Tag: UNFCCC

5th project meeting, India, 20-22 March 2018

The fifth CD-LINKS project meeting was hosted by TERI at the India Habitat Centre in Delhi, India on 20-22 March 2018.

As the project is entering its last 18 months, the meeting was oriented towards the final work plan and managing the next steps of the remaining research, in particular focusing on integrating across different work streams of the CD-LINKS project.

Sunset at the India Habitat Centre, Delhi / photo credit J. Callen

Dedicated plenary sessions on special matters were held during the meeting, such as the CD-LINKS summer school planned for summer 2019 (aimed at PhD and postgraduate students interested in integrated assessment modelling and its role in science-based policy making); a session also covered the final messaging of the project and, related to this, the contribution of CD-LINKS to the UNFCCC’s  Talanoa Dialogue. Breakout groups also took place that focused on in-depth specialised topics, such as air pollution, food security and effort-sharing.

Significant work has already been undertaken in advance of many deadlines for the project and so CD-LINKS is right on track. A special issue on national low carbon development pathways for the journal Climatic Change will be published later this year that will feature 11 different scientific papers from the research teams of CD-LINKS.

The next project meeting is scheduled for 19-22 March 2019 and will be hosted by COPPE in Rio de Janeiro.

CD-LINKS side event at UNFCCC SBSTA 2018

On Thursday 3rd May 18:30-20:00 CD-LINKS will be holding a side event at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 48th session of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA 48).

Combining analysis from the COMMIT and CD-LINKS projects, and the work of NewClimate Institute on the implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions, the event is an opportunity to discuss with negotiators and reflect on credible low-emission pathways.

The event is titled ‘Towards long-term national scenarios: Modelling meets policy’.

Geographical reach of CD-LINKS project, created with mapchart.net

SBSTA is one of two permanent subsidiary bodies of the UNFCCC. It provides timely information and advice on scientific and technological matters, with key areas including:

SBSTA 48 will take place from 30 April to 10 May 2018, in Bonn, Germany, with the side event taking place in the Berlin Room. The draft agenda for the event is available from here.

CD-LINKS at COP23

The CD-LINKS project had a busy two weeks during the 2017 United Nations Climate Change Conference twenty-third Conference of the Parties (COP23), with a total of six activities. Two official CD-LINKS side events took place in the Bonn Zone, two presentations were given at separate events at the World Wide Fund for Nature pavilion, one side event was held in the Interconnections Zone hosted by the German Development Institute; in addition, prior to the opening of COP23 insights from the CD-LINKS project were presented at a plenary discussion for an event hosted at the German Development Institute titled ‘Climate Action and Human Wellbeing at a Crossroads: Historical Transformation or Backlash?’

Background

Two significant agreements were formulated in 2015: the Paris Agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the establishment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted at the UN Sustainable Development Summit. The transformation by countries to low a carbon future in order to meet the 1.5 or 2°C temperature targets outlined in the Paris Agreement is expected to have significant impact on the SDGs. The SDGs are inherently connected, and of paramount importance for climate policy. Understanding how climate policy will influence the other SDGs is critical to incentivise further action and to understand how climate policy trade-offs can be avoided. For example, actions taken to reduce climate pollutants from transport or agriculture could help reduce global warming and would also have a positive effect on SDG 3 good health and well-being, because of the harmful effects of climate pollutants to public health. However, some climate change mitigation policies may need large-scale land based measures such as bioenergy production or afforestation that could have a negative impact on SDG 2 zero hunger because of the implications for food security.

Interconnections Zone, 13 November © German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik

To maximize synergies between the two agreements made in 2015 and to support national policy making within climate and development issues, interactions between climate policies and the SDGs need to be better understood. The research project CD-LINKS brings together a consortium of 19 leading international research organizations to explore national and global climate transformation strategies and their linkages to a range of SDGs. The project is financed by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme.

Crossroads, 4 November © German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik

CD-LINKS at COP23

Each of the three CD-LINKS side events during COP23 presented the most recent outcomes of the CD-LINKS project and examined the links between climate and development. The scientists of the CD-LINKS project made comparisons of the strategies to reach the 1.5 and 2°C goals for key countries like Brazil, China, the European Union, and India, along with a comparison of the current ambition level of the Nationally Determined Contributions, which are the efforts by each country to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement in reducing national emissions and adapting to the impacts of climate change.

Interconnections Zone, 13 November © German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik

There were animated and informative dialogues that took place following the presentations, with panel discussions, along with question and answer sessions with the audience. The CD-LINKS side event hosted at the Interconnections Zone benefited from panel members from the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and the European Commission who were able to provide the policymakers’ perspective. Of particular concern was what actions need to be taken now in order to ensure deeper emission reductions in the future, and what the social dimensions of decarbonization are.

