This overview sets the scene for the various modules in the Renewables 2024 Global Status Report Collection. It provides high-level trends on the status of renewables in the wider fossil fuel-dominated energy system in the context of global challenges such as climate change, development goals and the geopolitical landscape. Urgent …
The U.N. has called in more than 40 contractors and shifted internal resources to help it unclog a bottleneck of requests from companies seeking carbon credits, officials at the body's climate secretariat said on Tuesday. As of August, the U.N. was taking an average of 30 days to start processing …
Estimating the trajectory of CO2 emissions, an important part of planning for climate change mitigation and adaptation, depends in part on understanding how these emissions are influenced by the economy. Although researchers have developed sophisticated models of the connections between the economy and CO2 emissions, prominently used modelling approaches implicitly …
Since the climate negotiations that took place in Copenhagen, in 2009, many countries have submitted quantitative economy-wide greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, proposals, and actions for 2020. This policy brief by PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, Ecofys and IIASA shows, for the first time, by how much the most effective …
Nuclear power has the potential to continue to play a significant role in the effort to limit future GHG emissions while meeting global energy needs. Nuclear power plants produce virtually no GHG emissions during their operation and only very small amounts on a life cycle basis. This report summarizes nuclear …
Carbon dioxide emissions from the steel sector are significant and growing: global emissions of carbon dioxide from fuel combustion in the sector increased by 61 per cent between 2000 and 2009, an annual average growth rate of 5.4 per cent. Emissions are projected to increase in future years driven by …
This study by Sarath Guttikunda and Puja Jawahar focuses on the energy and emissions outlook for the transport sector in India which could effectively result in a co-benefits framework for better air quality management in the cities & national climate policy dialogue. This study focuses on the energy and emissions …
A greenhouse gas reduction target of 40% below 1990 levels for 2030 for the European Union, to be achieved within Europe, would not necessarily be sufficient for achieving the target of limiting global temperature increase to 2 °C, given a possible lack of comparable efforts by other countries. Based on …
The Climate Change Performance Index is an instrument supposed to enhance transparency in international climate politics. Its aim is to encourage political and social pressure on those countries which have, up to now, failed to take ambitious actions on climate protection as well as to highlight countries with best-practice climate …
Developing countries are experiencing unprecedented levels of economic growth. As a result, they will be responsible for most of the future growth in energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions. The development, transfer and use of renewable energy technologies are promising ways towards low-carbon development in these countries. However, the UNFCCC …
This report provides a summary of short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), including: an introduction to SLCPs; explanation of the co-benefits of reducing SLCPs with respect to climate, human health and food security; and a menu of mitigation options for reducing SLCPs, including international and regional initiatives, such as the Climate and …
Road transport consumes 60% of the world’s petroleum supply and contributes to 23% of the total carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Transport can contribute to up to 70% of air pollution in Asian cities. In India, CO2 emissions from transport are expected to grow at 7% to 8% per year and …
The PwC Low Carbon Economy Index evaluates the rate of decarbonisation of the global economy that is needed to limit warming to 2°C. This is based on a carbon budget that would stabilise atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations at 450 ppm and give a 50% probability of limiting warming to 2°C. …
This World Bank report is a stark reminder that climate change affects everything and spells out what the world would be like if it warmed by 4°C, which is what scientists are nearly unanimously predicting by the end of the century, without serious policy changes. This report spells out what …
In May this year, Masilamani (41), a resident of a housing board colony bang opposite the Kodungiyur dumpyard, woke up with violent coughs and breathlessness. A visit to the doctor later in the day confirmed that he had acute bronchitis. He was surprised because he had no previous history of …
Biggest increase in coal usage for 50 years could throw the UK's green ambitions off course Coal is enjoying a renaissance, with the highest consumption of the fuel since the late 1960s. The unexpected development threatens to put climate change targets out of reach – and much of the reason …
As the mood in Japan, Germany, Italy and even France hardens, China is restarting a £170bn reactor programme and India is looking to atomic power to shore up its creaking grid A nuclear fuel pellet the size of your little finger provides more energy than 800 kilograms of coal or …
A green revolution to make EU energy almost totally carbon-free by 2050 would generate 3 trillion euros ($3.9 trillion) in fuel savings, a report commissioned by environmental campaigners said. The energy shift would already create around half a million extra jobs by 2020, researchers from German aerospace center DLR, which …
For all their disputes, President Obama and Mitt Romney agree that the world is warming and that humans are at least partly to blame. It remains wholly unclear what either of them plans to do about it. Even after a year of record-smashing temperatures, drought and Arctic ice melt, none …
Australia's greenhouse gas emissions rose 0.4 per cent in the 12 months to June, data showed Friday, amid increased deforestation and higher emissions from agriculture and aviation. The country emitted 577.8 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent over the 12-month period, the Department of Climate Change said Friday, an increase of …
The European Union is inflating its position as a leader in tackling global climate change by ignoring the impact of its fall in industrial competitiveness, which means the region is now importing more carbon-intensive goods. Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from burning fossil fuels in west Europe have fallen over the …
