On Sept. 11, Prime Minister Mark Carney listed LNG Canada Phase 2—which is intended to double the export capacity of Canada’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility—as a project of “national interest.”

Canada’s federal and provincial governments have already committed billions of dollars in public funding for new LNG exports. IISD’s recent research estimates that the governments of Canada and British Columbia are directing CAD 3.93 billion to West Coast LNG projects. This includes: CAD 1.62 billion in public finance and CAD 151.95 million in infrastructure funding from the federal government. The BC government is providing CAD 2.16 billion by the end of 2030 through foregone revenue, reduced electricity rates, and investment in enabling infrastructure. 

However, the experiences of Australia and the United States demonstrate why doubling down on fossil fuel exports comes with significant drawbacks.

In this webinar, international energy experts from Canada, Australia, and the United States will use case studies from their countries to explore the economic risks of expanding LNG exports.

They will share research showing how investment in LNG can undermine clean energy opportunities while delivering limited economic benefits.  

This is the second webinar of a two-part series considering the risks associated with Canada’s subsidized LNG exports. The previous instalment quantified Canada’s public support for the LNG industry and explained the energy security risks for potential importers like India and Germany.

Agenda

Welcome

Steven Haig, Policy Advisor, International Institute for Sustainable Development

Presentations

Ian Sanderson, Senior Policy Analyst, Pembina Institute

Mark Ogge, Principal Advisor, Australia Institute

Shannon Baker-Branstetter, Senior Director, Domestic Climate and Energy Policy, Center for American Progress 

Q&A

Conclusion

The limitations of GDP as a metric of prosperity and economic success are well documented. It fails to measure the environmental impacts of economic activity. It is unable to measure work and labour that isn’t conducted through a market transaction. It prioritizes questions of income and expenditure over those of well-being.

In this webinar—run by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) in partnership with Rethinking Economics and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC)—speakers will touch on the benefits and shortcomings of GDP, its current uses, and what a world "beyond GDP" predominance might look like.

The webinar will also launch a new learning tool. IISD has developed an e-course that presents different measures for assessing national progress, which address sustainability concerns better than GDP does. The e-course is designed in four modules, giving an introduction to the limitations of GDP, an overview of alternative and complementary measures to GDP, and an in-depth dive into the Comprehensive Wealth Index components and their policy implications. It is a self-paced course that takes about 4 hours to complete, and guides learners through this content with interactive questions and scenarios. 

Designed for policy-makers and economics students alike, the Beyond GDP Learning Tool offers practical guidance on using non-GDP indicators to gauge progress. To join the first cohort of learners on the course, we recommend attending this webinar.

Agenda

Opening Remarks

• Bhim Adhikari, International Development Research Centre (IDRC)

Launch of the Beyond GDP Learning Tool

• Livia Bizikova, International Institute for Sustainable Development

Panel Discussion

• Kali Taylor, Managing Director, Sustainable Finance Geneva
• Sonal Raghuvanshi, Senior Economist, Rethinking Economics International
• Annegeke Jansen, PhD candidate, Institute of Environmental Sciences, Leiden University and a research associate at the Wellbeing Research Centre, Oxford University.
• Felix Vincent, Universidad de Buenos Aires (Argentina), winner of Beyond GDP essay competition, and representative of the Youth Network on Beyond GDP
• Alin Halimatussadiah, Head of Green Economy and Climate Research Group, Institute for Economic and Social Research, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Indonesia

Closing Remarks

• Bhim Adhikari, International Development Research Centre (IDRC)

In Partnership With

On September 22, join us for the online launch of the 2025 Production Gap Report, which explores how governments’ plans and projections for fossil fuel production contrast with the level needed to keep the Paris Agreement’s global warming goals within sight.

Former Irish President and special guest Mary Robinson will provide welcome remarks.

The Production Gap Report tracks the misalignment between governments’ planned and projected production of coal, oil, and gas and the global production levels consistent with the Paris Agreement’s temperature goal.

The report’s fifth edition arrives about 10 years after the Paris Agreement’s ratification, and right as governments submit their third round of climate pledges toward fulfilling the Paris Agreement’s goals. This edition compiles the latest fossil fuel production plans from the world’s governments since the last Production Gap Report in 2023. It provides new analysis on how these plans align with internationally agreed efforts to transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems and achieve net zero by 2050.

