Climate

Today, Germanwatch and six big German and European companies published a declaration in which they call on the German government to support the quick and long-term fix of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). The declaration, signed by Alstom, EnBW, E.ON, Otto, Puma, Shell, and Germanwatch, demands to enhance security for low-carbon investments done and planned. Low prices for CO2 are like posion for them. They therefore urge the German government to act.

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.

In a time of heavily increasing greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel investments, the light at the end of the tunnel cannot yet be seen. The eighth annual Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI), which was published at the Doha climate talks today by Germanwatch and the Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe, ranks the climate protection performance of the 58 highest emitters worldwide. For the first time, the index used deforestation data, which resulted in a rankings drop of countries with high forest emissions such as Brazil and Indonesia. Once again, no country made it into the first three spots on the list due to a lack of ambition to reach the goal of keeping global warming below 2 degree Celsius.

Most damages resulting from weather extremes are often not recognised by international media, unlike Sandy's destruction at the U.S. east coast a few weeks ago. But in 2011, poorer developing countries have been hit much harder in average, according to the new edition of the Germanwatch Global Climate Risk Index. The ranking, which was presented today at the UN climate summit in Doha, concludes that Thailand, Cambodia, Pakistan and El Salvador are on top of those countries that suffered most from extreme weather events in 2011.

Natural catastrophes, many of which are directly or indirectly expedited by climate change, take a heavy toll on people and economies. In 2011 a record high in economic damage was reached, with an estimated loss of more than US$350 billion. The human toll is...

we are living through some interesting, decisive and formative times. We are calling for change – a Great Transformation. On a small scale, civil society and various stakeholders are already mobilising, sometimes quietly, sometimes more vocally. Alliances and partnerships are forming, adopting highly diverse approaches and networking on a national or international scale...

In response to the launch of the OECD "Adaptation Marker" in 2010 and the first complete Creditor Reporting System dataset published in March 2012, this paper ex-amines the credibility of the marker. Our assessment reveals that far less projects than the donor countries reported are in fact relevant to what can be considered climate change adaptation.

This policy briefing sets out a number of the issues relating to the slow onset portion of the climate change loss and damage agenda. It is not meant to be an exhaustive analysis of this new and sometimes complex subject. Instead, it should serve to introduce the concept of loss and damage related to slow onset climate change hazards and provide sign posts to guide further investigation of the subject – in particular for those institutions, experts and country representatives participating in the current work programme on loss and damage under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

This document outlines initial thoughts by the ‘Loss and Damage in Vulnerable Countries Initiative’ to provide some conceptual and framing input into the loss and damage negotiations under the UNFCCC. Given both the preliminary nature of these discussions and the complexity of the issue of loss and damage, a precise definition may not be necessary and in fact may even be counter-productive at this early stage. Instead at this point in the discussion it may be more useful provide a spectrum of relevant scientific and policy perspectives and areas of expertise in an attempt to inform ongoing dialogue.

The Loss and Damage in Vulnerable Countries Initiative is focussing on: Building an understanding of the scope and significance of loss and damage associated with the adverse impacts of climate change; Developing and co-creating an approach and vision for loss and damage among decision makers and relevant stakeholders; Assisting least developed countries (LDCs) and other vulnerable countries to develop a coherent approach to the loss and damage debate; Identifying and beginning to take the steps needed to support a paradigm shift on loss and damage in the coming years.