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The refrigeration and air conditioning (RAC) sector faces a particular challenge in the implementation of effective finance strategies given its cross-sectoral nature – extending from manufacturing of gases and appliances to energy end-use in buildings – and hence the different institutional responsibilities as well as policy and compliance regimes that affect the sector. Against this backdrop, this paper focusses on questions related to the financing of the low-carbon transition of the RAC sector. The objective of the paper is to provide an overview of the current finance situation in the...

This discussion paper explores environmental risks from the inclusion of forest offset credits in the Paris Agreement’s Article 6 and CORSIA, and examines approaches to address such risks. A number of challenges surrounding environmental integrity notably baseline determination, additionality, permanence, and leakage are discussed as well as environmental and social safeguards in forest mitigation initiatives. Key findings: Preserving and enhancing forests is an essential part of global efforts to mitigate climate change. Currently, most finance for forest-related mitigation is provided...

This publication is a pre-release version of a chapter in the forthcoming UN Environment Emissions Gap Report 2018. It provides an assessment of the role and potential impact of mitigation actions by non-state and subnational actors such as cities, states, regions, companies, investors and foundations. Key findings: Many non-state actors are engaging in mitigation action, across sectors and regions: Non-state and subnational actors have the opportunity both to be part of implementing mitigation commitments made at national level and to go beyond current pledges and raise ambition. The number...

The Climate Opportunity report investigates the economic, social and environmental benefits for climate change mitigation action in cities. Enhanced policies and measures for residential building retrofits, bus networks and district-scale renewable energy can generate millions of jobs, save billions of dollars for households, and prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths related to ambient air pollution worldwide. The analysis is based on the development of new methodologies, which provide local and national policymakers with a blueprint for how cities and nations can evaluate these impacts and...

Since the Paris Climate Agreement solidified an “all hands on deck” approach to climate change, cities, regions and businesses have become key contributors to mitigation, adaptation and finance efforts. These actors are pledging a range of actions, from directly reducing their own greenhouse gas emissions footprints, to building capacity for climate adaptation and resilience to providing private finance. This report is the most comprehensive assessment of these non-state actor commitments to reduce greenhouse gases to date. The report focuses on 9 high-emitting countries – Brazil, China, India...

With the December 2018 deadline to operationalize the Paris Agreement looming, climate negotiators are faced with the herculean task of pulling together volumes of draft notes and the disparate views of negotiating blocs into comprehensive implementing guidelines to be adopted later this year. A new paper from the Project for Advancing Climate Transparency provides both an overarching vision and practical suggestions for what should be included in the main pillars of the implementing guidelines of the Paris Agreement. Key findings: The world’s governments are working toward a December 2018...

Global climate change governance has changed substantially in the last decade, with a shift in focus from negotiating globally agreed greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets to nationally determined contributions, as enshrined in the 2015 Paris Agreement. This paper analyses trends in adoption of national climate legislation and strategies, GHG targets, and renewable and energy efficiency targets in almost all UNFCCC Parties, focusing on the period from 2007 to 2017. The uniqueness and added value of this paper reside in its broad sweep of countries, the more than decade-long coverage and the...

This article shows how a strengthening of existing plans by a global roll-out of successful, regional sector policies can ease the implementation challenge of reaching the Paris climate goals. The novel element of it is to integrate such detailed policy packages until 2030 into pathways that reach long-term targets until 2100 using an integrated assessment modelling framework. The study is only a first step in connecting the analysis of mitigation pathways towards the Paris climate goals with an assessment of the implementability of near to medium term (2020–2050) climate action that would be...

The study updates an earlier 2014 analyses and was conducted in cooperation with ALCOR and UNDP. Objective Developing countries often suffer from a high cost of capital. Because utility-scale wind and solar photovoltaic power plants require high upfront capital investments, the corresponding levelized cost of electricity (LCOEs) are very sensible to the cost of capital. States can respond to a high a cost of capital by introducing public derisking measures, that can be understood as interventions by the government and its partners to address specific investment risks, in the form of policies...

This article shows the potential impact on global GHG emissions in 2030, if all countries were to implement sectoral climate policies similar to successful examples already implemented elsewhere. This assessment was represented in the IMAGE and GLOBIOM/G4M models by replicating the impact of successful national policies at the sector level in all world regions. The first step was to select successful policies in nine policy areas. In the second step, the impact on the energy and land-use systems or GHG emissions was identified and translated into model parameters, assuming that it would be...

In this paper, we discuss the ambition raising implications to engage in voluntary cooperation under Article 6 for the originating Parties. The paper shows why Article 6 should focus on driving mitigation in otherwise inaccessible abatement options and why it is critical that support should only last for a limited time period, after which own action must kick-in. Whilst participation in mechanisms may potentially deliver benefits, the realisation of these opportunities is entirely dependent on the effective design and implementation of measures to safeguard against potential risks that can...

In this special edition of the NDC Update Report, we focus on the relationship between Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and explore how climate and development actions can support each other. Key messages: 2015 was a breakthrough year for climate action and development, with the signing of the Paris Agree­ment and a global commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. These challenging and comprehensive global agendas require fundamental rethinking of the way our economies operate and have led to renewed calls for greater...

This project analyses best practice policies across Europe and how far extending them to all EU member states could support EU Greenhouse Gases (GHG) and energy targets. Key messages: The study finds that the EU can go much further than its current commitments in terms of GHG reductions: it has the potential to reach -55% to -62% below 1990 by 2030, consistent with the Paris commitment of staying “well below 2°C, pursuing 1.5°C”. The key to realize these reductions is to apply EU-wide the best practice policies identified in various Member States including The Netherlands, Denmark, UK, Germany...

The Climate Action Tracker has updated our assessments of 23 of the 32 countries whose development on climate action we track. While some progress has been made since November, most governments’ policies are still not on track towards meeting their Paris Agreement commitments, many of which are in themselves far from sufficient to keep warming to the agreed 1.5˚C warming limit. Our assessments point to an urgent need for governments to scale up both their policies and targets to bring them more in line with a pathway to limiting warming to 1.5˚C. Summary of progress across countries: Renewable...

The Project for Advancing Climate Transparency (PACT) consortium supports the design and development of robust and effective transparency and accountability rules and processes for the Paris Agreement on climate change. This working paper explores the global stocktake created by the Paris Agreement and the design of the modalities, procedures, and guidelines that will govern the implementation of the global stocktake. Highlights: The global stocktake established under Article 14 of the Paris Agreement is a process for taking stock of collective progress toward achieving the purpose of the...