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Switzerland has reached agreements with Georgia, Peru, Senegal and Ghana to support the implementation of low-hanging fruit climate change mitigation. In return, the countries will transfer the mitigation outcomes to Switzerland to help it meet its national target under the Paris Agreement.

Much of the world currently finds itself in the midst of an energy crisis tied to jumps in the price of gas. Expanded investments in gas extraction, infrastructure, and gas-fired electricity generation plants sound like they could be solutions to the global gas crunch. New research from NewClimate Institute finds that continued reliance on gas is more likely to be an expensive distraction aggravating the situation – while undermining energy security and climate mitigation efforts. In the vast majority of cases, renewables and electrification represent the best solution. Around the world...

To limit global warming to well under two degrees, the global economy needs to undergo system-wide changes. Finance has a critical role to play. The finance sector, defined as provider of financial services to actors in the real economy must play a central role in bringing about systemic change and in helping mobilise and shift capital to fully decarbonise the economy. UNEP FI estimates that for full decarbonisation, the world needs investments in the order of 5 to 7 trillion USD per year ( UNEP FI ). While staggering, tens of trillions of dollars are spent every year on exploration...

Development banks not only provide finance directly to specific projects, they also channel funds to financial intermediaries, for example local banks, in developing and emerging economies. Development banks, notably including the major multilateral development banks and members of the International Development Finance Club (IDFC) have committed to align themselves with the Paris Agreement. While they have made (some) progress with establishing Paris lending criteria for their direct lending activities – clear rules and guidance for how to align “intermediated lending” with the Paris Agreement...

A new tool to evaluate integrated climate action of non-state and subnational actors The world now faces a critical juncture as countries are updating their next wave of NDC climate targets. To ensure ambitious and inclusive target setting and implementation, governments must build on existing efforts to recognize and integrate the full range of non-state and subnational actions into national goals. The ICAT Climate Action Aggregation Tool (CAAT) has been developed to support government experts, analysts and policymakers to analyze potential emission reductions of non-state and subnational...

The Paris Agreement sets out the ambitious task of aligning all financial flows with its goals to avoid the worst impacts of warming. Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) have an important role to play in making this goal a reality. Their development mandates, technical expertise, and track record on climate finance mean that MDBs can lead the way by helping developing countries avoid fossil fuel-intensive development pathways, by developing the necessary standards and investment criteria to assess the alignment of investments with the Paris Agreement’s goals, and by helping to mobilise...

Recent analysis by NewClimate Institute has estimated the direct impacts of growing coal capacity in Mongolia on human health : Operations of coal-fired power plants could cause 1,600 premature deaths / 42,000 years of life lost between 2020 and 2050. Around 70% of these negative impacts will be caused by new power plants included in coal capacity expansion plans of the Mongolian Ministry of Energy. The proposed 5.3 GW Shivee Ovoo power plant alone would cause more premature deaths and years of life lost by 2050 than all other proposed new coal plants together, while exclusively producing...

In stark contrast to the overwhelming wave of optimism for climate action from school children, students, and civil society across the world throughout 2019, the 25th Conference of the Parties (COP) in Madrid closed on Sunday 15th December 2019 with an underwhelming outcome – more damage control than progress on climate ambition. Despite major delays, while Parties scrambled to reach an agreement, delegations departed on Sunday without having reached a consensus on many of the main sticking points. Among several issues on the table, negotiators could not agree on rules for the use of...

The 25th Conference of Parties of the UNFCCC will take place from December 2-13 2019. NewClimate Institute will be present in Madrid hosting and participating in multiple events. Additionally, we will release several related publications before and during COP. You can find all information about it here. Events & Appearances Events with NewClimate Institute participation: Side event: High expectations – Did the UN Climate Action Summit achieve higher climate ambitions? (NewClimate-Event) This session will compare the outcomes of the Global Climate Action Summit in September to the expectations...

This blogpost is based on a paper by NewClimate Institute. Navigating the various international climate change planning and reporting processes and linking these to domestic processes for sector-level decarbonisation planning can be an enormous challenge. Many climate-related planning and reporting processes have been started in a relatively short time, there are limited resources available, and time is of great importance. This blogpost shows how countries could consolidate multiple climate change planning processes and international climate commitments into one single process, ensuring...

Climate negotiators reconvene in Bonn for two weeks from 17th June 2019 to continue discussions on the details for the implementation of the Paris Agreement. An issue area that lacked consensus during the 2018 COP24 in Katowice, the nuts and bolts of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, will be a major focus of negotiations at the upcoming session. Article 6 of the Paris Agreement establishes a framework that facilitates voluntary cooperation between countries in the implementation of their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) “to allow for higher ambition in countries’ mitigation and...

From June 17 - 27, the Bonn Climate Change Conference SB 50 took place. NewClimate Institute was present with multiple events, and released several related publications. Find all information about it here. Events Events with NewClimate Institute participation: View webcast recording Press Conference: Climate Action Tracker - presentation of the latest developments In this press conference, we presented the updated country assessments, and a briefing paper that summarises the most crucial developments. We also welcomed participants from outside of media, but please note that journalists got to...

Dieser Beitrag ist auch als Artikel in Audit Committee Quarterly I/2019 erschienen. Klimawandel ist eines der größten Probleme unserer Zeit. Ein Preis auf CO 2 -Emissionen ist aus ökonomischer Sicht ein adäquates Mittel, die Verursacher zur Verantwortung zu ziehen und effizient den Ausstoß von Treibhausgasen dort zu reduzieren, wo es am günstigsten ist. Aber um die Wende in eine treibhausgasfreie Zukunft zu bewältigen, sind zusätzliche politische Maßnahmen nötig. Klimawandel erfordert Ausstieg aus Kohle, Öl und Gas Wenn wir den Klimawandel eindämmen wollen, müssen wir unser Energiesystem...

Shipping provides a critical service behind the scenes moving goods from A to B in an increasingly connected and globalised world. However, most of us never see the ship that brought us the produce we buy in the grocery store, the T-shirt we bought on sale, or think about how the components of our new TV are part of a large logistics chain uniting the world. Compared to the number of people flying around the world, very few have crossed an ocean on a ship. And while shipping is one of the most energy and emissions efficient ways of moving things around, it still is a major contributor to...

If airlines are allowed to use all available offset credits certified by programmes such as the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism and other voluntary standard bodies under a new global scheme to address international aviation emissions, the scheme will not truly compensate the sector’s growing CO 2 emissions. To achieve the aviation scheme’s objective of carbon neutral growth, policy-makers must adopt robust criteria on the types of offset credits that are accepted. The rules should be designed to ensure that the scheme supports the development of new emission reduction projects or targets...