Browse in news and blog posts

Deutsche Version With the coalition agreement for a new German government under Angela Merkel, a major opportunity to realign German climate policy to the challenges of the Paris Climate Change Agreement has passed. The new coalition no longer aims to reach the German 2020 climate target in time. With this announcement, Germany officially steps down as an international climate champion and undermines the Paris agreement as a whole. The coalition agreement fails to provide new ideas for tackling greenhouse gas emissions in industry and buildings, and proposed measures in transport are...

English version Mit dem Koalitionsvertrag von CDU/CSU und SPD ist eine große Chance vertan, deutsche Klimapolitik an den Herausforderungen des Pariser Klimaschutzabkommens neu auszurichten. Mit der Abkehr der großen Koalition, das für 2020 gesteckte Klimaziel tatsächlich auch in 2020 zu erreichen, gibt Deutschland nun offiziell die Rolle als internationaler Klimaschutzvorreiter auf und unterminiert damit das Abkommen als Ganzes. Der Koalitionsvertrag enthält keine neuen Ideen, Treibhausgasemissionen in Industrie und Gebäuden in den Griff zu bekommen, vorgeschlagene Maßnahmen im Verkehr werden...

A new analysis of agricultural emissions by the Climate Action Tracker shows that reducing emissions through changes in farming practices alone will not be enough to limit global warming to 1.5°C, but changing our diets and reducing food waste could make significant additional reductions, which calls for a much more holistic approach. Read the full briefing here . Agriculture accounts for roughly 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and as much as 50% of non-CO 2 emissions, at 5–6 GtCO 2 e/year. To limit warming to 2°C [1] , we need to reduce non-CO 2 agricultural emissions by at least 1...

Mit der Abkehr der potentiellen neuen großen Koalition vom Klimaziel für 2020 gibt Deutschland nun offiziell die Rolle als internationaler Klimaschutzvorreiter auf. Mit Ausnahme der Förderung der Erneuerbaren Energien im Stromsektor und einigen Energieeffizienzmaßnahmen im Gebäudesektor ist in allen Sektoren versäumt worden, wirksame Klimaschutzmaßnahmen umzusetzen, so dass deutsche Treibhausgasemissionen in diesem Jahrzehnt nicht weiter sinken und auf einem immer noch hohen Niveau stagnieren. Das Klimaziel nun auch offiziell aufzugeben, ist mehr als nur ein interner Kompromiss der zukünftigen...

Analysis by the Climate Action Tracker was published in Climate Policy , an international peer-reviewed journal, today. The paper identifies ten important, short-term sectoral benchmarks that key sectors need to take to help the world achieve the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C limit. This new article addresses the questions to be discussed in the Paris Agreement’s 2018 Facilitative Dialogue , to be known as Talanoa Dialogue: “Where are we?”, “Where do we want to go?” and “How do we get there?” In particular for the last question, this paper adds actionable advice to policy makers. All key sectors...

While US climate policy has been rolled back under President Trump, India and China have moved ahead, making significant progress in climate action over the past year, the Climate Action Tracker (CAT) said today. Actions in China and India have made a difference to the CAT’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions projections based on government policies currently in place, leading to a 0.2°C decrease in projected warming—to 3.4˚C by 2100, compared with 3.6˚C in November 2016. This is the first time since the CAT began tracking action in 2009 that policies at a national level have visibly reduced its...

As part of our ongoing investigations into the decarbonisation of various sectors, our latest study looks at the emissions from the steel and cement industries (previous publications focused on transport, buildings, power). It’s a difficult nut to crack, as large chunks of the emissions are not related to conventional fossil fuel combustion. With decarbonisation, we normally think of energy-related measures such as higher energy efficiency, electrification of demand, zero-carbon fuels and a zero-carbon electricity supply in order to move towards net-zero CO 2 emissions. While such measures...

