Browse in news and blog posts

As part of our ongoing investigations into the decarbonisation of various sectors, our latest study looks at the emissions from the steel and cement industries (previous publications focused on transport, buildings, power). It’s a difficult nut to crack, as large chunks of the emissions are not related to conventional fossil fuel combustion. With decarbonisation, we normally think of energy-related measures such as higher energy efficiency, electrification of demand, zero-carbon fuels and a zero-carbon electricity supply in order to move towards net-zero CO 2 emissions. While such measures...

The Climate Action Tracker (CAT) has updated its government climate action rating system to better reflect the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C long term warming limit. The new categories help to highlight the adequacy and fairness of government climate commitments for the Paris Agreement. (Full briefing) The CAT has updated its effort-sharing assessment to incorporate the latest science and emission trends, which has changed the ratings for some countries. The CAT now has expanded to six rating categories instead of the previous four, to properly describe the full range of action, or lack of action...

On July 7-8 the leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies will meet in Hamburg for a much awaited G20 summit. The German presidency has made climate change a key agenda item, but cracks in a G20 consensus have emerged after President Trump announced on 1 June that the US would withdraw from the climate treaty. The ripple effect some feared following the US exit has so far failed to materialise. It remains unclear whether the other 19 members of the G20 – which include major emitters and fossil fuel exporters – can maintain common ground and continued commitment to the goals of the Paris...

The future of natural gas is limited, even as a bridging fuel. Continued investments into the sector create the risk of breaching the Paris Agreement’s long-term temperature goal and will result in stranded assets, the Climate Action Tracker (CAT) said today. As part of its decarbonisation series, the CAT today released an examination of gas in the power sector. The report, titled “ Foot off the gas: increased reliance on natural gas in the power sector risks an emissions lock-in ”, warns that natural gas will have to be phased out along with coal, if the world is to limit warming to 1.5˚C, as...

Press Release Global leadership on climate is changing, with positive developments on coal use in China and India likely to reduce projected global carbon emissions growth by roughly two to three billion tonnes by 2030, the Climate Action Tracker (CAT) said today. The recent, sweeping policy rollbacks by President Trump are unlikely to have a major impact on global emissions by 2030, according to the CAT analysis on China, India, and the US, released at the Bonn climate talks. “The highly adverse rollbacks of US climate policies by the Trump Administration, if fully implemented and not...

2 Page Summary Infographic Policy Summary Technical Report Triggering a global transformation of our energy systems as required by the Paris Agreement does not take the whole world—it can be started by just a small group of countries, according to a new Climate Action Tracker report. The global rise of renewable energy, which accounted for over half of all new electricity installations in 2015, was a result of strong actions by just a few countries, according to “Faster & Cleaner 2: kick-starting global decarbonisation,” released by the Climate Action Tracker and the Climate Works Foundation...

When countries put forward their climate proposals for the Paris Agreement, they were asked also to explain why these are ambitious. Countries found many ways to make their case: For example, the USA stated that its new proposal requires faster reduction than their earlier one. The EU declared that it wants to decrease emissions until 2030 by at least 40% since 1990, more than most other countries. China wants to peak its emissions before 2030 at a lower level (per capita) than for example the USA. If countries use different ways to describe their ambition, how do we know if one is more...

Die neue Verfügung von US Präsident Trump zur „nationalen Energieunabhängigkeit“ wird dazu führen, dass die USA ihre Zusage für das Pariser Klimaschutzabkommen verfehlen, so der Climate Action Tracker. Das Konsortium, das hinter dem Climate Action Tracker steht, würde die USA dafür von „mittelmäßig“ auf „ungenügend“ abwerten. Bei voller Umsetzung der Verfügung würden die Treibhausgasemissionen der USA in 2025 und 2030 etwa so hoch sein wie heute und nicht—entsprechend der Zusage der USA zum Pariser Klimaschutzabkommen—13% unter das Niveau von 2014 sinken. Die noch unter der Obama Regierung...

US President Trump’s Executive Order on “Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth” sets the US on a path to miss its Paris Agreement commitment for 2025 by a large margin, the Climate Action Tracker said today, adding that it would warrant moving the US from a “medium” to an “insufficient” CAT rating. If the Executive Order were carried out in full, US emissions in 2025 and 2030 are expected to be roughly similar to today, instead of the 13% decrease from 2014 levels needed to meet its target (Nationally Determined Contribution) submitted to the Paris Agreement. In 2016 the CAT rated...

Which country is making more progress in decarbonising their road transport sector with low-carbon fuels? Which country has a higher share of renewable energy? How does this look for countries without a large share of hydropower? How much are China and India’s economies emitting in relation to their economic output? Is it more or less than in the USA? Who emits more to produce one tonne of steel— China or the EU ? And how does the volume of steel production compare between these countries over time? Who emits more greenhouse gases to grow food—India or Germany? Which countries show more...

Recent developments, particularly in India and China, give hope that the rise of global coal use has permanently stopped, and growth in global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions can reverse much earlier than thought only two years ago. China’s coal consumption has declined from 2013 onwards, and is predicted to have fallen again significantly also in 2016. India has stated that coal-fired power plants currently under construction may not be needed. With the two largest coal consumers slowing growth, global use could now permanently be on a downward trend, bringing the temperature goal of...

Press release from the Climate Action Tracker Read the full analysis from the Climate Action Tracker The rapid entry into force of the Paris Agreement has created the legal basis for countries to increase their level of action and ambition to meet the 1.5°C warming limit over the next two years in the lead-up to 2018. The Climate Action Tracker (CAT) has evaluated the starting point for this process and found there has been little progress on national climate policies in the eleven months since the Paris Agreement was adopted. Government pledges and climate action commitments made under the...

Ein Jahr nach der Annahme des Paris Agreements diskutieren die Regierungen diese Woche in Marrakesch die technischen Details der Umsetzung. (Foto: Mosa'ab Elshamy/AP)[/caption] Die Wahl von Donald Trump als neuer Präsident der USA stellt für die internationale Klimapolitik ein großes Risiko dar, mit direkten Auswirkungen sowohl auf nationaler Ebene für die USA als auch für den gesamten internationalen Klimaverhandlungsprozess im Zuge des Paris Abkommens. Trotz Vorbehalten des amerikanischen Kongresses setzte die Regierung unter Präsident Barack Obama mehrere Klimaschutzmaßnahmen durch. Im...

A year on from the adoption of the Paris Agreement, Governments are in Marrakech this week to discuss further details on the technicalities for the implementation of the Paris Agreement. The election of Donald Trump as President of the USA poses a high risk to international climate policy with implications on the national level for the USA and for the broader international climate process around the Paris Agreement. The Obama Administration pushed climate action despite congressional reservations. Under the Climate Action Plan, the US introduced mitigation actions in a step wise manner. One...

05 October, NewClimate Institute Adoption of the Paris Agreement at COP 21 in Paris, December 2015 (Photo: Arnaud Bouissou - MEDDE / CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0). The new international climate change deal, the Paris Agreement, will enter into force just 11 months after its adoption. The record breaking timing of the ratification process demonstrates the extent to which national governments are serious about their commitment to the new Agreement. This is a historic step forward. Global climate change is now firmly established on the international agenda. The Agreement ushers in a shift to a complete phase...