** What’s new in sustainable development
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** UN General Assembly Adopts Resolution on the ICJ Opinion on Climate Change
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The International Court of Justice (ICJ) provided authoritative legal guidance on states’ obligations to address climate change in 2025.

Yesterday, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution to welcome the ICJ opinion on climate change and committed to advancing multilateral cooperation on climate action.

If you’re looking for a refresher on what exactly the opinion means for states, our experts have you covered. Our series of briefs ([link removed]) break down the implications for climate adaptation, environmental impact assessments, environmentally harmful subsidies, international investment law, and multilateral environmental agreements.

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** Decoding the Belt and Road Initiative’s Unique Legal Architecture
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The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China’s flagship global development program, has a unique legal architecture. Hard law instruments, like treaties; soft law, such as Memoranda of Understanding; and the prominent role of Chinese state-owned enterprises in many BRI projects combine to pose unique governance challenges. Our new deep dive ([link removed]) unpacks the architecture and sets out detailed recommendations for host countries.

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** The Vulnerability of Global Food Systems in the Wake of the Iran War
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The closure of the Strait of Hormuz shows how disruptions to critical bottlenecks in global food systems can have a knock-on effect on food availability and affordability worldwide. In a new article in Sustainable Views ([link removed]) , our expert Claire McConnell highlights why and how governments should stop prioritizing short-term productivity and affordability over long-term resilience in the agri-food sector.

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** Europe’s Sustainable Public Procurement Ambition Has a Measurement Problem
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The European Union’s public procurement generates vast amounts of data, yet almost none of it reveals whether green requirements are actually reducing emissions. New analysis shows that applying environmental conditions across construction contracts alone could multiply CO₂ savings by more than 21 times ([link removed]) .

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** When Mining Ends: How NBI can make mine closure safer and more sustainable
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In Marmato, Colombia, hundreds of artisanal and small-scale mines operate on steep, unstable hillsides with no approved closure plans. The NBI Centre assessed how nature-based infrastructure can strengthen mine closure, finding that avoided mortality risk from landslides, rockfalls, and tunnel collapse represents the largest economic benefit of structured closure ([link removed]) .

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** What The Critical Minerals Boom Means for Gender Equality
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As demand accelerates for the critical minerals that underpin the global energy transition, the mining sector has become central to climate ambitions, technological innovation, and economic transformation. But what does the predicted increase in mining activities mean for women’s rights? A new report sets out how governments and industry actors can mitigate risks and promote gender equality ([link removed]) .

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** Linking Health and Climate Action: Five recommendations for COP 31 from Santa Marta
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“Health systems must undergo a structural transformation that enables them to anticipate, absorb, adapt to, and recover rapidly from climate-related shocks,” writes the COP 31 Presidency in setting out their Action Agenda for Antalya. But we must go further, according to experts who met at the sidelines of the Santa Marta conference—countries’ health and climate agendas need to be fully fused, standing on these five pillars ([link removed]) .

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** Governments Are Regulating Greenwashing – Do these policies do enough?
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Countries around the world are working to regulate environmental claims made by businesses. Our new brief ([link removed]) compares 23 regulatory instruments across 12 countries and explores where voluntary sustainability standards fit into this landscape. For effective policies that empower consumers, support producers, and promote credible sustainability markets globally, governments should strike a balance between more ambitious credibility requirements and inclusiveness.

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** Weighing the UN Expert Group’s New Dashboard to Measure Progress Beyond GDP
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How are you today? Should we look solely at your income for the answer? For decades, economists and politicians have pointed to GDP as the main measure of countries’ performances—despite the flaws in using income to gauge well-being. Now, a UN High-Level Expert Group has recommended a suite of indicators to stand alongside GDP as the authoritative measure of progress. We analyze what stands out, what stops short, and what comes next ([link removed]) .

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** Treaty Data and the Evolving International Investment Regime
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Our new special edition of Investment Treaty News ([link removed]) examines the growing role of data in informing investment governance with perspectives from a policy-maker, an academic, and a practitioner on how they use data to change investment policy and practice for the better.

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** Xiamen to Host a Roundtable on Sustainable Oceans Governance
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The Roundtable of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development ([link removed]) (CCICED) provides a yearly platform for CCICED to explore local environmental and development priorities, progress, and challenges in areas beyond Beijing. The 2026 edition will be held in Xiamen City, Fujian Province, from May 25 to 26, on the theme “Harmony Between Humanity and the Ocean.” The Roundtable will explore key areas of ocean governance, including multilateral agreements, domestic marine biodiversity protection, and China’s efforts to develop a sustainable blue economy, combining insights from CCICED’s research with external perspectives.

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** Coming Soon: Online course on gender equality and social inclusion in adaptation planning
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Climate change doesn’t affect everyone equally—how can national adaptation plan (NAP) processes foster a more inclusive and gender-responsive approach to adaptation? The NAP Global Network is developing a self-paced online course that seeks to help integrate gender equality and social inclusion into countries’ NAP processes. Learn more and sign up ([link removed]) to be notified when this course is available.

📣 Follow Us on Instagram ([link removed])

We’re now on Instagram! From climate adaptation to multilateral agreements, energy to economic policy, follow us ([link removed]) for more insights on sustainable development.

Upcoming events ([link removed])

Conference


** Connected Waters: Bridging communities and ideas (IAGLR-SCAS 2026 joint conference)
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Monday, May 25 to Friday, May 29, Winnipeg
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Webinar


** Understanding Tax Incentives in Investment Laws
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Thursday, May 28, 1:00 p.m. CET
Learn more ([link removed])

Conference


** Weathering the Waters: Building climate resilience that pays off
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Tuesday, June 2, 4:30 p.m. CT, Winnipeg
Learn more ([link removed])

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IISD's headquarters in Winnipeg are situated on Treaty 1 Territory—the ancestral lands of the Anishinaabe (Ojibwe), Ininiw (Cree), Anisininew (Ojibwe Cree), Dene, and Dakota Nations, and the homeland of the Red River Métis Nation. ([link removed])