The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report warns that the region is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, driving more extreme weather and posing serious threats to lives, ecosystems, and economies. In 2024, Asia experienced its warmest or second warmest year on …
President Nasheed called on Commonwealth countries to unite to tackle greenhouse gas emissions, warning that climate change is the "greatest security and human rights challenge of the 21st Century." Addressing 250 Commonwealth parliamentarians gathered at the British parliament in London on Monday morning, President Nasheed urged Commonwealth nations to take …
There is a myth in America that markets, not plans, are the key to success. Markets will supposedly decide our climate future on their own once we institute cap-and-trade legislation to put a market price on carbon emissions. But this is silly: both markets and planning are essential in any …
This report is meant to contribute to the debate between policymakers and research groups on the steps that need to be taken to meet long-term climate targets. This reports shows that the current focus on intermediate targets for the year 2020 needs to be extended to include the long-term targets. …
After 12 days of talks among delegates from 182 countries at the UN Climate Conference in Bonn which ended on June 12, the world seemed no closer to staving off the threat of global warming and its catastrophic consequences. What was needed was a firm commitment from developed countries to …
This analysis provides an assessment of reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions relative to total U.S. emissions that could be achieved by cap-and-trade proposals currently submitted in the 111th Congress. This assessment is an update to a previous analysis released on May 19, 2009 and includes an assessment of the …
International climate negotiators muddled through the latest round of global-warming talks in Bonn, Germany, last week, overshadowed by independent bilateral negotiations in Beijing between the United States and China. Neither meeting produced any significant breakthroughs, and new disagreements seem to have outnumbered resolutions by a wide margin. At the United …
Democrat Obama can set pace for climate change legislation US president Barack Obama completed 100 days in office recently. When he assumed office, the world
Protocols are the foundation of an offset program. By defining eligibility requirements and the quantification of the quantity of offsets generated, protocols will drive the development of emission reduction and sequestration projects. By assuring quality standards for offsets, protocols are also central to the credibility of offset markets. This report …
The interaction of climate and development threatens to create a paradox: economic development could accelerate climate change, which in turn could block further development, locking the world into existing patterns of inequality as the natural environment deteriorates. The solution to this paradox is far from obvious. What analytical tools are …
International cooperation is a cornerstone of efforts to combat climate change. The achievement of global climate change mitigation goals will require significant investment in emissions reduction in developing countries. International cooperation will be essential in providing the needed finance, capacity building, and technology transfer and development. To help advance international …
The full legal text of the NGO Copenhagen Treaty written by a team of 47 experts from environment and development groups across the world, including Greenpeace.It is a work in progress, but is meant to encourage and provoke countries into thinking hard about the level of ambition, scope and detail …
Climate change is a reality that is already affecting the lives of millions of Africans and will have a profound impact on the programming of public expenditures and public receipts in every African country. If left unchecked it threatens to undo some of the progress made in recent years and …
Sectoral approaches are proposed as a means to broaden the global scope of greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation to developing countries. Market mechanisms are put forward in that context to create incentives for mitigation in developing countries beyond the existing Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and to encourage mitigation at least possible …
This brief demonstrates that Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) sold in either voluntary or mandatory environmental markets are not equivalent to GHG emission offsets. The first section of this brief defines and provides an overview of GHG emission offsets and RECs. The second section describes the relationship between renewable energy and …
Ending months of talks with industry and consumers, Prime Minister Taro Aso announced on June 10th that Japan will strive to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions 15 percent from 2005 levels by 2020. The mid-term target represents an 8 percent cut in emissions from levels in 1990, the benchmark year …
In December 2009 representatives from 192 nations will meet in Copenhagen to complete negotiations on a global climate agreement. This paper summarizes why action in Copenhagen is urgently required, what needs to be accomplished in the negotiations, and how an effective climate regime might be designed.
