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Browse publications
Aligning transport investments with the Paris Agreement
Publication date 17 Sep 2020

As the key European public finance institution, including in the EU’s COVID-19 response measures, the EIB can and should play a prominent role in the decarbonisation of the transport sector, especially in its aspiration to be the “EU Climate Bank”. Our analysis of the EIB's transport investment portfolio since 2015, finds that about half of transport-related investments are clearly “aligned” with the Paris Agreement. We propose Paris alignment evaluation criteria, including key factors to take into consideration, and a number of investment priorities for the EIB to not only align all its...

Fair contributions versus fastest possible reductions
Publication date 25 Aug 2020

A major question of international climate policy is which countries have to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by how much. As ambitious global climate policy has been delayed for long, emissions now have to be reduced in all countries as fast as possible. Considerations whether the national emission pathway itself is in line with the responsibility and capability of that country moves more and more into the background. It is now more a question of who pays for the transition, not where it is happening. In this paper with Fraunhofer ISI, we argue that only the combination of assessments on...

Zwei neue Klimaschutzziele für Deutschland
Publication date 13 May 2020

Weltweit müssen aktuelle Klimaschutzziele überarbeitet werden, um die im Pariser Abkommen beschlossenen Ziele einhalten zu können. Auch in Deutschland ist die Diskussion in vollem Gange. Diese Kurzstudie beschäftigt sich mit den aktuellen Klimaschutzzielen der Bundesregierung und deren Kompatibilität mit dem deutschen CO 2 Budget. Dafür hat NewClimate Institute die Entstehungsgeschichte der deutschen Klimaschutzziele zusammengetragen und ein Budget von Treibhausgasemissionen ausgerechnet, das einem fairen Beitrag für Deutschland entspräche. Zusammenfassung: Die Klimaziele, die sich Deutschland...

Tracking climate-related investments and finance flows
Publication date 20 Jan 2020

This paper discusses ways to identify investments that can be accounted as low-carbon activities. The focus is on the EU Taxonomy, as in the near future it will have to be assessed to what extent this emerging tool can be useful for implementation of the climate finance landscape methodology. Subsequently, we present the added value of linking countries’ climate strategies with investment landscapes. This study offers further recommendations regarding the solutions that help to reduce the gap between current financial structures and the objectives of the national low-emission transition...

Assessment of the potentials to increase emissions reduction targets by the major GHGs emitters taking into consideration technological and political feasibility
Publication date 02 Dec 2019

This report shows the potential distribution of the emissions reduction efforts between different Parties based on different approaches and presents an in-depth assessment of the circumstances influencing the (over-) achievement of the currently suggested emissions reduction goals. The analysis focuses on the following countries: Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, India, Japan and the United States. Main findings: Keeping global warming well below 2°C and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C above preindustrial levels, as stipulated in the Paris Agreement, requires accelerated efforts to reduce...

Fairness- and Cost-Effectiveness-Based Approaches to Effort-Sharing under the Paris Agreement
Publication date 02 Dec 2019

This report shows national GHG emissions reductions for 2030 and 2050 that are consistent with the Paris Agreements’ long-term temperature goal, both based on fairness and cost-effectiveness approaches. The range of fair shares was derived from an evaluation of a broad spectrum of fairness-based approaches by the Climate Action Tracker. The cost-effective reduction shares are based on recent marginal abatement cost curves, which were used to derive globally cost-effective national pathways. Main findings: In the Paris Agreement, which came into force in November 2016, the Parties to the United...

Guiding questions for the Global Stocktake under the Paris Agreement
Publication date 29 Nov 2019

The independent Global Stocktake (iGST) seeks to increase the accuracy, transparency, accountability, and relevance of the official Global Stocktake benchmarking process by bringing together independent researchers and advocates. In this paper, build on previous work, we aim to identify knowledge gaps as well as potential areas of focus for a successful GST to take place. Executive summary: The Paris Agreement includes a cycle of ambition. Each five years, starting in 2023, a Global Stocktake (GST) analyses the global situation and provides information for countries to prepare updated...

A possible 2050 climate target for the EU
Publication date 23 Sep 2019

This study assesses the EU's 2050 target, i.e. halving global emissions by 2050 to be in line with 2°C, in today's setting to evaluate if the target, which was set ten years ago, is still appropriate and/or sufficient. It offers recommendations for the EU to aim for more ambitious targets. Key findings: The EU’s 2050 greenhouse gas reduction target of 80% to 95% from 1990 levels adopted 10 years ago is outdated as its basis has changed substantially. The global goal agreed in Paris in 2015 is more ambitious and pathways to that goal are now steeper not only because of the more ambitious goal...

