Canadian youth taking government to court over its role in climate change

There was just a federal election this week that now has the government in a minority position. Already, there is controversy over a new pipeline, seen by many to help support the fossil fuel industry. Meanwhile, several youth are keeping up the pressure on the government to be more ambitious addressing climate change. 15 children … Continue reading Canadian youth taking government to court over its role in climate change →

Rules on how to prevent double counting of emissions reductions by both the country selling and buying carbon credits is having impact on 2015 Paris climate agreement

The low-carbon energy transition is complicated and setting the rules for countries to follow is not a simple task. Frank Jotzo, Director, at the Centre for Climate and Energy Policy, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University; Lambert Schneider, Research coordinator for international climate policy, Öko-Institut; and Maosheng Duan, professor at Tsinghua University write … Continue reading Rules on how to prevent double counting of emissions reductions by both the country selling and buying carbon credits is having impact on 2015 Paris climate agreement →

Upcoming event in Brussels: COP21 RIPPLES Brussels Second Policy Dialogue, October 22nd

22 October 2019 Bruegel, Rue de la Charité 33, 1210 Brussels, Belgium The global response to the Paris Agreement is insufficient to meet the long-term temperature goals. The current gaps refer not solely to NDC targets and underlying emission projections, but notably to inadequate international enabling conditions that would permit governments and non-state actors … Continue reading Upcoming event in Brussels: COP21 RIPPLES Brussels Second Policy Dialogue, October 22nd →

Commitments made at UN Climate Action Summit

Elena Kosolapova from the SDG Knowledge Hub of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) reviews the commitments made at the recent UN Climate Action Summit. 77 Countries, 100+ Cities Commit to Net Zero Carbon Emissions by 2050 at Climate Summit The Climate Action Summit brought together more than 65 Heads of State and … Continue reading Commitments made at UN Climate Action Summit →

Europe’s climate hardliners and their potential impact on the future of climate policy

We’ve now had the election for the European Parliament and there is an interesting division. The Greens and Liberals have done well. But the right-wing populists have also improved to some extent. This article on the Deutsche Welle website by Harald Franzen raises an important question about the possible threat to climate policy. What are … Continue reading Europe’s climate hardliners and their potential impact on the future of climate policy →

Climate change target needs to be politically credible

When do we need to reach net zero emissions? Aled Jones, Professor & Director, Global Sustainability Institute, at Anglia Ruskin University discusses the politics involved in an article on The Conversation website. While the example is the UK, it affects all of us. Net zero emissions by 2050 or 2025? Depends how you think … Continue reading Climate change target needs to be politically credible →

Ireland becomes second country to declare climate emergency

As Greta Thunberg said, having heard of Ireland’s decision, “Who is next?” Michelle Devane writes in the Irish Independent to discuss the decision made May 9th. For background, the International Energy Agency recently reviewed Irish energy Policies. In its review it is stated: “Ireland is not on track to meet its climate target of a … Continue reading Ireland becomes second country to declare climate emergency →

Ireland falls short in its level of ambition for the low-carbon energy transition

EU member states have submitted their draft national energy and climate plans and the one from Ireland gets bad marks in an assessment made by the Climate Action Network. The report concludes Ireland’s plan “does not demonstrate high ambition on energy savings and renewable energy, indicating a lack of focus in their actions for the … Continue reading Ireland falls short in its level of ambition for the low-carbon energy transition →

New report on China’s climate and energy policies

The fourth edition of the report “Mapping China’s Climate & Energy Policies” describes, maps and analyzes China’s national-level Party, government agencies, academic and research institutions, and state-affiliated enterprise climate actors in China on a policy by policy basis. The report is supported by the British Embassy in Beijing, the Embassy of the Federal Republic of … Continue reading New report on China’s climate and energy policies →

Collaboration needed to set climate change policies in Canada, not the courts

Only two years ago there was relatively good consensus on the way forward for climate change policy in Canada. Since then there has been increased “resistance”. Nathalie Chalifour and Jason MacLean provide a good article on the Policy Options website about the situation in the country. As we often hear, no one said the low-carbon … Continue reading Collaboration needed to set climate change policies in Canada, not the courts →