296 results found

Accelerating Net Zero: Exploring Cities, Regions, and Companies’ Pledges to Decarbonise
Publication date 21 Sep 2020

A growing number of subnational and corporate actors set net-zero emissions targets. These include some of the world’s largest companies, and hundreds of cities and regions around the world. This paper provides a summary of the momentum of target setting among these subnational and corporate actors. Main Findings: The shift towards net-zero greenhouse gas emission pathways is accelerating. An increasing number of subnational and corporate actors are setting net-zero emission targets. These encompass: 823 cities and 101 regions, which represent more than 828 million people across every...

Exploring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global emission projections
Publication date 04 Sep 2020

This report assesses the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated recovery measures on emissions out to 2030 and global emission pathways towards meeting the Paris climate goals (‘what-if’ scenarios). Furthermore, the study reviews the most recent insights published in the literature on post-COVID emissions projections and green recovery trajectories, and provide a framework for analysing the ‘greenness’ of recovery packages, using Germany as a case study. Main Findings: This report assesses the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated recovery measures on emissions out...

Correcting course: the emission reduction potential of international cooperative initiatives
Publication date 26 Aug 2020

This article quantifies the potential greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions resulting from the full implementation of major international cooperative initiatives’ (ICIs) goals. We develop criteria to select the most significant ICIs to aggregate, and propose novel methodologies to quantify emission reduction impacts and account for overlaps between them. The analysis was conducted for 17 initiatives, across eight sectors and ten major emitting economies accounting for roughly two-thirds of global GHG emissions in 2019. ICIs are international activities outside the UNFCCC driven by cities...

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...

Options for supporting Carbon Dioxide Removal
Publication date 28 Jul 2020

This paper examines the broad policy frameworks that can support the development and upscaling of Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) without diverting attention from ambitious greenhouse gas emissions reductions and, in particular, whether CDR can be supported by offsetting schemes. Setting separate emission reduction and removal targets may be a way to achieve this. The paper was funded by the Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative (C2G) , which is an initiative of the Carnegie Council for Ethics and International Affairs . Context and approach: The special report on the 1.5°C temperature limit by...

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...

The ICAT Policy Assessment Guides
Publication date 06 May 2020

At a time when action on climate change is more urgent than ever, the Initiative for Climate Action Transparency (ICAT) has deployed a set of tools to help countries assess the impact of their climate policies and improve their chances of strengthening and achieving their national climate goals under the Paris Agreement. The ICAT Assessment Guides provide governments and non-state actors with the means to assess the impacts of national policies and actions that reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Besides assessing impacts on emissions, the Guides help to assess impacts on countries’...

Ambition in the making: analysing the preparation and implementation process of the Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement
Publication date 10 Jan 2020

Nearly all the world’s governments have prepared and submitted their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), setting out their climate pledges under the 2015 Paris Agreement. These NDCs are to be regularly updated, and many countries are expected to submit a new NDC in 2020. While several studies have assessed the content and potential impacts of the NDCs, this article focusses on the preparatory process and asks the question: under what conditions can countries be expected to develop NDCs that are sufficiently ambitious to contribute to fulfilling the Paris Agreement goals? For some...

Event: Achieving Net Zero: Opportunities to close the gap to 1.5◦C in Europe and beyond
Venue COP25
Date 06 Dec 2019

Louise Jeffery , Swithin Lui (both NewClimate), Claire Stockwell, Paola Yanguas Parra and Andreas Geiges (all Climate Analytics) presented on "Achieving Net Zero: Opportunities to close the gap to 1.5◦C in Europe and beyond" at COP25 in December 2019.

Greenhouse gas mitigation scenarios for major emitting countries – Analysis of current climate policies and mitigation commitments: 2019 Update
Publication date 11 Dec 2019

This report by NewClimate Institute, PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) provides an overview of projected greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 25 major emitting countries/regions up to 2030, taking into account the emission trajectories based on current policies and the implementation of nationally determined contributions (NDCs). The report concludes that 12 out of the 25 countries and regions analysed are not on track to achieve the NDC targets they have set for themselves. This report updates the 2018 report, and...

