Aligning Climate Action with National Interest and the Short-Term Focus of Governments

“The virtues are lost in self-interest as rivers are lost in the sea” Franklin D. Roosevelt “Governing for the future is … difficult because it rubs up against the short-termism that is inherent in the politics of the electoral cycle. Its difficulty is compounded when governing for the future involves painful choices in the present” House of Commons, […]

The U.S. Clean Power Plan: Design and Challenges to Core Stakeholder Participation

The Clean Power Plan (CPP) was the regulatory cornerstone of the U.S.’ Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that was included in the Paris Agreement of December 2015. The CPP was designed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) after President Obama directed the agency to do so in June 2013, […]

Carbon Pricing in Practice: Lessons from Existing ETS Regimes

Since more than 40 countries have already implemented carbon pricing policies of some kind, there is much that other countries contemplating new policies could learn from their experience. Insights from a detailed review of current emissions trading systems (ETS) indicate that institutional learning from within or outside respective jurisdictions, administrative prudence in implementing and managing […]

Capitalise, Leverage, and Diversify: Africa’s GCF Portfolio and Opportunities for Engagement

Along with the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Green Climate Fund (GCF or the Fund hereafter) serves as an operating entity under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) financial mechanism. The GCF became fully operational in 2015 and has thus far disbursed US $147.7 million (as of April 2018) in funds for […]

China’s National ETS: What are the Key Challenges for Establishing an MRV System?

An effective system for monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) is the cornerstone of any carbon emissions trading scheme (ETS). A key feature of a robust MRV system is that it should be built on general monitoring and reporting principles such as completeness, accuracy, consistency and transparency. Such a robust MRV system is essential for the […]

A Dirty Business: Russia, Climate Change and the Mining Industry

When people think of Russia and the environment, they tend to think of the big, environmental catastrophes of the Soviet past such as Chernobyl and more recent issues like illegal logging, and hydrocarbon exploration in the Arctic. However, the domestic politics and policy processes surrounding these issues are far more complex and nuanced than they […]

Empirical Calibration of Climate Policy using Corporate Solvency

The fundamental goal of climate policy is to incentivise emissions reductions and the transition to lower carbon processes and technologies. When firms face new costs related to reducing carbon emissions, they may suffer some loss of financial condition as they restructure their businesses. However, if the firm becomes bankrupt as a result of such policies, […]

Assessing the US Retreat from the Paris Agreement: Backtracking to Kyoto?

Perhaps the most widely debated event in global climate policy since the Paris Agreement’s adoption in 2015 was the United States’ decision in June 2017 to withdraw from the treaty, pending possible re-engagement under different terms. When the announcement was on the cards, some commentators argued that the US would be ‘better out than in’, […]

What if Negative Emissions Fail at Scale?

It is recognised in the climate science community that literature and research informing the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and relevant policymakers is heavily weighted towards Integrated Assessment Modelling (IAM) work. This prioritises emission-cutting solutions that can be more easily characterised and quantified over those that are challenging to evaluate precisely, such as how […]

Fairness in the Eyes of Parties to the Paris Agreement: What Explains Divergences?

The question of how to differentiate efforts fairly has always been central and controversial in UN climate negotiations. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement include different formulations and compromises relating to the distribution of efforts between parties. In a new study published in Climate Policy, we […]