Publications

Northern forests, climate change and the UNFCCC

Forests have a great potential to deliver on climate mitigation (and adaptation) while at the same time providing important benefits to biodiversity and the indigenous peoples who depend on them. Forests and their soils store approximately 60% of the total carbon stock contained in terrestrial carbon pools while emissions from deforestation and forest degradation account for around 30% of global carbon emissions. The Briefing is discussing options how to establish a negotiation process in the UNFCCC to protect forests.

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Briefing

EU climate targets aligned with the Paris agreement’s 1.5°C objective

With climate impacts happening all around, governments are expected to increase action to limit greenhouse gas emissions and subsequent temperature rise. The longer we delay transformative action, the more substantial and challenging the necessary greenhouse gas emission cuts will need to be. This also applies to the EU.

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Report

The EU as a Normative Power?

Fighting greenwashing and promoting the integrity of corporate climate action within and outside Article 6 of the Paris Agreement

This policy brief explores different options for the EU to promote the integrity of corporate climate action through activities within as well as outside the EU and partially making use of the Article 6 infrastructure. Taking into consideration the new framework conditions established with the adoption of the Paris Agreement, the paper outlines different options of how the EU could push towards more integrity and fight greenwashing.

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Report

Climate neutrality, Energy security and Sustainability - A pathway to bridge the gap through Sufficiency, Efficiency and Renewables

This report is the result of 4 years of collaborative work between European experts from the academia and civil society of 20+ European countries, under the leadership of the négaWatt Association. The CLEVER scenario, which covers 30 countries (EU27 plus United-Kingdom, Norway and Switzerland2 ), is based on a unique approach that combines sufficiency, efficiency and renewables and aims to reconcile longterm climate and sustainability imperatives with short-term energy security constraints.

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Report

Climate Change: A Himalayan Odessey

The Himalayas are inherently vulnerable to heavy rains, flash floods, landslides etc., as these are new mountains which are still growing and are seismically very active. Climate change has added another layer of vulnerability. It is acting as a force multiplier and making landslides, flash floods and cloudbursts more disastrous. The most widely reported impact is the rapid reduction in glaciers, which has profound future implications for downstream water resources.

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Report

No further discussion needed. The agreed global goal is to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C

The agreed global goal is to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C. Now countries must act to make this happen.

This briefing explains the scientific and political process which led to countries committing explicitly to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C. Instrumental to these decisions was a process called: the Periodic Review of the long-term global goal under the Convention and of overall progress towards achieving it (PR2). The briefing also gives an overview how the Kyoto Protocol was implemented and which greenhouse gas reductions were achieved.

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Fossil-free electricity 2021 Cover
Report

Fossil-free electricity 2021

Greening electricity: Global and EU status and trends.

Wind and solar produced more than 10% of global electricity in 2021, for the first time. They also surpassed nuclear, which fell below 10% for the first time in several decades. Hydro is still the top non-fossil electricity producer, but solar and wind are growing much faster.

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Cover Emissions trading system for road transport and buildings in the policy mix for achieving climate neutrality in the EU.
Policy Brief

Emissions trading system for road transport and buildings in the policy mix for achieving climate neutrality in the EU.

This policy brief provides an overview of the proposals for the ETS-2 covering road transport and buildings. The amendments and guidance by the European Parliament and the Council are assessed and compared to the proposal by the European Commission. In addition, we provide recommendations for each assessed issue to enhance the effectiveness of the ETS while trying to minimise practical obstacles which would impede its introduction.

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Extreme temperatures a threat to human health

Extreme high temperatures - a threat to human health - a summary of knowledge

Hanna Slogén, M. Sc. at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Göteborg.

The objective of this report is to give a concise summary of heat-related health effects, the most vulnerable populations, the regions that are most exposed to extreme heat, and different future scenarios of global warming.

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Briefing

1.5°C Pathways for the EU27: accelerating climate action to deliver the Paris Agreement

This report presents technically feasible 1.5°C compatible energy and emissions pathways for the EU27 and assesses whether the EU’s current 2030 climate targets are aligned with limiting warming to 1.5°C. The report finds that, to be 1.5°C compatible, the EU27 would need to cut its domestic emissions faster than currently planned.

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