Internationale Klimapolitik

The Climate Change Performance Index compares 57 countries and the EU in the areas of Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Renewable Energies, Energy Use and Climate Policy, thus providing a comprehensive overview of the current efforts and progress of the countries analyzed. Besides, it measures how well countries are on track to meet the global goals of the Paris Agreement by evaluating the current status and future targets of each category with reference to a well-below 2°C pathway. This brochure explains the background and methodology of the Climate Change Performance Index.

The G20 countries are responsible for around 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Last year, energy-related CO2 emissions in the G20 fell slightly for the first time, by 0.1% after a rise of 1.9% in 2018, without an economic crisis as a trigger. The key to these initial successes is the continuing boom in renewable energies.

African countries have considerable and largely untapped potential in renewable energies. They have the potential to leapfrog to smart, participatory, distributed energy systems of the future without locking themselves into stranded fossil fuel assets and overly centralised energy systems. Thus, African countries can show the way to the future through bold plans and on-the-ground implementation.

The Briefing Paper on the 12th meeting of the Executive Committee (ExCom) of the Warsaw International Mechanism on Loss and Damage from 12-16th October 2020 is mainly directed at persons interested in the discussions on Loss and Damage within the UNFCCC process.
The meeting will take place in the middle of the Covid-19-crisis that comes across with severe challenges for vulnerable groups but also in regards of keeping up climate diplomacy.

On Tuesday, 6th of October, the European Parliament will vote on the EU Climate Law and set its position on the EU 2030 climate target. In a letter to the Members of the European Parliament the plaintiffs of the People's Climate Case urge them to decide on higher emission cuts by 2030 and to support access to justice for citizens.

Climate and disaster risk financing (CDRF) measures and activities that governments or other actors carry out can affect the enjoyment of human rights. The Paris Agreement therefore recognises that, “Parties should, when taking action to address climate change, respect, promote and consider their respective obligations on human rights […]” (Paris Agreement 2015). This paper presents a human rights-based approach to Climate and Disaster Risk Financing (HRBA-CDRF).

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) was created to serve as one of the primary funding institutions of the international climate finance architecture under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement. Its overall goal is to promote the “paradigm shift towards low-emission and climate-resilient development pathways’’ by providing support to developing countries, specifically those that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change, to limit or reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt of global warming effects. With a portfolio of over hundred projects and programmes across developing countries, the GCF is expected to reduce more than 1.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent of greenhouse gases and to improve the life of over 276 million (direct and indirect) beneficiaries across 97 countries.

African Risk Capacity (ARC) is a specialised agency that follows the vision of: “protect the livelihoods of vulnerable people in Africa against the impact of natural disasters through home-grown, innovative, cost-effective, timely and sustainable solutions.” As a regional, African-owned, and African Union (AU)-led insurance pool, ARC is an essential component of a more comprehensive approach to anticipatory climate risk management. It covers the issues of financial risk management through risk pooling and transfer. Contingency planning is a central part of ARC insurance, and a precondition to purchasing a policy. The specific advantage of an ex-ante mechanism such as this is its fast availability of support; thus, it help avert suffering.