Excess nutrient loading from agricultural landscapes contributes to eutrophication and harmful algal blooms in freshwater systems across Canada, such as Lake Winnipeg. To better understand how natural infrastructure can help address this challenge, the International Institute for Sustainable Development monitored the De Salaberry water retention site in southeastern Manitoba between 2019 and 2023 to evaluate its phosphorus reduction potential. 

The study found that the De Salaberry water retention site reduces phosphorus loads under many conditions while continuing to provide its primary flood and erosion mitigation functions. However, performance varied considerably between years and was strongly influenced by both incoming phosphorus loads and the retention time of water. The study also evaluated how adjusting outlet structure configuration and reservoir size can increase retention time, enhancing phosphorus reduction performance. 

As investment in water retention infrastructure continues across Canada, integrating quantifiable phosphorus reduction estimates into project design and planning will be important for understanding their impact and meeting water quality objectives. The methods and findings presented in this study provide a foundation for integrating phosphorus reduction assessment into future site screening, design, and retrofit planning. With continued monitoring, broader validation, and more accessible design tools, naturalized water retention systems could play a stronger role in integrated watershed management and contribute more meaningfully to phosphorus reduction targets intended to prevent or reverse eutrophication in vulnerable freshwater systems.

Zimbabwe faces a range of climate-related challenges, including prolonged droughts and unpredictable rainfall that threaten water security and agriculture, rising temperatures that impact ecosystems and biodiversity, and increased vulnerability of communities reliant on natural resources for their livelihoods. 

NbS, especially ecosystem-based adaptation, offer cost-effective and sustainable alternatives to conventional infrastructure-based solutions by harnessing ecosystem services to address these challenges. For instance, wetland restoration in riverine areas helps mitigate flooding and improve water quality; reforestation initiatives combat desertification and create carbon sinks; and wildlife corridor management reduces human–wildlife conflict and supports biodiversity. 

This inventory highlights the various NbS responses across the country to the climate and biodiversity crises, as well as efforts to address the increasing risks and vulnerabilities posed by a changing climate. It provides information on the approach taken by these projects, the climate and biodiversity risks they address, the intended beneficiaries, and the ecosystems they target. The information is beneficial for government officials, adaptation and conservation practitioners, and donors, and can help them understand the landscape of NbS implementation in the country, pinpoint existing gaps, potential synergies, and collaboration opportunities, and avoid duplication.

Namibia is among the most climate-vulnerable countries in sub-Saharan Africa because of its predominantly arid and semi-arid climate, limited rainfall, and high dependence on climate-sensitive natural resources. These conditions are not the only risks: recurrent droughts, rainfall variability, rising temperatures, water scarcity, desertification, and land degradation are already affecting the natural resource base on which agriculture in Namibia, livestock production, biodiversity conservation, tourism, and rural livelihoods depend. These pressures are intensified by the fact that only a small share of Namibia’s rainfall remains available to recharge groundwater, support agriculture, or sustain vegetation. Droughts and shifts in rainfall do not only reduce water availability, but they also affect soil moisture, vegetation cover, rangeland productivity, ecosystem condition, and the natural resource base that supports rural livelihoods. 

This is what makes NbS, particularly ecosystem-based adaption, especially important for Namibia. This inventory showcases the variety of NbS projects that have been completed recently or are currently under implementation in Namibia. It highlights the various responses across the country to the climate and biodiversity crises, and efforts to address the increasing risks and vulnerabilities brought about by a changing climate. The inventory’s purpose is to help government officials, adaptation and conservation practitioners, and donors understand the landscape of NbS implementation in the country, pinpoint existing gaps, potential synergies, and collaboration opportunities, and avoid duplication.

Uganda is experiencing increasing climate variability alongside ongoing ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss. Changes in rainfall patterns, rising temperatures, and more frequent extreme events, such as floods, droughts, and landslides, are interacting with degraded wetlands, declining forest cover, and stressed catchment systems to intensify vulnerability across both rural and peri-urban areas. 

These interacting pressures place particular stress on water security, climate-sensitive agricultural systems, and exposure to climate-related disasters, reinforcing the case for adaptation measures that restore and strengthen ecosystem function. 

This inventory has been developed to identify and analyze nature-based solutions (NbS) for adaptation implemented in Uganda since 2015. Its purpose is not only to compile a list of projects but also to establish how ecosystem-based interventions are applied in practice to reduce climate vulnerability, strengthen resilience, and provide a structured basis for comparing them across landscapes, ecosystems, and risk contexts. The inventory documents the approaches taken by each intervention, the climate and biodiversity risks they address, the ecosystems they target, and the beneficiaries they are intended to serve.

The economy and citizens’ livelihoods in Zambia are highly dependent on the country’s natural resources. Agriculture, for example, accounts for approximately 3.4% of the GDP and provides employment for about 70% of the population. The country's forests and fisheries are estimated to contribute about 4.7% and 3.3% of its GDP, respectively, while its 20 national parks, 36 game management areas, and 490 forest reserves play a crucial role in water regulation, food security, and sustaining local economies. 

