Browse publications

In light of the ambitious targets of the Paris Agreement, large potential for emission reductions exists in the corporate sector. An increasing number of companies are making commitments to contribute to the agreement’s long-term targets. The CDP Climate Change Report 2016, in collaboration with the We Mean Business coalition, presents carbon emissions and climate change mitigation data from a global sample of 1,089 companies. The first in an annual series, the report tracks companies’ progress on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement against this...

In this study, we have translated the global ambition of the Paris Agreement into concrete sectoral targets applicable to the Netherlands. This has been done by comparing projected pathways of climate-relevant indicators from various authoritative literature sources to what would be needed in order to be compatible with the Paris Agreement’s long-term goals. The Netherlands faces a steep road ahead if the economy is to develop in a way that is compatible with the Paris Agreement. While promising developments have taken place in certain sectors - i.e. in transport, where the country is a...

Zero emission vehicles need to take over car market to reach 1.5°C limit: analysis Zero-emission vehicles need to reach a dominant market share by around 2035 for the world to meet the Paris Agreement’s lower warming limit of 1.5°C—and even that could be too late to avoid the need for significant negative emissions, according to new analysis by the Climate Action Tracker (CAT). This transformation of the passenger transport sector would also have to be accompanied by a decarbonisation of the power sector to ensure the electric vehicles (EV) are truly emissions free. In the first of its...

This “Brown to Green” report by Climate Transparency provides a comprehensive overview and assessment for the G20 countries, whether - and how well - they are doing on the journey to transition to a low carbon economy. The report draws on publicly available information and makes use of the assessment work of the Climate Action Tracker (CAT) (operated by NewClimate Institute, Climate Analytics, Ecofys and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research), Germanwatch’s Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) and the Overseas Development Institute (ODI). It summarises and compares the findings...

The Paris climate agreement aims at holding global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius and to “pursue efforts” to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius. To accomplish this, countries have submitted Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) outlining their post-2020 climate action. Here we assess the effect of current INDCs on reducing aggregate greenhouse gas emissions, its implications for achieving the temperature objective of the Paris climate agreement, and potential options for overachievement. The INDCs collectively lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to where current...

The Paris Agreement is expected to have an unprecedented impact on the global economy in the 21st century. As the international community commit to reaching net zero emissions during the second half of the century, the impacts on the private sector will be far-reaching. This report looks at the linkages between the Paris Agreement and countries’ NDCs and the business implications in renewable energy markets, carbon pricing, management of climate risks, and resilience building. For this We Mean Business report in partnership with BSR, NewClimate Institute were responsible for collecting and...

Aside from national and sub-national governments taking action against climate change, large potential for emission reductions exists in the corporate sector. More and more companies are making commitments to contribute to the long-term targets of the Paris Agreement. These include, for instance, pledges to source electricity from renewables, stop sourcing commodities causing deforestation, and increasing energy efficiency across various sectors. This report estimates how large the contribution towards bending the emissions curve to “well below 2°C” from five representative initiatives – RE100...

The Allianz Climate and Energy Monitor ranks G20 member states on their attractiveness as potential destinations for investment in low-carbon electricity infrastructure. It takes into account their current and future investment needs in line with a 2° C global warming trajectory. Consistency with the Paris Agreement, negotiated by 195 countries at the end of 2015, would require a full decarbonization of the global economy before the end of the century. This transformation will be particularly challenging for the energy sector – the largest source of carbon emissions. Every existing and new...

The long-term global climate goals of the Paris Agreement adopted by nearly 200 countries in December 2015, imply enhanced efforts for greenhouse gas emissions reductions in Germany. The phrasing of the long term goals of the Paris Agreement goes beyond prior political consensus. The objective is to limit the global increase in temperature to “well below 2°C” above pre-industrial levels, “pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C”, as well as to lower the net GHG emissions to zero in the second half of the century. The aim of this brief analysis is to translate the goals of the...

The inaugural report of the 1 Gigaton Coalition, entitled Narrowing the Emissions Gap: Contributions from renewable energy and energy efficiency activities, is now available, and details the emissions saved after analysing nearly 6,000 renewable energy and energy efficiency activities in developing countries. They show the potential for further emissions reductions if programmes and initiatives are supported further to replicate successful projects more widely. The report is based on the current level of activities in renewable energy and energy efficiency in the energy sector. However, after...

This sixth UNEP Emissions Gap Report provides a scientific assessment of the mitigation contributions from the submitted INDCs. As in the previous reports, it then compares the resulting emission levels in 2030 with what science tells us is required to be on track towards the agreed target of a global average temperature increase below 2°C by 2100. The Report also provides data for the aspirational target of keeping the temperature increase below 1.5°C. In addition, the Report presents selected areas where enhanced action can be taken, accelerated and scaled up to close the emissions gap. The...

This paper provides an overview of options to assess mitigation commitments before Paris and beyond. This includes a review of current activities to assess individual INDCs as well as a discussion of some of the attributes and requirements such assessment needs to fulfil. The paper goes on to explore options of how the assessment could be carried out and linked to the UNFCCC process, followed by a discussion of methodological approaches to assess the ambition of mitigation contributions. In conclusion, it provides some recommendations on a feasible and realistic way forward drawing out...

This study compared recommendations for good practice climate change mitigation policies from various institutions with the current status of application of these policies by countries. In an initial attempt, a broad set of climate mitigation-related policies covering all sectors were analysed for the 30 major emitting countries that comprise 82% of global GHG emissions. The database that is the basis for this report is available at www.climatepolicydatabase.org.

This report studies the development of criteria for assessing the compatibility of financial investments with the international goal to limit global temperature increase to below 2°C above pre-industrial levels. The findings are intended as a starting point and a key input for a longer term process to develop consensus-based 2°C investing criteria. The focus here is placed on investments in projects and physical assets, in particular of development and climate finance organisations. In order to limit global temperature increase to 2°C, global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will have to be...

A highly efficient use of energy is thus fundamental to limit GHG emissions. Yet, energy efficiency receives much less attention than the decarbonization of the energy supply. This study indicates that scenarios with higher energy efficiency mostly show lower abatement costs. This was the result of evaluating the large number of existing scenarios that comply with the internationally agreed 2°C target until 2050. The societal costs of decarbonization in these scenarios vary strongly and a detailed assessment of the potential cost reductions due to EE is lacking. In order to close this gap...