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The objective of this seventh UNEP Emissions Gap Report is to provide an up-to-date scientific assessment of the global progress towards the emissions reductions required to be on track to meet the long-term goal of the UNFCCC. In particular, this year the report emphasizes the implications of the Paris Agreement’s strengthened goal of holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C, and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels for immediate and longer-term mitigation action. The 2016 Emissions Gap Report addresses the...

Renewable energy and energy efficiency projects implemented in developing countries from 2005 to 2015 will reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by almost half a gigatonne by 2020, according to the second report by the 1 Gigaton Coalition. These reductions could more than double, reaching one gigatonne, if developed nations deliver on commitments made in Paris last year to provide $100 billion in annual climate financing for developing nations by 2020, finds the report. One gigatonne is roughly equivalent to the emissions generated by transport in the European Union (including aviation) over...

The adoption of the Paris Agreement in December 2015 moved the world a step closer to avoiding dangerous climate change. The aggregated individual intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs) are not yet sufficient to be consistent with the long-term goals of the agreement of ‘holding the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C’ and ‘pursuing efforts’ towards 1.5°C. However, the Paris Agreement gives hope that this inconsistency can be resolved. We find that many of the contributions are conservative and in some cases may be overachieved. We also find that the...

The building sector accounts for around 20% of climate-changing emissions, and its energy demand is likely to double by mid-century without action, according to a Climate Action Tracker (CAT) analysis released today. While the technologies required to make new buildings zero-emissions are all available, the sector is not taking up those technologies as fast as it could and renovation rates are low. Delayed action would put pressure on other sectors to cut emissions, or require negative emissions to keep global warming within the Paris Agreement’s temperature limit. The building sector analysis...

This guidance assists policymakers in designing national mitigation strategies for the refrigeration, air conditioning and foam (RAC&F) sector to meet the increasing ambition levels expected in revised NDCs. By aligning efforts taken under the two relevant international regimes, the UNFCCC and the Montreal Protocol, the RAC&F sector can make a significant contribution towards reaching the 2°C target, or even the 1.5°C target. Introduction: With the objective to hold the increase in global average temperature well below 2°C and the ambition to limit it to 1.5°C, parties to the United Nations...

NewClimate Institute contributed to a policy brief on ‘Two unconventional options to enhance multilateral climate finance’ under the European Capacity Building Initiative (ecbi). The brief considers two unconventional sources of finance to overcome the current challenges in multilateral climate finance and enhance predictability and magnitude: a ‘share of proceeds’ from national and sub-national emission trading schemes; and crowdfunding from corporate air passengers.

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...

This report prepared by New Climate Institute and with Climate Action Network Europe’s contribution, aims at identifying for Turkey the co-benefits of policies compatible with climate change mitigation objectives for job creation, public health and dependency on energy imports. The analysis shows that if Turkey adopts a pathway that prioritizes renewable energy and energy efficiency in line with the 1.5°C and 2°C targets, it can considerably reduce energy import dependency, can create tens of thousands of qualified jobs in the renewable energy sector and can prevent thousands of premature...

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...

With the historic Paris Agreement in place, Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), together with the availability of new sources of climate finance, including the Green Climate Fund (GCF), lay the groundwork for ambitious, country-driven climate action. Achieving NDC goals will require substantial investments in support of low-carbon, climate-resilient infrastructure and most of those investments will come from the private sector. The challenge going forward will be to turn NDCs into transformational action on the ground in ways that can catalyze private sector investments. Nationally...

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...