How States Can Drive the Next Era of Climate Management in India: Perspectives in Mainstreaming Climate Actions from Gujarat

At the September 2019 UN climate action summit, India vowed to upscale its climate action by focusing on a low carbon pathway through renewables and other forms of clean energy, adopting sustainable mobility, preserving water, and securing finances for this transition. Implementing and up scaling these actions form an influential agenda under India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement. The emphasis on national determination and its success strongly hinges on the ambition of the states and the seriousness it has for driving climate actions. The initial step is to streamline such activities at sub-national levels to achieve climate change goals. Indian states, like countries, are too at different starting points with dissimilarities in their economic and developmental interests. Climate priorities took center stage for a few states, while many others have not been too aspirational due to misplaced prerogatives and differing capabilities. Thus, a pertinent question which arises is, could cross-pollination of ideas and innovations push states for concrete climate actions? This paper discusses a few prominent initiatives from the progressive state of Gujarat that could facilitate the exchange of climate measures in other states.

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EXPLORING FAIR AND AMBITIOUS MITIGATION CONTRIBUTIONS OF ASIAN ECONOMIES FOR THE GLOBAL WARMING LIMIT UNDER THE PARIS AGREEMENT

Climate Change Economics ◽

10.1142/s2010007822400024 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

XINRU LI ◽

XUEMEI JIANG ◽

YAN XIA

Keyword(s):

Developing Economies ◽

Paris Agreement ◽

Low Carbon ◽

Developed Economies ◽

Asian Economies ◽

Zero Carbon ◽

Nationally Determined Contributions ◽

Emission Quotas ◽

Per Capita ◽

The Ideal

Focusing on the mitigation responsibilities and efforts, this paper provides a unified estimation of allowable emission quotas for a number of Asian economies to limit the global temperature rise well below 2°C based on a range of effort-sharing approaches. The study also explores the inconsistency between their planned emission pathways under the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and the allowable emissions to achieve the 2°C target. The results show that most of the Asian developing economies would be in favor of the Equal-Per-Capita and Grandfather criteria, for which they would obtain more allowable emissions quota. However, even with the most favorable criterion, official mitigation pledges represented by NDCs are far less enough for these developing Asian economies such as China, India, Vietnam, Thailand and Pakistan, as their emission pathways under NDCs significantly exceed the ideal pathways under all effort-sharing approaches. In contrast, most of the Asian developed economies have already planned reductions of annual CO2 emissions under NDCs, in line with their ideal pathways under the most favorable effort-sharing approach. However, their reductions of emissions require deep strengthening of deployment in low-carbon, zero-carbon and negative-carbon techniques, given the current growing trend of emissions for these economies.

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Fusing subnational with national climate action is central to decarbonization: the case of the United States

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-020-18903-w ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Nathan E. Hultman ◽

Leon Clarke ◽

Carla Frisch ◽

Kevin Kennedy ◽

Haewon McJeon ◽

...

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

The United States ◽

Paris Agreement ◽

Integrated Assessment Model ◽

Assessment Model ◽

Emissions Reductions ◽

Climate Action ◽

Nationally Determined Contributions ◽

Potential Impact ◽

Reduce Emissions

Abstract Approaches that root national climate strategies in local actions will be essential for all countries as they develop new nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement. The potential impact of climate action from non-national actors in delivering higher global ambition is significant. Sub-national action in the United States provides a test for how such actions can accelerate emissions reductions. We aggregated U.S. state, city, and business commitments within an integrated assessment model to assess how a national climate strategy can be built upon non-state actions. We find that existing commitments alone could reduce emissions 25% below 2005 levels by 2030, and that enhancing actions by these actors could reduce emissions up to 37%. We show how these actions can provide a stepped-up basis for additional federal action to reduce emissions by 49%—consistent with 1.5 °C. Our analysis demonstrates sub-national actions can lead to substantial reductions and support increased national action.

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Paris: Beyond the Climate Dead End through Pledge and Review?

Politics and Governance ◽

10.17645/pag.v4i3.634 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 4 (3) ◽

pp. 142-151 ◽

Cited By ~ 32

Author(s):

Robert O. Keohane ◽

Michael Oppenheimer

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Domestic Politics ◽

Oecd Countries ◽

Paris Agreement ◽

Financial Transfers ◽

Newly Industrializing Countries ◽

Dead End ◽

Climate Action ◽

Nationally Determined Contributions ◽

Paris Climate Agreement

The Paris Climate Agreement of December 2015 marks a decisive break from the unsuccessful Kyoto regime. Instead of targets and timetables, it established a Pledge and Review system, under which states will offer Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) to reducing emissions that cause climate change. But this successful negotiation outcome was achieved at the price of vagueness of obligations and substantial discretion for governments. Many governments will be tempted to use the vagueness of the Paris Agreement, and the discretion that it permits, to limit the scope or intensity of their proposed actions. Whether Pledge and Review under the Paris Agreement will lead to effective action against climate change will therefore depend on the inclination both of OECD countries and newly industrializing countries to take costly actions, which for the OECD countries will include financial transfers to their poorer partners. Domestic politics will be crucial in determining the attitudes of both sets of countries to pay such costs. The actual impact of the Paris Agreement will depend on whether it can be used by domestic groups favoring climate action as a point of leverage in domestic politics—that is, in a “two-level game” simultaneously involving both international and domestic politics.