Bringing climate policy up to date – decreasing cost projections for renewable energy and batteries and their implications (case study Canada)
Publication date 27 May 2019

This case study presents the potential impact of lower battery and renewable energy costs projections in Canada's NDC emissions target. Main findings The costs for renewable electricity generation and electric vehicles have dropped since the NDCs were developed, and future cost projections also decreased as a result. Wachsmuth and Anatolitis (2018) suggest a simple method to estimate increased RE capacities and EV penetration resulting from these cost decreases. The method assumes that lower battery costs lead to a higher market uptake of EVs and that the savings from decreased RE capacity...

1,5°C: Was Deutschland tun muss
Publication date 14 Mar 2019

Diese Kurzanalyse erarbeitet mögliche Pfade, die Deutschland anstreben sollte, um mit den Zielen des Pariser Abkommens kompatibel zu sein, und setzt diese in ein Verhältnis zu den derzeitigen nationalen Minderungszielen. Zusammenfassung Das 2015 verabschiedete Klimaschutzabkommen von Paris hat das Ziel, den globalen Temperaturanstieg auf deutlich unter 2°C, wenn möglich auf 1,5°C zu begrenzen und dazu die globalen Treibhausgasemissionen in der zweiten Hälfte des Jahrhunderts auf netto null zu senken. Diese Formulierung geht weit über die vorherigen internationalen politischen Vereinbarungen...

1,5°C: what Germany needs to do
Publication date 14 Mar 2019

This short analysis develops possible pathways that Germany should pursue to be compatible with the Paris Agreement, and compares those pathways to current national mitigation goals. Note: The document is written in German, but contains an English summary. Summary The Paris Agreement on Climate Change signed in 2015 aims to limit global temperature rise well below 2°C, to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C and to reach global net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the second half of the century. This wording goes a long way from previous international political agreements. Countries’...

Was kostet ein Verfehlen des 2030-Klimaziels im Verkehrssektor? (German)
Publication date 06 Mar 2019

Diese Kurzanalyse beschreibt die Größenordnung einer möglichen monetären Verpflichtung der deutschen Bundesregierung, falls die Minderungsziele für Treibhausgasemissionen im Verkehrssektor bis 2030 nicht eingehalten werden. Zusammenfassung der Ergebnisse: Das Verfehlen des deutschen Treibhausgasemissionsziels im Verkehrssektors zwischen 2021 und 2030 könnte zu Zahlungen in der Höhe von 3 bis 36 Milliarden € führen. Deutschland hat sich verpflichtet, nationale Treibhausgasemissionen bis 2030 um 55% gegenüber 1990 zu reduzieren. Innerhalb der EU hat sich Deutschland bindend verpflichtet, die...

Domestic Landscape of Climate Finance
Publication date 22 Feb 2019

The required mobilisation of funds for a Paris-compatible development urges for an improved coordination between all of the actors involved in the low-emission transition as well as demands comprehensive knowledge base to address the systemic challenge of financing sustainable economic development. This publication is part of a project enhancing the exchange of experiences between experts, business community and civil society policymakers to improve the assessment and design of domestic climate finance investment environments. It describes existing methods to track climate finance and...

Are the G20 economies making enough progress to meet their NDC targets?
Publication date 17 Dec 2018

This study compares projected GHG emissions in the G20 economies under current climate policies to those under the GHG targets outlined in the nationally determined contributions (NDCs). It is based on an assessment of official governmental estimates and independent national and global studies. Findings: Highlights: Almost all G20 members are making progress in implementing climate policies. Eight G20 members are on track to meet their unconditional NDC targets. The other G20 members require enhanced policies to achieve their NDC targets. For many G20 members emissions continue to increase...

Toward Paris Alignment: How the Multilateral Development Banks Can Better Support the Paris Agreement
Publication date 06 Dec 2018

The Paris Agreement aims to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C. To contribute to the fight against climate change, the MDBs have operated under what this report refers to as a Climate Finance Paradigm. Yet, given the urgency of the challenge and the rate at which the world must reduce emissions, this current paradigm is not enough and a new paradigm is needed. This report describes this new paradigm, called the Paris Alignment Paradigm, and provides recommendations on...

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