value in applications far beyond those …
The COVID-19 pandemic is undoubtedly the most significant public health episode to have affected human beings, societies and minds throughout the world and Africa. All governments have adopted public health measures, in particular lockdown and other exceptional measures in the context of the state of health emergency, to contain the …
This publication from the IGF Secretariat provides governments with a series of policy options that will help ensure their mining frameworks support the social and economic advancement of women while minimizing the risks and negative impacts of mining operations in their countries. In many countries, mining laws and regulations neither …
The Municipal Performance Index (MPI) was launched as an accompaniment to the Ease of Living Index. It seeks to examine local government practice in municipalities across areas of services, finance, policy, technology and governance. It seeks to simplify and evaluate the complexities in local governance practice and promote the ethos …
Despite clear scientific evidence that swift and ambitious climate action is necessary at the national level, many countries, particularly those with high emissions and GDP, are failing to implement policies to curb their climate impact. Even with high incomes, access to technology, policy expertise, and capacity to adapt these countries …
Adopted in 2015, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were intended to motivate governments and the international community to address the world’s most pressing social and environmental challenges. However, most countries are not on pace to achieve the SDGs. The economic and human …
National development banks (NDBs) have huge potential to support their country’s development strategies and the transition to low-carbon, climate-resilient economies. However, a perception of problematic governance and weak performance means that these banks may be overlooked, both in terms of their potential role in supporting national development, and as partners …
Shared data and information are fundamental to mainstreaming climate action and promoting a coordinated and coherent response to climate change across government and society. Open data—the publication of datasets that can be freely used and redistributed by anyone, anywhere—offers opportunities to ensure climate policymaking is informed by all relevant data …
The COVID-19 pandemic brought devastation in 2020, including to plans to ramp up international cooperation on climate action, biodiversity restoration, reducing inequality, and a number of other crises. What’s left to say about 2020? When published the State of Global Environmental Governance report last year, 2020 held potential to be …