The Climate Action Tracker (CAT) has updated its government climate action rating system to better reflect the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C long term warming limit. The new categories help to highlight the adequacy and fairness of government climate commitments for the Paris Agreement. (Full briefing) The CAT has updated its effort-sharing assessment to incorporate the latest science and emission trends, which has changed the ratings for some countries. The CAT now has expanded to six rating categories instead of the previous four, to properly describe the full range of action, or lack of action...

On July 7-8 the leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies will meet in Hamburg for a much awaited G20 summit. The German presidency has made climate change a key agenda item, but cracks in a G20 consensus have emerged after President Trump announced on 1 June that the US would withdraw from the climate treaty. The ripple effect some feared following the US exit has so far failed to materialise. It remains unclear whether the other 19 members of the G20 – which include major emitters and fossil fuel exporters – can maintain common ground and continued commitment to the goals of the Paris...

The future of natural gas is limited, even as a bridging fuel. Continued investments into the sector create the risk of breaching the Paris Agreement’s long-term temperature goal and will result in stranded assets, the Climate Action Tracker (CAT) said today. As part of its decarbonisation series, the CAT today released an examination of gas in the power sector. The report, titled “ Foot off the gas: increased reliance on natural gas in the power sector risks an emissions lock-in ”, warns that natural gas will have to be phased out along with coal, if the world is to limit warming to 1.5˚C, as...

Press Release Global leadership on climate is changing, with positive developments on coal use in China and India likely to reduce projected global carbon emissions growth by roughly two to three billion tonnes by 2030, the Climate Action Tracker (CAT) said today. The recent, sweeping policy rollbacks by President Trump are unlikely to have a major impact on global emissions by 2030, according to the CAT analysis on China, India, and the US, released at the Bonn climate talks. “The highly adverse rollbacks of US climate policies by the Trump Administration, if fully implemented and not...

2 Page Summary Infographic Policy Summary Technical Report Triggering a global transformation of our energy systems as required by the Paris Agreement does not take the whole world—it can be started by just a small group of countries, according to a new Climate Action Tracker report. The global rise of renewable energy, which accounted for over half of all new electricity installations in 2015, was a result of strong actions by just a few countries, according to “Faster & Cleaner 2: kick-starting global decarbonisation,” released by the Climate Action Tracker and the Climate Works Foundation...

When countries put forward their climate proposals for the Paris Agreement, they were asked also to explain why these are ambitious. Countries found many ways to make their case: For example, the USA stated that its new proposal requires faster reduction than their earlier one. The EU declared that it wants to decrease emissions until 2030 by at least 40% since 1990, more than most other countries. China wants to peak its emissions before 2030 at a lower level (per capita) than for example the USA. If countries use different ways to describe their ambition, how do we know if one is more...

Die neue Verfügung von US Präsident Trump zur „nationalen Energieunabhängigkeit“ wird dazu führen, dass die USA ihre Zusage für das Pariser Klimaschutzabkommen verfehlen, so der Climate Action Tracker. Das Konsortium, das hinter dem Climate Action Tracker steht, würde die USA dafür von „mittelmäßig“ auf „ungenügend“ abwerten. Bei voller Umsetzung der Verfügung würden die Treibhausgasemissionen der USA in 2025 und 2030 etwa so hoch sein wie heute und nicht—entsprechend der Zusage der USA zum Pariser Klimaschutzabkommen—13% unter das Niveau von 2014 sinken. Die noch unter der Obama Regierung...

US President Trump’s Executive Order on “Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth” sets the US on a path to miss its Paris Agreement commitment for 2025 by a large margin, the Climate Action Tracker said today, adding that it would warrant moving the US from a “medium” to an “insufficient” CAT rating. If the Executive Order were carried out in full, US emissions in 2025 and 2030 are expected to be roughly similar to today, instead of the 13% decrease from 2014 levels needed to meet its target (Nationally Determined Contribution) submitted to the Paris Agreement. In 2016 the CAT rated...