Climate

Tropical cyclones have heavy impacts on an increasing number of countries. In 2017, the hurricane season in the Caribbean Sea was particularly strong and left several islands destroyed. Furthermore there are some developing countries that have difficulties to recover as they are regularly hit by weather catastrophes. Especially poorer countries like Sri Lanka, Nepal or Vietnam are facing great challenges. All in all, in 2017 11.500 people died because of extreme weather events. Economic damages amounted to approximately US$ 375 billion (calculated in purchasing-power parity, PPP). So it was the year with the highest weather-related losses ever recorded.

This CFAS Climate Finance Guide provides negotiators and observers with an overview of the key issues related to climate finance that will be discussed at the 24th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), to be held from 3 to 15 December 2018 in Katowice, Poland.

This policy brief summarizes the status quo of negotiations on Article 9.5 of the Paris Agreement, including closer looks at the actors to be involved, at the provisional list of information to be covered and at the modalities under debate. It concludes with an overview of negotiation streams at the 24th Conference of the Parties (COP24) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that deal with Article 9.5 and provides recommendations on how to make progress on the topic.

With climate change extreme weather events such as floods, droughts or storms are increasing in frequency and severity. They put people and their livelihoods under risk – especially the poorest and most vulnerable communities in developing countries. The need for managing these climate risks is becoming more pressing as global temperatures rise. Tools that have been gaining attention and promotion in recent years are climate risk insurance and insurance-related instruments.

The Global Climate Risk Index 2019 analyses to what extent countries and regions have been affected by impacts of weather-related loss events (storms, floods, heat waves etc.). The most recent data available — for 2017 and from 1998 to 2017 — were taken into account. The countries and territories affected most in 2017 were Puerto Rico, Sri Lanka as well as Dominica. For the period from 1998 to 2017 Puerto Rico, Honduras and Myanmar rank highest.

Most G20 countries including several of emerging countries enhanced their conditions for investments in low-carbon energy in the past year. Nonetheless, more renewable energy investments have to be undertaken in order to meet the Paris climate targets. In addition, the G20 would need to develop and implement more ambitious, consistent and transparent long-term strategies to improve the investment climate for renewable energies. These are the key findings of the Allianz Climate and Energy Monitor 2018, published today.

Der Allianz Klima- und Energiemonitor vergleicht die G20-Staaten hinsichtlich ihrer Attraktivität für Investitionen in eine emissionsfreie Energie-Infrastruktur. Zudem berechnet er den momentanen und künftigen Investitionsbedarf – davon ausgehend, dass die Klimaziele des Pariser Abkommens, deutlich unter 2 Grad bzw. möglichst 1,5 Grad Erwärmung, eingehalten werden sollen. Der Monitor wurde zum dritten Mal von der Allianz SE in Kooperation mit Germanwatch und dem NewClimate Institute erstellt.

The 24th Conference of the Parties (COP24) will be held from 2 to 14 December 2018 in Katowice, Poland. The task for this summit is to show that, even with political headwinds, the international community is able to respond to the increased urgency of the climate crisis. With a package of three decisions, COP24 will be a success. In this Background Paper, Germanwatch sums up its expectations towards COP24.

The Brown to Green Report is the world’s most comprehensive annual review of G20 climate action, assessing progress on decarbonisation, climate policies, finance, and vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. The report is published annually by Climate Transparency, a global partnership of 14 climate research organisations and NGOs from the majority of G20 countries, many from emerging economies. Germanwatch is one of the main authors.