International climate initiatives - a way forward to close the emissions gap?

Abstract

In December 2015 Parties adopted the Paris Agreement at the 21st session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In its Article 2 governments agreed to limit global warming to ̮well below 2˚C above pre-industrial levelsŁ and to pursue to limit it to 1.5˚C (UNFCCC 2015). The UNEP Emissions Gap Report 2016 showed that a gap of 14 GtCO2e exists for 2030 between the (unconditional) mitigation proposals submitted by Parties as part of their intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs) and a pathway compatible with holding temperature increase below 2˚C (UNEP 2015b). Based on an analysis of 174 initiatives the study analyses the potential total impact of these initiatives on GHG emissions in comparison to INDCs as well as the potential impact broken down to the eight countries Brazil, China, the EU, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, USA. Furthermore, the study identifies good practices shared by these initiatives and further discusses the relationship between these initiatives and the UNFCCC. The results show that international initiatives can play an important role in the transition to a low carbon economy. It is estimated that 19 initiatives, which have been quantified, have the potential to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 5 11 GtCO2e/year (average 8 GtCO2e/year) compared to an INDC background in 2030. Quelle: http://www.umweltbundesamt.de

In December 2015 Parties adopted the Paris Agreement at the 21st session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (⁠UNFCCC⁠). In its Article 2 governments agreed to limit global warming to “well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and to pursue to limit it to 1.5°C (UNFCCC 2015). The ⁠UNEP⁠ Emissions Gap Report 2016 showed that a gap of 14 GtCO2e exists for 2030 between the (unconditional) mitigation proposals submitted by Parties as part of their intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs) and a pathway compatible with holding temperature increase below 2°C (UNEP 2015b).Based on an analysis of 174 initiatives the study analyses the potential total impact of these initiatives on GHG emissions in comparison to INDCs as well as the potential impact broken down to the eight countries Brazil, China, the EU, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, USA. Furthermore, the study identifies good practices shared by these initiatives and further discusses the relationship between these initiatives and the UNFCCC. The results show that international initiatives can play an important role in the transition to a low carbon economy. It is estimated that 19 initiatives, which have been quantified, have the potential to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 5 11 GtCO2e/year (average 8 GtCO2e/year) compared to an INDC background in 2030.Information on the methodologies for quantification is available upon request.

In December 2015 Parties adopted the Paris Agreement at the 21st session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (⁠UNFCCC⁠). In its Article 2 governments agreed to limit global warming to “well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and to pursue to limit it to 1.5°C (UNFCCC 2015). The ⁠UNEP⁠ Emissions Gap Report 2015 showed that a gap of 14 GtCO2e exists for 2030 between the (unconditional) mitigation proposals submitted by Parties as part of their intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs) and a pathway compatible with holding temperature increase below 2°C (UNEP 2015b).Based on an analysis of 174 initiatives the study analyses the potential impact of these initiatives on GHG emissions in comparison to INDCs, identifies good practices shared by these initiatives and further discusses the relationship between these initiatives and the UNFCCC. The results inter alia reveal a global reduction potential of 5-11 GtCO2 equivalents/year of 19 initiatives till 2030.