Climate Action Tracker global update: Governments still showing little sign of acting on climate crisis
Publication date 10 Dec 2019

In this briefing, the Climate Action Tracker presents the global temperature update and shares key insights from the updated assessments. Under current pledges, the world will warm by 2.8°C by the end of the century, close to twice the limit they agreed in Paris. Governments are even further from the Paris temperature limit in terms of their real-world action, which would see the temperature rise by 3°C. An ‘optimistic’ take on real-world action including additional action that governments are planning still only limits warming to 2.8°C. Warming estimates have fallen by 0.1-0.2°C compared to...

The Climate Change Performance Index 2020
Publication date 10 Dec 2019

Developed by NewClimate Institute, Germanwatch and CAN , the index ties in with the global Climate Change Performance Index by Germanwatch, a rating of the 58 largest emitters of GHG emissions globally that has been published annually since 2006. Foreword: Informing the process of raising climate ambition Published annually since 2005, the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) is an independent monitoring tool for tracking countries’ climate protection performance. It aims to enhance transparency in international climate politics and enables comparison of climate protection efforts and...

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...

Tackling the Challenges of Assessing Collective Progress for an Effective Global Stocktake
Publication date 29 Nov 2019

This summary report creates a framework to evaluate if a GST is successful and formulates recommendations for the design of the GST process. Please note that this is the executive summary of the full report that was published in advance to already feed into the negotiations at COP25. The main document will be provided subsequently. Key findings: The Paris Agreement combines collective goals with individual countries’ contributions. This hybrid approach does not guarantee that the individual contributions add up to what is required to meet the collective goals. The Paris Agreement therefore...

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...

Bridging the Gap: Enhancing mitigation ambition and action at G20 level and globally
Publication date 23 Sep 2019

Ahead of the UN Climate Action Summit 2019, UNEP with support of NewClimate Institute has released an advance chapter of the flagship 2019 Emissions Gap Report, which notes that G20 members, who account for around 80 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, are not yet taking on transformative climate commitments at the breadth and scale necessary. The chapter titled “Bridging the Gap: Enhancing Mitigation Ambition and Action at G20 Level and Globally” notes that “the majority of G20 countries are not yet taking on transformative climate commitments at the necessary scale—if this does not...

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...

Climate Action Tracker global update: Pledged action leads to 2.9°C - time to boost national climate action
Publication date 19 Sep 2019

The world is not on track to limit warming to 1.5°C and meet the Paris Agreement goals. The Climate Action Tracker (CAT) estimates that under current policies, the world will exceed 1.5°C of warming around 2035, 2°C around 2053, and 3.2°C by the end of the century. If governments fully achieve the emissions cuts they have committed to, warming is likely to rise to 2.9°C – almost twice the 1.5°C limit they agreed in Paris. Under both of these scenarios, there is a 10% chance of exceeding 4°C by the end of the century - and even up to a 25% chance based on the higher end of the current policies...

Global climate action from cities, regions and businesses - 2019
Publication date 18 Sep 2019

This report is the second global analysis of local and regional government and corporate climate contributions, updating “Global Climate Action from Cities, Regions, and Companies” launched at the 2018 Global Climate Action Summit. The 2018 report established the strong potential of subnational and non-state actors to help avoid climate change. This year, we aim to inform the September 2019 UN Climate Action Summit on how mitigation by cities, regions and companies could help national governments boost their ambition beyond their current targets, to come in line with the Paris Agreement’s...

The Ambition Call - European Union
Publication date 09 Aug 2019

The ambition call provides concrete recommendations for the European Union for immediate climate action in response to the UN Secretary-General’s request for countries to: 1) present concrete, realistic plans that are compatible with the latest IPCC Special Report on global warming of 1.5°C, 2) enhance their NDCs by 2020 and 3) reduce GHG emissions by 45% over the next decade, and to net zero by 2050. Recommendations for other countries can be found on the Climate Transparency website . Abstract: The three recommended actions for the European Union are: Adopt goal of net-zero greenhouse gas...

GHG mitigation policies in major emitting countries: an overview of recently adopted policies - 2019 update
Publication date 06 Jun 2019

This document presents an overview of climate and energy policies mostly adopted between July 2018 and May 2019 in 25 countries and regions. The policy information compiled by NewClimate Institute, PBL and IIASA in this document supplements the December 2018 report on the projected greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under currently implemented policies and mitigation commitments (Kuramochi et al., 2018). Key findings: This document provides an overview of about 50 policies that were adopted or under development between July 2018 and May 2019 in 25 selected countries and that may have significant...

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...

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