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‘Dynamic Differentiation’: The Principles of CBDR-RC, Progression and Highest Possible Ambition in the Paris Agreement

Transnational Environmental Law ◽

10.1017/s2047102516000212 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 285-303 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Christina Voigt ◽

Felipe Ferreira

Keyword(s):

Collective Learning ◽

Paris Agreement ◽

Duty Of Care ◽

Due Diligence ◽

Common But Differentiated Responsibilities ◽

Climate Action ◽

History Of ◽

Nationally Determined Contributions ◽

Set Up

AbstractThe Paris Agreement has struck a careful balance between the need for ambitious and effective climate action and for fair effort sharing among parties based on differentiation. This article provides an overview of the negotiation history of differentiation and analyzes the ‘dynamic differentiation’ as built into the architecture of the Agreement. While being set against the normative background of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Paris Agreement adopts a more diversified way of differential treatment among parties, approaching it in three complementary ways: firstly, on a principled basis, reflecting common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR-RC), in the light of different national circumstances; secondly, in the content of its articles, in particular on mitigation, finance and transparency; and thirdly, on the basis of the principles of progression and highest possible ambition, which represent new and dynamic aspects of differentiation. The authors argue that ‘highest possible ambition’ is reflective of a duty of care that states now need to exercise. It implies a due diligence standard, which requires each government to act in proportion to the risk at stake and to take all appropriate and adequate climate measures according to its responsibility and its best capabilities. By expecting parties to apply this standard at each successive preparation of nationally determined contributions (NDCs), and to progress beyond previous ones, the Paris Agreement has set up reiterative processes, an ‘international normative pull’ and a collective learning environment. This, in turn, creates a reflexive approach to parties’ determination of effort, promoting the evolution of voluntary cooperative behaviour.

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Prospects for climate governance in 2017

Emerald Expert Briefings ◽

10.1108/oxan-db216097 ◽

2016 ◽

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Paris Agreement ◽

Energy Capacity ◽

Donald Trump ◽

Climate Governance ◽

Content Type ◽

Climate Action ◽

Nationally Determined Contributions ◽

Collective Commitment ◽

International Climate

Subject Prospects for climate governance in 2017. Significance The November 7-18 COP22 climate conference produced a new political declaration, the 'Marrakech Action Proclamation for Climate and Sustainable Development’, reaffirming the collective commitment to step up climate action to meet the temperature goal of keeping warming to below 2 degrees centigrade. Upward trends in renewable energy capacity are also promising, particularly as countries prepare to turn their nationally-determined contributions made under the Paris Agreement into reality. This progress remains fragile, however, because of uncertainty about the extent of US backtracking on international climate cooperation following the election of Donald Trump as the next US president.

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Who Is Responsible for Embodied CO2?

Climate ◽

10.3390/cli9030041 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

pp. 41

Author(s):

Hans Sanderson

Keyword(s):

Value Chain ◽

Life Cycle Analysis ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

Paris Agreement ◽

Value Chains ◽

Total Emission ◽

Low Carbon ◽

Ghg Emission ◽

Carbon Neutrality ◽

Nationally Determined Contributions

With the Paris Agreement, countries are obliged to report greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions, which will ensure that the global temperature increase is maintained well below 2 °C. The parties will report their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) in terms of plans and progress towards these targets during the postponed COP26 (Conference of the Parties under the UNFCCC) in Glasgow in November 2021. These commitments, however, do not take significant portions of the consumption-related emissions related to countries imports into account. Similarly, the majority of companies that report their emissions to CDP (Formerly Carbon Disclosure Project) also do not account for their embodied value-chain-related emissions. Municipalities, on the path towards carbon neutrality in accordance with the methods outlined by C40, also do not include imported and embodied CO2 in their total emission tallies. So, who is responsible for these emissions—the producer or the consumer? How can we ensure that the NDCs, municipalities’ and companies’ reduction targets share the responsibility of the emissions in the value chain, thus ensuring that targets and plans become sustainable, climate fair, and just in global value chains? Today the responsibility lays with the producer, which is not sustainable. We have the outline for the tools needed to quantify and transparently share the responsibility between producers and consumers at corporate, municipal and national levels based on an improved understanding of the attendant sources, causes, flows and risks of GHG emissions globally. Hybrid life cycle analysis/environmentally extended input–output (LCA/EEIO) models can for example be further developed. This will, in the end, enable everyday consumption to support a more sustainable, green and low carbon transition of our economy.

