Enhanced financial mechanisms for post 2012 mitigation

Despite the many calls to reform the CDM, its conceptual underpinnings are strong and it will most likely survive in the post-2012 climate regime. Some modifications may be considered in the short term to strengthen the effectiveness and transparency of the mechanism without modifying the Marrakesh Accords. In the medium term substantially increased mitigation efforts in developing countries may require a combination of three possible financial mechanisms: the current activity-based CDM albeit improved, a second market mechanism that would seek to improve the long term emission trends of developing countries by promoting broad based emission reduction programs primarily in the private sector, and a third financial mechanism outside of the market which would be an incentive for the adoption of policy changes leading to a low carbon path, but where emission reductions would not be used as international offsets.Environmental Economics&Policies,Carbon Policy and Trading,Montreal Protocol,Energy and Environment,Environment and Energy Efficiency

Umweltpolitik in globalen Netzen

Traditionelle (zwischen)staatliche Zusammenarbeit stößt in einer zunehmend globalisierten Welt an die Grenzen ihrer Leistungsfähigkeit. Private Akteure ebenso wie lokale und regionale Gruppen beanspruchen aktive Beteiligung und Einbindung. Die Kooperation aller beteiligten Gruppen ist zu einer Notwendig­keit nachhaltiger internationaler Zusammenarbeit geworden. Am Beispiel des Finanzierungsfonds Global Environmental Facility wird gezeigt, wie internatio­nale Organisationen ihre privilegierte Stellung nutzen können, um Nachhaltig­keit in neuen multisektoralen Netzwerken voranzubringen (1)

Contribution of the land sector to a 1.5 °C world

Acknowledgements The analysis in this study was guided by the valuable feedback and recommendations of expert consultations and interviews, and we extend our gratitude to all those individuals who contributed to our research and analysis: Jeff Atkins (Virginia Commonwealth University), Jonah Busch (Earth Innovation Institute), Peter Ellis (The Nature Conservancy), Jason Funk (Center for Carbon Removal), Trisha Gopalakrishna (The Nature Conservancy), Alan Kroeger (Climate Focus), Bernice Lee (Chatham House), Donna Lee (Climate and Land Use Alliance), Simon Lewis (University College London), Guy Lomax (The Nature Conservancy), Dann Mitchell (University of Bristol), Raoni Rajão (University of Minas Gerais), Joeri Rogelj (IIASA), Carl-Friedrich Schleussner (Climate Analytics), Paul West (University of Minnesota), Graham Wynne (Prince of Wales International Sustainability Unit), Ana Yang (Children’s Investment Fund Foundation) and Dan Zarin (Climate and Land Use Alliance). A special thank you to Esther Chak and Mary-Jo Valentino (Imaginary Office) for designing the figures in this study. This work was generously supported by the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation and the authors’ institutions and funding sources.Peer reviewedPostprin

National mitigation potential from natural climate solutions in the tropics.

Better land stewardship is needed to achieve the Paris Agreement's temperature goal, particularly in the tropics, where greenhouse gas emissions from the destruction of ecosystems are largest, and where the potential for additional land carbon storage is greatest. As countries enhance their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement, confusion persists about the potential contribution of better land stewardship to meeting the Agreement's goal to hold global warming below 2°C. We assess cost-effective tropical country-level potential of natural climate solutions (NCS)-protection, improved management and restoration of ecosystems-to deliver climate mitigation linked with sustainable development goals (SDGs). We identify groups of countries with distinctive NCS portfolios, and we explore factors (governance, financial capacity) influencing the feasibility of unlocking national NCS potential. Cost-effective tropical NCS offers globally significant climate mitigation in the coming decades (6.56 Pg CO2e yr-1 at less than 100 US$ per Mg CO2e). In half of the tropical countries, cost-effective NCS could mitigate over half of national emissions. In more than a quarter of tropical countries, cost-effective NCS potential is greater than national emissions. We identify countries where, with international financing and political will, NCS can cost-effectively deliver the majority of enhanced NDCs while transforming national economies and contributing to SDGs. This article is part of the theme issue 'Climate change and ecosystems: threats, opportunities and solutions'

Land-based measures to mitigate climate change : potential and feasibility by country

Acknowledgements The design of this study and the data generated was guided by expert consultations and relied on the help of many. We thank all those who contributed: Sierra Gladfelter, Jo House, Mercedes Bustamante, Susan Cook-Patton, Sara Leavitt, Nick Wolff, and Thomas Worthington. We thank M.-J. Valentino at Imaginary Office for helping to design the first three figures. This work was supported by the authors’ institutions and funding sources, including the Climate and Land-use Alliance, the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Food Quality, and the EU H2020 projects VERIFY and ENGAGE (grant agreement no. 821471).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The role of sector no-lose targets in scaling up finance for climate change mitigation activities in developing countries

The international climate change community is urgently looking for means to ‘scale up’ investments in clean technology and systems worldwide, especially in developing countries. The need for this to happen is signalled by the recent fourth assessment of the IPCC, in particular by Working Group III which noted: With current climate change mitigation policies and related sustainable development practices, global GHG emissions will continue to grow over the next few decades: CO2 emissions between 2000 and 2030 from energy use are projected to grow 45 to 110% over that period. Two thirds to three quarters of this increase in CO2 emissions is projected to come from nonAnnex I regions, with their average per capita energy CO2 emissions being projected to remain substantially lower than those in Annex I regions in 2030. Currently, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is the only contribution by developing countries that is formally acknowledged under the international climate change regime. The need for something more than the current CDM is well documented, in particular something that addresses the scale issue by going beyond a project by project approach