The report also features individual country profiles for 20 major fossil-fuel-producing countries which make up more than 80% of global fossil fuel production: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Germany, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Qatar, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

Learn about all this and more in a special event highlighting this year’s key findings with the lead authors and global climate experts. A Q&A follows.

This report is produced by the Stockholm Environment Institute, Climate Analytics, and the International Institute for Sustainable Development.

Agenda

Introduction

Welcome Remarks

President Mary Robinson

Presentation of Findings

Derik Broekhoff, Senior Scientist, SEI

Emily Ghosh, Equitable Transitions Program Director, SEI

Introduction of the Panel

Neil Grant, Senior Climate and Energy Analyst, Climate Analytics
Olivier Bois von Kursk, Policy Advisor, IISD
Derik Broekhoff, Senior Scientist, SEI
Emily Ghosh, Equitable Transitions Program Director, SEI

Q&A

In recent years, the legitimacy of the ISDS system under investment treaties has come under increasing scrutiny. Recent developments—including decisions by the European Union, United Kingdom, and several other countries to withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), ongoing negotiations in UNCITRAL Working Group III (WGIII), and initiatives like the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD's) work on investment treaties and climate change—reflect a growing awareness of the need to revisit elements of the investment protection framework.

However, the long-term direction of ISDS reform remains uncertain. While some see opportunities for deeper, systemic change, others are focused on more procedural and incremental approaches.

This webinar series discussed how ISDS challenges democratic governance, climate policy, and corporate accountability and debate the evolving landscape of reform initiatives. Rather than assuming a predetermined outcome, it explored the uncertainties and possibilities ahead—from maintaining the status quo to pursuing more ambitious reform.

Alongside legal practitioners, academics, and civil society, we:

• explore drecent ISDS cases and assessed their implications for democratic governance, corporate accountability, and public policies;
• analyzed legal developments, such as the recent advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice, and their impacts on investment arbitration;
• took stock of where key reform processes stand today and how they are perceived globally; and
• discussed the range of options on the table—from procedural adjustments to broader structural shifts.

Whether the future of ISDS involves continuity, reform, or transformation remains to be seen. As governments face urgent demands for climate action, just transitions, and stronger corporate accountability, this conversation will consider how international legal frameworks must evolve to meet today’s public policy imperatives.

The first session in the series will took place on October 2, 2.00–3.00 p.m. Central European Summer Time (CEST), and the second session took place on October 9, 1.00–2.00 p.m. CEST. See below for more details on the sessions.

Session 1. The Big Picture: ISDS and responsible business conduct

When:

• Thursday, October 2, 2:00–3:00 p.m. CEST

Description:

• This session framed key concerns about ISDS through case studies illustrating how this system affects climate goals, environmental regulation, and corporate accountability. The discussion layed the groundwork for the second session, which will focus on reform initiatives.

Moderator:

• Amandine Van Den Berghe, Lawyer, Value Chains, Trade and Investment, ClientEarth

Speakers: 

• Lise Johnson, Partner at Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP
• Stéphanie Triefus, Business and Human Rights Researcher, T.M.C Asser Institute
• Ladan Mehranvar, Senior Legal Researcher, Columbia Center for Sustainable Investment
• Bart-Jaap Verbeek, Senior Researcher, SOMO,  Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations

SESSION 2. Multilateral Investment Treaty Reform: Where are we today and where should we go?

When: 

• Thursday, October 9, 1:00–2:00 p.m.

Description:

• This session provided updates on and a critical analysis of ongoing multilateral reform efforts of investment legal frameworks—investment treaties and contracts—and ISDS, focusing on initiatives at UNCITRAL WGIII, OECD, and UNCTAD.

Moderator:

• Lukas Schaugg, Policy Advisor, IISD

Speakers

• Clémentine Baldon, Founding Lawyer, Baldon Avocats
• Dafina Atanasova, Economics Affairs Officer, UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
• Joshua Paine, Associate Professor in International Law, University of Bristol
• Güneş Ünüvar, Senior Researcher, Luxembourg Centre for European Law, University of Luxembourg

On June 30, Canada shipped its first LNG exports from the coast of British Columbia. While LNG is intended to diversify Canada’s exports and boost energy security abroad, it has been consistently linked to energy insecurity in some of Canada’s closest partners in East and South Asia and Western Europe.

