Institute for Global Environmental Strategies

This document outlines the legal framework, regulations, and procedures for Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). While an ESIA aims to integrate environmental and social considerations into project planning, the DRC's relevant legislation, developed since the 2000s, is still evolving. This...

IGES's ASEAN NDC Database compiles the key elements of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which are submitted by the ASEAN member states to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). ASEAN member states are Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao DPR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and...

Many policymaking processes have promoted a just transition to limit job losses from stronger climate policies over the past five years. However, concerns over how governments allocate resources to help fossil fuel workers transition to new jobs and a recent rise in opposition to decarbonisation has weakened support for the concept. This paper...

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its accompanying 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provides as a comprehensive framework to address the world's most pressing sustainability challenges. However, with the 2030 deadline fast-approaching, progress on the SDGs remains woefully insufficient. At present, the world is only on track to...

Calls to leverage “synergies” to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have increased sharply over the past decade. This rising interest stems from the belief that synergies can lower costs and build support for integrated solutions to planetary crises. Policymakers have nonetheless been slow to incorporate synergies in...

SDG performance in rich countries often tends to correlate with the generation of negative environmental impacts in other countries, or what has also been termed "Spillovers". This discussion paper provides an overview on the topic and proposes a few ways forward to ensure the concerns around benefits and burdens from production and consumption can...

Local-level follow-up and review (FUR) is essential for realising the 2030 Agenda, given municipalities' crucial role in delivering SDG targets. However, Japanese municipalities face significant challenges, including capacity constraints, demographic shifts, financial limitations, and the absence of mandatory national SDG directives. This policy...

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) depends on well-designed and implemented follow-up and review (FUR) processes to monitor progress, review policies, and adjust strategies. However, despite the critical role cities play in implementing the SDGs, they lack official recognition in the FUR architecture of the 2030 Agenda. To engage...

This presentation examines how Japanese municipalities are responding to long-term population decline, contrasting Yubari City’s failed growth-centric approach with Shimokawa Town’s efforts to ‘shrink gracefully.’ It highlights how local governments can move beyond pro-growth planning by adopting sustainable, community-oriented strategies better...

Plastic pollution is a growing global challenge that demands urgent, comprehensive, and collective action. In response, Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Environment (MOE) developed the National Action Plan on Plastic Waste Management, 2021–2030 (NAPPWM), grounded in the principles of the circular economy and the 3Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Achieving the...