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Who is Responsible for Embodied CO2?

10.20944/preprints202012.0776.v2 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Hans Sanderson

Keyword(s):

Value Chain ◽

National Level ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

Paris Agreement ◽

Value Chains ◽

Low Carbon ◽

Ghg Emission ◽

Hybrid Lca ◽

Carbon Neutrality ◽

Nationally Determined Contributions

With the Paris Agreement, countries are obliged to report greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduc-tions, which will ensure that the global temperature increase is maintained well below 2C. The Parties will report their Nationally Determined Contributions in terms of plans and progress to-wards these targets during the postponed COP26 in Glasgow in November 2021. These commit-ments however do not take significant portions of the consumption related emissions related to countries imports in to account. Similarly, the majority of companies that report their emissions to CDP also do not account for their embodied value-chain related emissions. Municipalities, on the path towards carbon neutrality in accordance with the methods outlined by C40, also do not in-clude imported and embodied CO2e in their total emission tallies. So, who is responsible for these emissions - the producer or the consumer? How can we ensure that the NDC's, municipalities and companies reduction targets share the responsibility of the emissions in the value-chain thus en-suring that targets and plans become, sustainable, climate fair, and just in global value chains? Today the responsibility lays with the producer, which is not sustainable. We have the outline for the tools needed to quantify and transparently share the responsibility between producers and consumers at corporate, municipal and national level based on an improved understanding of the attendant sources, causes, flows and risks og GHG emissions globally. Hybrid LCA/EEIO models can for example be further developed. This will, in the end, enable everyday consumption to support a more sustainable, green and low carbon transition of our economy.

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Optimally Clocking the Low Carbon Energy Mile to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals: Evidence from Dundee’s Electric Vehicle Strategy

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14040842 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (4) ◽

pp. 842

Author(s):

Ayodele Asekomeh ◽

Obindah Gershon ◽

Smith I. Azubuike

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Green Infrastructure ◽

Sustainable Development Goals ◽

Clean Energy ◽

Low Carbon ◽

The Sustainable Development ◽

Agenda 2030 ◽

United Nations General ◽

Climate Action ◽

Development Goals

Dundee City has been successful in installing green infrastructure for charging electric vehicles (EVs). This intervention matches the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of affordable clean energy (SDG 7), sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11) and climate action (SDG 13) of the United Nations General Assembly Agenda 2030 (Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development). Local authorities can align interventions with SDGs according to needs. The purpose of this paper is to consider whether Dundee’s EV strategy represents the most viable and equitable intervention that could be adopted given the city’s context. We adopt a positive review and value argumentation approach to determine the extent to which the strategy satisfies the criteria of “level of urgency”, “systemic impact” and “policy gaps”, which have been employed in the extant literature as the basis for a multi-criteria analysis (MCA). We eclectically review elements of the strategy against the city’s peculiar physical and socio-economic environment, as well as argue their fit against these criteria. We interpret these criteria based on the complementarity and benefits of the strategy from the lenses of SDG 7, SDG 11 and SDG 13. Additionally, we consider the alignment of the EV strategy with the other SDGs. The criteria also allow us to evaluate the strategy based on the localisation principles of equity, acceptability and affordability of the intervention. Our review shows that the EV strategy represents a sustainable and community life-enhancing intervention that aligns with some key SDGs. However, the outcome raises concerns about the equitability of the strategy. Smaller, similar or bigger cities could utilise this approach. However, we recommend the evaluation of local priorities to improve alignment with the SDGs and the provision of clear justifications for selecting an intervention from a range of responses.

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Financing Climate Action and the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Analysis of 17 Developing Countries

10.46830/wriwp.21.00039 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Natalia Alayza ◽

Molly Caldwell

Keyword(s):

Developing Countries ◽

Natural Disasters ◽

Developed Countries ◽

Paris Agreement ◽

Climate Finance ◽

Needs Assessments ◽

Climate Action ◽

Nationally Determined Contributions ◽

Available Information

To meet the Paris Agreement’s long-term goals, it is crucial that developed countries support developing countries in achieving their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and mobilizing the required climate finance. For this paper, we analyzed the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on climate finance and climate action implementation in 17 developing countries, drawing on available information from climate-finance tracking tools, reports, and climate needs assessments. Our analysis shows a decrease in climate finance flowing to developing countries. Most of this funding took the form of loans, and developing countries have reallocated or decreased their domestic climate flows because of the high costs of responding to the pandemic. As a result, climate-related projects have been delayed. Compounding the challenge, some developing countries have had to deal with major natural disasters amid the pandemic. Improved transparency through climate-finance tracking tools could help countries more easily identify their conditional and unconditional climate needs and mobilize and deploy resources more effectively. Climate-finance availability continues to fall short of the required amount of resources to implement developing countries’ NDCs and meet the Paris Agreement goals. The COVID-19 pandemic is widening this gap. Developed countries need to strengthen their commitment to close it by increasing climate finance.

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