This dependency makes the country and its people highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and underscores the need for mainstreaming NbS, and ecosystem-based adaptation strategies in particular, into national policies to ensure that actions to adapt to the impacts of climate change are planned for and that the country’s ecosystems continue to be healthy and provide for communities. This is especially relevant because Zambia’s country development strategies highlight increasing temperature, erratic rainfall, droughts, and floods as threats to its economic growth and food security, with projections pointing to worsening climatic conditions. 

The inventory aims to showcase the variety of NbS projects that have been completed recently or are currently under implementation in Zambia. It highlights the varied responses across the country to the climate and biodiversity crises, including efforts to address the increasing risks and vulnerabilities brought about by a changing climate. The inventory also aims to help stakeholders understand the NbS implementation landscape in Zambia, pinpoint existing gaps, potential synergies, and collaboration opportunities, and avoid duplication.

Mining is one of the world’s most energy-intensive industries, yet it is also central to the global energy transition. As companies increasingly adopt renewable energy to reduce emissions, governments have an opportunity to ensure these investments also support local development and community resilience. 

This publication complements the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development’s series on local content policy guidance by focusing on renewable energy infrastructure as a form of horizontal linkage: shared infrastructure that can serve both mining operations and surrounding communities. It examines how renewable energy developed for mining operations can deliver benefits beyond the mine site. When planned deliberately, shared renewable energy systems can improve electricity access, strengthen public services, support local businesses, create jobs, and contribute to long-term economic diversification in mining regions. 

The publication sets out practical policy recommendations for governments to better align mining, energy, climate, infrastructure, education, and development objectives. It highlights the importance of assessing existing energy infrastructure, strengthening policy coherence, promoting skills development, enabling public–private partnerships, planning for mine closure, and ensuring that women and marginalized groups can access the opportunities created by renewable energy investments. 

By integrating renewable energy infrastructure into local content policy, governments can help turn mining-related investments into lasting community assets that support inclusive, low-carbon, and resilient development.

This study looks at the fuel pricing arrangements of different countries around the world in order to provide Indonesia with information that may help inform the development of its own domestic pricing policy, particularly with an eye toward strengthening and enforcing the new pricing mechanism introduced in 2015 at the same time as identifying measures to safeguard consumers from the impacts of fuel price volatility and potential high future fuel prices. 

The study’s objectives are as follows:

• To set out the baseline for understanding Indonesia’s current pricing system, previous experiences with non-ad hoc pricing and possible legal constraints around market energy pricing.
• To summarize existing knowledge about international pricing systems in a format that is targeted at the current needs of Indonesian policy-makers.
• To identify policy options for Indonesia to consider based on international experience.

Single-use plastics are often lightweight and inexpensive to produce, but their disposal creates substantial costs for waste management systems, wastewater treatment facilities, litter cleanup efforts, and ecosystems. Despite growing concern about plastic pollution, limited data exists on the quantities and costs associated with specific single-use plastic products in Canada. 

This report examines eight commonly used single-use plastic items and estimates their economic impacts across waste management pathways and ecosystem goods and services. The analysis draws on municipal waste data, wastewater sector input, citizen science litter data sets, and ecosystem impact research to provide a comprehensive assessment of the costs associated with plastic pollution. 

The report also presents a practical tool for municipalities and other authorities to estimate and track plastic waste management costs, supporting evidence-based decision making and policy development.

Education is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change—but also critical to building the resilience of communities. Human-induced climate change is already disrupting learning and destroying infrastructure, disproportionately affecting the most fragile education systems. To build a climate-resilient education sector, adaptation must be at the centre of decision making. This requires coordination, collaboration, and action among education and climate change actors, which are core aspects of the NAP process. 

Developed in partnership with Save the Children, this report aims to support NAP teams to consider the education sector in the NAP process. It provides an overview of a climate-resilient education system, particularly as it relates to children, and highlights enabling factors and key considerations for including the education sector at each stage of the NAP process. 

The report was developed through desk-based research, a review of evidence, tools, and approaches used in the Climate Smart Education Systems Initiative and by the NAP Global Network, and case studies.

Critical minerals are crucial for the green and digital transitions. Given China’s significant role in global mineral value chains, improving its sustainability standards and performance could translate into significant social and environmental improvements across the entire sector. 

This report examines the ESG practices and standards of Chinese critical mineral companies operating overseas. It finds that while Chinese companies have strengthened ESG practices in the mineral sector in recent years—including through improved supply chain risk management and due diligence—significant gaps remain compared to international best practices. 

To close these gaps, the report provides a series of policy recommendations for the Chinese government. These include accelerating the alignment of its standards with leading global benchmarks on ESG in mining and establishing bilateral technical cooperation mechanisms and research centres with key resource-rich countries.