Leading scientists, writing for Carbon Brief, explain how COP26 gave far greater recognition to science than any of the previous COPs. The scientific evidence from the latest IPCC reports was explicitly acknowledged in the Glasgow Climate Pact. That is a significant advance, say the authors. Decision-making guided by science can focus quantitively on carbon budgets, temperatures, climate change, the causes, and therefore the emissions-reductions … [Read more...]
Paris Agreement âGlobal Stocktakeâ should focus on individual nations too
Itâs time for national governments to focus on the short-term domestic actions needed to meet their 1.5°C goals, argue Anna PĂ©rez CatalĂ , Henri Waisman, Marta Torres Gunfaus and Ariadna Anisimov at IDDRI. Analyses of emissions gaps at a collective and global level wonât be enough, the current purpose of the Global Stocktake (GST) of the Paris Agreement. The first GST runs from 2021 to 2023 and the process will be repeated every 5 years. The … [Read more...]
COP26 and the Glasgow Pact: a summary of achievements, and shortfalls
Experts from around the world summarise their reaction to the outcomes of this yearâs UN climate summit, COP26, including the Glasgow Climate Pact agreed by all 197 countries attending the talks. Each expert covers their area of interest: overall targets, greenhouse gas emissions, fossil fuel finance, nature conservation, transportation, cities and buildings, energy sector transitions, science and innovation, and gender equality. The overall … [Read more...]
Politicians need net-zero scenarios that include socio-economic obstacles and solutions
Standard net-zero scenario modelling carefully analyses the possible impacts of technological solutions and their obstacles. What theyâre missing is the detailed analysis of the socio-economic impacts of these scenarios on the lives of citizens. That means jobs, incomes, energy bills, air quality, and regional economic performance. In other words, the politics on the ground. Misunderstood, and perfectly sensible pathways will come up against … [Read more...]
The greenest energy is the energy we donât use
As COP26 comes to a close, Martin Rossen, Senior Vice President, Head of Group Communication and Sustainability at Danfoss reminds us in a powerfully persuasive way why the most direct route to net-zero is managing consumption. Inspired by a glaring omission by Bill Gates in his recent book, Rossen draws our attention to the futility of developing new tech if we donât prioritise making use of readily available energy efficiency solutions. … [Read more...]
Behaviour Change: strategies and case studies for reaching net-zero by 2050
Technological solutions on their own are unlikely to deliver emissions reductions at the speed and scale required to reach net zero by 2050. Daniel Crow, Insa Handschuch, Gabriel Saive and Leonie Staas at the IEA look at a suite of policy-driven citizen âbehaviour changesâ that should be used to bridge the gap. The impact will be greatest in advanced economies where energy intensity is highest. Meanwhile, in emerging economies the good habits put … [Read more...]
UNEP 2021 Emissions Gap report: only 11 countries have net-zero targets enshrined in law
Zeke Hausfather at Carbon Brief summarises the UNEP 2021 Emissions Gap report, released last week. It explores the impact of the net-zero emissions pledges of nations, and the âgapâ between them and the Paris targets. As COP26 gets started, 136 countries either have some form of commitment to a net-zero target or are considering it. Of those, 49 plus the EU have a firm net-zero commitment. But only 11 countries have targets enshrined in law. … [Read more...]
IEA WEO 2021 message to COP26: 40% of clean energy goals will cut costs
The IEAâs latest World Energy Outlook was published on Wednesday. This yearâs WEO-2021 is released earlier than usual to inform COP26 and, for the first time, is available for free to ensure the widest possible audience. Simon Evans at Carbon Brief offers his summary of the 386-page report, quoting relevant numbers and charts. He first points to the new scenario, Net-Zero Emissions by 2050 (NZE), as the IEAâs recognition that this is what … [Read more...]
CEPP incentives and penalties: current design could undermine U.S. clean energy growth
The Clean Electricity Performance Program (CEPP) is a key part of President Bidenâs energy and climate plans. It will steer utilities towards clean energy with incentives and penalties, and is still being designed. Severin Borenstein and James Bushnell at the Energy Institute at Haas, Steve Cicala at Tufts University and Ryan Kellogg at the University of Chicago warn that current proposals will allow utilities to game the system, resulting in … [Read more...]
Donât let high gas prices stop the EU ETS from doing its real job
The EU ETS carbon price reached a high of over âŹ60 per tonne in September. Some are arguing that its role in the current gas price crisis is a reason why it should be reined in. But Milan Elkerbout at CEPS Policy Insights explains that the EUA (European Union Allowance) has multiple purposes. It is an incentive to invest in low-carbon solutions such as renewables, efficiencies and new methods. The sooner we pass the cost hurdle of integrating … [Read more...]
Next German governmentâs climate and energy plans: what will Olaf Scholz do?
Olaf Scholz led Germany's Social Democrats (SPD) to an unexpected win in the 2021 elections held in September. He now needs to finalise a coalition with the Green Party and the pro-business FDP before forming a government and becoming chancellor. Like his predecessor Angela Merkel, Scholz has said he wants to become a "climate chancellor". Kerstine Appunn and Benjamin Wehrmann at Clean Energy Wire try to understand what his climate and energy … [Read more...]
How multi-scenario âemulatorâ models are improving climate change projections
State-of-the-art Earth System Models (ESMs) simulate the flow of energy, moisture and chemicals through the atmosphere, ocean and land surface in unprecedented detail. But the data processing is so demanding that each scenario takes considerable time and expense to run, needing powerful supercomputers and teams of scientists and programmers to produce the models and analyse the results. âEmulatorsâ are much simpler models that can run on a … [Read more...]
Green Finance standards: the EU Taxonomy and Chinaâs âCatalogueâ
The EU Taxonomy was published in June 2020. It is the first official document to define and classify what is a truly sustainable economic activity in Europe. Six months later Chinaâs regulators published their own version, a new edition of the China Green Bond Endorsed Project Catalogue (the Catalogue). Both documents will act as important standards for green finance institutions and investors in Europe and China. They are intended to improve … [Read more...]
Eradicate global poverty, meet climate goals, by avoiding rich-world energy consumption patterns
There is concern that eradicating poverty in the global south means their growing wealth and energy consumption will make our climate targets too hard to meet. Here, Jarmo Kikstra and Narasimha Rao, writing for Carbon Brief, explain that the energy needed to eradicate poverty is compatible with climate goals, provided that policymakers focus on delivering decent living standards, and not copying the affluence and habits of rich countries. Most … [Read more...]
CBAM needs universal adoption of methods for measuring carbon intensity
Europe needs to account for the emissions of imported goods. That cannot happen without the international agreement on standards and certification systems for the carbon intensity of all steps in the value chain for all relevant products. Dolf Gielen and Francisco Boshell at IRENA and Massamba Thioye at the UNFCCC explain that several such systems exist around the world, but they need to be harmonised and widely adopted to truly reflect what is … [Read more...]
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