For Brazil’s transition to low carbon the role of biofuels and carbon capture and storage was shown to be important, along with an increase in electrification of the transport sector. It was also noted that land use change would need to be managed to allow for the increase in crops for biofuels and enabling afforestation. For India there is a need to increase access to electricity, as 304 million people currently are without access, with the Indian government establishing a target of 100% village electrification by 2019. This will need to be achieved in parallel while significant changes are made to India’s power sector that provides this electricity, such as the retiring of old and inefficient coal power plants, replacing them with clean coal technologies and other low carbon technologies such as solar, wind or nuclear. An important role is also attributed to actions to improve energy efficiency in buildings such as changing to light-emitting diode (LED) light sources and energy efficient air conditioners.

The CD-LINKS project also includes global analysis by integrated assessment models that determine whether current policies are on-track to reducing greenhouse gases in line with the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The analysis shows that the policies fall short of the NDCs and have also calculated how much more reductions are needed to meet the Paris Agreement targets of 1.5 or 2°C. The findings show that further strengthening is needed in all countries, with some countries being close to meeting their NDCs. However, these same countries would then have to make significant increases in effort (i.e. ratcheting up the ambition level of their NDCs) to enable them to meet the Paris Agreement targets. The CD-LINKS project has provided a wide range of outcomes useful in this stocktaking process.

Highlights of the discussions between the 270 guests at the German Development Institute’s Crossroads event included the topics global cooperation and multilateralism, as well as different sectors of the transformation towards sustainability (e.g. mobility, digitisation, financing the transformation and agriculture). The conclusions of the conference are summarised in a Memorandum titled: ‘The Climate – Justice – Cooperation Nexus: 10 Cornerstones of the Great Transformation towards Sustainability’.

Presentations during the three CD-LINKS COP23 side events

Monday 6th November, Climate & Development Links: National decarbonization pathways toward 1.5 & 2°C and impacts on SDGs, Bonn Zone

  • Introduction – Keywan Riahi, IIASA
  • Informing the global stock-take: National midcentury strategies and global 1.5°C and well below 2°C pathways – Elmar Kriegler, PIK
  • Sustainable development implications of global pathways and national mid-century strategies – Volker Krey, IIASA
  • Mid-century decarbonisation pathway for the E.U. – Zoi Vrontisi, ICCS
  • Mid-century decarbonisation pathway for China – Sha Fu, NCSC

Monday 13th November, Ratcheting up nationally determined contributions (NDCs): Consistent national roadmaps towards the global objective of 1.5 and 2°C, German Development Institute/Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE)

  • Introduction – Keywan Riahi, IIASA
  • Burden-sharing, regional budgets and dialogue process – Detlef Van Vuuren, PBL
  • Sustainable development implications of the transformation pathways – Volker Krey, IIASA
  • Policy perspective on the NDCs – Niklas Höhne, WU
  • National transformation pathways: case of Brazil – Roberto Schaeffer, COPPE
  • National transformation pathways: case of India – Amit Garg, IIMA
  • Policy perspective – panelist discussion – Tom van Ierland, EC and Guido Schmidt-Traub, UNSDSN

Wednesday 15th November, 1.5 & 2°C strategies, SDGs and green growth – EU Research Projects CD-LINKS and GREEN-WIN, EU Pavilion

  • Introduction – Volker Krey, IIASA
  • National and global decarbonization pathways – Elmar Kriegler, PIK
  • Climate policies and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – Volker Krey, IIASA
  • Reconciling climate and economic goals through green-growth and green-business models – Jochen Hinkel, GCF
  • Climate clubs and the macro-economic benefits of international cooperation – Antoine Mandel, Paris School of Economics

The three side events were in partnership with:

Side event at COP23 – 6 November 2017 – National decarbonization pathways toward 1.5 & 2°C and impacts on SDGs

CD-LINKS will be holding a side event at the 23rd Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 23, 6-17 November 2017).

The latest findings on ratcheting up the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) toward the 1.5 and 2°C goals of the Paris Agreement and implications for sustainable development will be presented in the event titled Climate & Development Links: National decarbonization pathways toward 1.5 & 2°C and impacts on SDGs.

During the event the scientists of the project will compare strategies to reach the 1.5 and 2°C goals for key countries like Brazil, China, the European Union, and India.

View of Rocinha, the largest favela in Brazil – shutterstock ©

The agenda and announcement are available to download.

The event will be in partnership with:

Time and date: 15:00-16:30 on 6 November 2017

Location: Meeting room 12, Bonn Zone, COP23, Germany

For more information, contact: cd-links.secretariat(@)iiasa.ac.at.