Despite these risks, the governments of Canada and British Columbia have contributed billions of dollars to support LNG exports. These subsidies come as the world is still recovering from a wave of inflation, triggered in part by a gas supply shock in Europe that highlighted the risk of overreliance on fossil fuel imports. More recently, United Sates-led tariffs have disrupted international trade and investor confidence, adding further risk for LNG buyers and sellers alike. Governments in Europe and Asia are now considering how to insulate themselves from similar geopolitical and economic shocks going forward. Long-term demand for Canadian LNG is in question, undermining the rationale for governments to fund expansion.

This webinar, the first in a two-part series, spotlights the IISD report Launching a Loss, with author Danielle LaBrash outlining the extent of public subsidies for Canadian LNG and the economic risks in the case of weakening demand. Experts on European and Asian LNG markets will then outline regional demand trends and explain why doubling down on LNG would likely undermine energy security and decarbonization goals.

Agenda

Welcome

Steven Haig, Policy Advisor, International Institute for Sustainable Development

Presentations 

Danielle LaBrash, Policy Analyst, International Institute for Sustainable Development

Christopher Doleman, LNG/Gas Specialist, Asia, Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis

Julian Schwartzkopff, Team Lead, Gas Phase-Out, Deutsche Umwelthilfe

Q&A

Conclusion

Steven Haig, Policy Advisor, International Institute for Sustainable Development

Presentations from this webinar are now available to watch:

• IISD presentation on the opportunities and challenges of implementing investment facilitation at the national level - watch here.
• UN Trade and Development presentation on maximizing the development impact of the WTO Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement - watch here.
• UN Trade and Development presentation on the key characteristics and trends of international commitments on investment facilitation over time - watch here.
• South Centre presentation on South–South investment facilitation frameworks and strategic lessons for sustainable development in Africa - watch here.
• Jumia presentation on the private sector perspective of key challenges to investment within Africa and investment facilitation measures - watch here.
• Makane Moïse Mbengue on advancing sustainable investment facilitation in Africa through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Investment Protocol - watch here.

Sustainable investment is essential for Africa’s economic transformation, driving growth and employment. However, many countries struggle to attract and retain such investment, often due to limited institutional and technical capacity to implement facilitation measures.

About this webinar

Regional and global agreements, including the Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area's Protocol on Investment and the World Trade Organization's Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement, provide useful frameworks and support to overcome these barriers. Realizing their full benefits, however, requires implementation that aligns with sustainable development priorities.

This webinar from IISD and UN Trade and Development will explore how African countries can navigate these opportunities and challenges in the run-up to the World Trade Organization's 14th Ministerial Conference in March 2026 in Cameroon. It is designed to help investment negotiators, investment promotion agencies, and policy-makers strengthen the sustainable development outcomes of their commitments, with practical guidance on how to make the most of technical assistance, capacity building, and special and differential treatment provisions in agreements.

Participation is open to policy-makers and government officials from across Africa. Please register here and indicate your institutional affiliation.

The increasing concern about our reliance on conventional economic indicators to evaluate national development, particularly GDP, is prompting a global shift toward alternative metrics for measuring national progress and success.

World leaders accelerated this shift by including Beyond GDP as a commitment in their September 2024 Pact for the Future agreement. In July 2025, the outcome from the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) further reaffirmed the commitment to urgently develop a framework of measures of progress on sustainable development that complement or go beyond GDP.  

In response to the Pact for the Future, the UN Secretary-General appointed a High-Level Expert Group and arranged for a subsequent intergovernmental process to be set up. The Expert Group is tasked with developing “an initial list of corresponding country-owned, universally applicable indicators of sustainable development to form a dashboard that equips governments with the information they need.” It will also offer guidance on the deployment of the dashboard and outline “priorities for data collection and statistical capacity to operationalize the dashboard and indicators."

IISD and UN University Centre for Policy Research (UNU-CPR) convened this timely virtual discussion during the UN General Assembly High Level Week to engage with Expert Group members and other leading voices to further understand and inform the approach and explore the road to a new intergovernmental process Beyond GDP.

