Bridging the Gap Between Energy and Climate Policies in Brazil: Policy Options to Reduce Energy-Related GHG Emissions

Brazil is facing a series of important policy decisions that will determine its energy future over the next several decades, with important implications for the country's economic competitiveness, the well-being of its citizens, and the global climate. The decisions concern the direction of approximately 0.5 trillion U.S. dollars of anticipated investment in energy infrastructure over the next decade -- which can either lock in carbon-intensive infrastructure, or advance Brazil's position as a leader in the low-carbon economy. This report examines Brazil's key energy-related GHG emitting sectors through a climate lens in order to offer recommendations for a more integrated approach that can more effectively reconcile energy and climate needs. It begins with an overview of Brazil's past energy and GHG emissions profiles, current pledges and future trends, and a discussion of the implications for a possible allocation of the remaining global carbon budget. Next, it reviews available scenarios for Brazil's energy-related GHG emissions in order to identify key drivers and results and compare them to a given allocation of the global carbon budget. It then focuses on the top emitting subsectors -- transport, industry, and power generation -- to identify key abatement opportunities. The report concludes with recommendations regarding a portfolio of policies and measures that could achieve both climate and energy objectives

Are the G20 economies making enough progress to meet their NDC targets?

Under the Paris Agreement, countries committed to a variety of climate actions, including post-2020 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets. 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. The study concludes that six G20 members (China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia and Turkey) are projected to meet their unconditional NDC targets with current policies. Eight members (Argentina, Australia, Canada, the European Union, Republic of Korea, South Africa and the United States) require further action to achieve their targets. Insufficient information is available for Saudi Arabia, and emission projections for Brazil and Mexico are subject to considerable uncertainty. The study also presents high-level decarbonisation indicators to better understand the current progress towards meeting the NDCs – Saudi Arabia and South Africa were found to continue increasing both emission intensity per unit GDP and emissions per capita under current policies by 2030 from 2015 levels.</p

Paris Agreement climate proposals need a boost to keep warming well below 2 °c

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 policies stand, but still imply a median warming of 2.6-3.1 degrees Celsius by 2100. More can be achieved, because the agreement stipulates that targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions are strengthened over time, both in ambition and scope. Substantial enhancement or over-delivery on current INDCs by additional national, sub-national and non-state actions is required to maintain a reasonable chance of meeting the target of keeping warming well below 2 degrees Celsius

Emissions gap NDC and net zero findings after COP27

Analysis of the level and robustness of various government climate pledges, both 2030 NDCs and net zero goals. This repository contains the data required to run https://github.com/Rlamboll/Emissions_Gap. "Analysis_update_12_14 (2).xlsx" contains the 2023 assessment of net zero pledges by governments in terms of both their quality and content. "Data_forextensions_PostCOP27_master.xlsx" contains the estimates of emissions until 2030 based on NDCs after COP27, "Data_forextensions_EGR2023_master.xlsx" contains the updated version for the paper "Credibility gap in net-zero climate targets leaves world at high risk". "2022_emission_gap_temp_summary_data.csv" is the output of the complete process. Versions 1.0.0 and 1.0.1 are identical in terms of processing, but more data is uploaded for 1.0.1 with scenarios with additional carbon price increase rates. Version 1.1.0 contains the Data_forextensions_EGR2023_master file. Data and calculation are associated with the paper at DOI: 10.1126/science.adg624

Credibility gap in net-zero climate targets leaves world at high risk

Global climate policy is undergoing a rite of passage. What used to be a conversation about ambitious target setting now focuses increasingly on implementation and interventions to achieve these targets. This liminal transition from ambition to implementation is complex and presents deep ambiguities that are challenging for scientists to communicate and decision-makers to fathom. A critical question is whether we can believe that countries will deliver on the commitments they have made. By evaluating policy characteristics of countries’ net-zero targets, we can assign the targets credibility ratings, then estimate how greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and temperature are differentiated by our confidence in the targets. When we consider the credibility of current climate pledges, our assessment shows that the world remains far from delivering a safe climate future