 

CD-LINKS at the UNFCCC Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA)

On 10 May the CD-LINKS project was presented at a poster session of the 9th annual meeting of the SBSTA Research Dialogue. The purpose of the research dialogue is to collaborate with invited research programmes and organisations to inform the SBSTA of developments in research activities relevant to the needs of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

A side event co-hosted by IIASA and IDDRI ‘Ratcheting up nationally determined contributions (NDCs): Consistent national roadmaps towards the global objective of 1.5 and 2°C’ was also held at the SBSTA on 13 May. The side event was chaired by Keywan Riahi and Valentina Bosetti and highlighted the collaboration of the 19 institutes from Europe, Asia and the Americas brought together by the CD-LINKS project.

©ShutterStock

During the side event, the viable strategies for ratcheting up the NDCs and their implications for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were presented. The SDG assessments were presented by Volker Krey, who stated during the event that climate and development agendas are inextricably linked: the transformation towards a low carbon world is expected to have notable impacts on other development goals. Poverty reduction and reducing inequalities (SDGs 1, 10, 5), food security (SDG 2), health issues (SDG 3), water availability (SDG6), energy poverty (SDG 7), economic growth, innovation and employment (SDG 8, 9) can be linked, in either reinforcing or counteracting ways, to climate action (SDG 13).

The global transformation pathways based on the climate policy objectives under the Paris Agreement and the NDCs was presented by Detlef Van Vuuren. A policy perspective on the NDCs and the national transformation pathways: case of China was presented by Niklas Höhne, Jiang Kejun and Chen Wenying. The national transformation pathways: case of India and Brazil was presented by Ritu Mathur and Roberto Schaeffer.

Based on an analysis of the NDCs and pathways to achieve the 1.5 and 2°C targets, the implications for achieving the SDGs, and how a more stringent climate action could foster a transformation with positive feedbacks was analysed. This analysis aims at informing the 2018 facilitative dialogue under the Paris Agreement and indicates that:

  • Climate change mitigation generates significant synergies with air quality improvements, thus reducing negative health impacts of air pollution (SDG 3).
  • Inclusive development and climate policies are key to reduce risk of hunger for simultaneous achievement of SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) and SDG 13 (Climate Action).
  • Options are available to pursue stringent climate mitigation without increasing water demand (SDG 6), e.g. through water-efficient cooling technologies or structural change in power generation, or by reducing energy demand.
  • Inclusive policies which combine target emission reductions while also supporting low income households, allow stringent climate protection without deteriorating access to clean energy services (SDG 7).

Copyright shutter stock ID: 264069740

A discussion was held as part of the side event, which included an observation that a commitment regarding the SDGs is missing, as there is only broad monitoring of the NDCs currently in place. It was proposed that NDCs for SDGs are needed to help make the SDGs tangible and to also facilitate a connection between the SDGs and climate action. For example, the decision to build a cement factory in Africa would be unacceptable purely from a climate perspective, but would be acceptable from a development perspective.

Achieving climate change and sustainable development objectives: national de-carbonisation roadmaps

A CD-LINKS side event for the Vienna Energy Forum was held on 12 May 2017.

The side event introduced the most recent outcomes of the CD-LINKS project. Utilising the knowledge of 19 different international research organisations from around the globe, the project explores national and global climate and energy transformation strategies and their linkages to a range of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

During the side event, the energy and climate policy measures that would be needed to reach the well below 2°C target, and a comparison with the current Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) was presented. The well below 2°C target was established through the Paris Agreement, which is within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The NDCs are the climate actions pledged by countries under the Paris Agreement for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. The side event was chaired by Keywan Riahi and Valentina Bosetti.

© ShutterStock

Part of the CD-LINKS project assesses the implications of the NDCs for the SDGs, such as poverty, food security, water, biodiversity, air pollution and health. The team of international researchers working on the project have considered and analyzed how more stringent climate action could foster an energy transformation with positive additional feedbacks with regards to the SDGs.

The SDGs cannot be seen as isolated targets, and so important interlinkages between the individual goals have been identified. For example, the goal of Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7), can be seen to have direct or indirect linkages to all of the other goals. Energy policies have especially notable impacts on poverty reduction and reducing inequalities (SDGs 1, 10, 5), food security (SDG 2), health issues (SDG 3), water availability (SDG 6), economic growth and employment (SDG 8), industry, innovation and infrastructure (SDG 9) and climate action (SDG 13), in the same way as these dimensions will affect energy policy. The SDG assessments were presented by Volker Krey at the side event.

Representatives of the two Chinese partners (Jiang Kejun and Chen Wenying), and the Indian (Ritu Mathur) and Brazilian (Roberto Schaeffer) partners of the CD-LINKS project presented country-level strategies for climate and energy transformation pathways for the future that support the global target of staying well below 2°C, together with initial results on their impact on other sustainable development dimensions.

During the event a question and answer session followed each presentation. Questions that were asked included the role of gas in India’s transformation, the electrification of transport in Brazil (e.g. trains) and whether the project has identified which holistic SDG policies have found to work in practice.