Speakers

• Nicole Goldin, Head, Equitable Development at UNU-CPR and non-resident Senior Fellow at Atlantic Council (Moderator)
• Enrico Giovannini, Professor at the University of Rome and Scientific Director of the Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development
• Naila Kabeer, Emeritus Professor at the Department of International Development and Faculty of the International Inequalities Institute, London School of Economics
• Csaba Kőrösi, 77th President of the UN General Assembly and Co-chair of the UN Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals
• Attiya Waris, Faculty of Law, University of Nairobi, Kenya, and House of Fiscal Wisdom, Kenya
• Erin Tansey, Director, Sustainable Inclusive Economies Program, International Development Research Centre

In Partnership With

Emerging markets and developing economies are entering a new wave of fiscal stress. Rising debt servicing costs, shrinking fiscal space, and increasing financing needs put pressure on governments’ ability to support public investment while maintaining debt sustainability.

IISD’s newly launched report, “Design Choices for Debt Sustainability”, offers practical guidance for countries to adapt their fiscal rules to this context.

This webinar: 

• Presents the report’s key findings and design choices that can strengthen fiscal frameworks for debt sustainability.
• Highlights actionable policy recommendations and discusses how governments can tailor these approaches to their contexts.
• Shares perspectives and experiences from senior policymakers, academics, and multilateral institution representatives.

The discussion is moderated by Anahí Wiedenbrüg, Lead of the Debt Program at the International Institute for Sustainable Development. Panelists include:

• Jeromin Zettelmeyer, Director, Bruegel  
• Mohammed Amin Adam, Member of Parliament and former Minister of Finance, Ghana  
• Monica de Bolle, Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics  
• Fernando Morra, Associate, Sovereign Debt Program, International Institute for Sustainable Development 

The Nature-Based Infrastructure Global Resource Centre's 5-week live program equips you with the tools to evaluate and analyze the economic performance, co-benefits, and financing potential of NBI.

This course explores how nature-based solutions can deliver—or complement—the services provided by conventional "grey" infrastructure, especially in communities most affected by climate change. Every year, the program brings together professionals from across the world. In 2024, the NBI Global Resource Centre registered over 700 stakeholders from 109 countries and received a 98% satisfaction rate.
 

"This course is invaluable to anyone working with natural resources and projects relating to environmental management and conservation. It was an eye-opener for me as a local government official to see how nature can be valued and how we have a role to play in changing the status quo. I would recommend this course to all local, provincial, and national government officials, no matter their position or field of work."

– Margaou Marthinussen, Environmental Officer at Drakenstein Municipality, South Africa

How Does It Work?

Sessions take place every Tuesday from October 28 to November 25, 2025. Each session runs for 2 hours on Zoom:

Washington DC, USA – 09:00 / 10:00 EDT
Geneva, Switzerland – 15:00 CET
New Delhi, India – 19:30 IST

The program combines online reading materials with interactive Zoom sessions, allowing you to ask our experts questions, exchange experiences with other participants from around the world, hear from guest speakers, and dive deeper into the course topics in real-time exercises. 

The training is free of charge and open to the public. Participants who attended the live program receive a certificate.

"This has been the best course in relation to NBI that I've done until now. The combination of remote classes and written material is very good, and the presenters have been excellent. It also covers a great range of things related to NBI."

– Iñigo Ruiz-Apilanez, Associate at Arup

Read more and register here!

As climate negotiators, policy-makers, and advocates gear up for the Africa Climate Week and the Africa Climate Summit in Addis Ababa, on the road to the 30th UN Climate Change Conference (COP 30), now is the time to place land rights, responsible investment, and inclusive, community-led approaches at the heart of the climate agenda. Following COP 29, which left many unanswered questions regarding the mobilization and delivery of climate finance for developing countries, the question of climate finance remains high on the agenda for Africa Climate Week. 

With the New Collective Quantified Goal including provisions for carbon markets as a tool for channelling climate finance to developing countries, this webinar comes at a pivotal moment to ask: What do net-zero strategies and investments in land-based carbon removal mean for land rights and communities, and how can we transform risks into opportunities to meet climate goals?

Why This Matters

Encouraged by the financial promise of carbon markets, investments in land-based climate solutions, such as afforestation and ecosystem restoration, are gaining ground globally. These investments hold the potential to advance climate and socio-economic development objectives. But they also require large areas of land, often in places where tenure systems are weak and community rights insecure. In the absence of robust legal processes and strong and enforceable safeguards, such investments risk deepening inequalities and driving land dispossession. 

On August 28th, 2025, IISD held a dialogue along with TMG Research, and Robert Bosch Stiftung on how to make climate action both effective and just.