Climate

The new edition of the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) was released by Germanwatch and CAN Europe in Warsaw at the UN climate talks today. The results show emissions worldwide have climbed to a new peak and no single country is yet on track to prevent dangerous climate change. "Unexpectedly, for the first time our Index also draws a cautious picture of hope", says Jan Burck, the author of the Index that ranks the climate protection performance of the 58 highest emitters worldwide. "We see positive signals towards a slow down in the increase in global CO2 emissions. And China - the world's biggest emitter - improved its performance in climate protection."

The Climate Change Performance Index is an instrument supposed to enhance transparency in international climate politics. On the basis of standardised criteria, the index evaluates and compares the climate protection performance of 58 countries that are, together, responsible for more than 90 percent of global energy-related CO2 emissions.

Beijing, November 18, 2013 | In collaboration with E3G – Third Generation Environmentalism, Germanwatch, the Wuppertal Institute and Stiftung Mercator, chinadialogue produced a special edition of its journal focusing on one of the biggest challenges facing China’s leaders over the next two decades: sustainable urbanisation.

The EU is no longer the world leader on climate policies. Other major countries have caught up or even outpaced the EU, a new study conducted by Germanwatch says. Even the U.S. and China now show at least as much headway in their climate change policies as the EU. This situation is highly problematic, as in the past EU climate action did encourage both OECD and Non-OECD countries around the world to take on more ambitious action.

Overshadowed by the ongoing human catastrophe in the Philippines, Germanwatch presented the 9th annual Global Climate Risk Index at the onset of the Climate Summit in Warsaw. “The index shows that the most severe weather related catastrophes in 2012 occurred in Haiti, Philippines and Pakistan”, says Sönke Kreft, Team Leader International Climate Policy at Germanwatch and co-author of the index. „The landfall of Hurricane Sandy in the US dominated international news in October 2012. Yet, it was Haiti - the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere - that suffered the greatest losses from the same event."

This is the Climate Finance Advisory Service (CFAS) Daily Briefing. Produced at key meetings and negotiations by the CFAS expert team, the Daily Briefings try to provide a concise, informative update on key discussions that have taken place at each day of the meeting and give an overview of substantive points of action or progress. Please note that this is an independent summary by CFAS and not officially mandated by the AFB or its secretariat.

The 22nd meeting of the Adaptation Fund Board took place in Bonn from October 31 - November 1, 2013. Please find below the Briefing Paper.

World leaders and governments paved the way for the establishment of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) agreements made at the Conference of Parties (COPs) in Copenhagen (2009) and Cancún (2010). The objective of the Green Climate Fund is to achieve a paradigm shift towards low-carbon and climateresilient development pathways. This requires ambition, in the design of funded activities and in the provision of financial resources to the GCF.

For many developing countries ensuring food security remains a key development challenge, often aggravated by climate change impacts. However, a number of governments that set-up national climate change strategies with the intention to improve conditions in the agricultural sector often find it difficult to address climate change mitigation, adaptation and food security elements in a synergy-oriented manner. The question arises what kind of institutional set-up would be required to better address this challenge?

The Adaptation Committee (AC) is the UNFCCC´s key adaptation body aiming to increase the coherence and promote coordination on matters related to adaptation. The AC is set to meet for the fourth time from 5th to 7th of September in Nadi, Fiji. This briefing note aims to give background input on the different agenda items under discussions.