NewClimate Institute was supported by various funders, including Climate Action Network (CAN), the Global Call for Climate Action (GCCA), and various national NGOs, to assess the co-benefits of climate change mitigation action in several countries. Governments prepared their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) ahead of the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties in Paris (COP21) in December 2015, which were a key component of the Paris Agreement. Various studies have shown a need for the collective ambition of INDCs to be enhanced. Rigorous accounting of the co-benefits of mitigation actions could be one way to help tip the balance towards more ambitious INDCs.

This project investigated the general co-benefits that climate action may have and how they could be used to incentivise further ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions. The project, and subsequent country-specific projects, continued to produce illustrative results for the achieved benefits of countries’ specific INDCs, and the forgone or missed benefits that could have been achieved through 2°C compatible action.

Analyses were completed for the U.S., China, the E.U., Japan, Canada, India, Chile, South Africa, and Switzerland. Analyses continues for other countries.