Each year – typically at the annual Conference of the Parties (COP) – new cooperative climate initiatives are launched. These initiatives vary significantly in terms of their setup processes, the type and number of signatories or members, how they are managed, and their progress towards the collectively agreed target. This naturally makes any comparison between initiatives insightful and raises the question of what they actually deliver.
In these fact sheets we aim to shed light on some of the most relevant initiatives, enabling policymakers to identify valuable avenues for further action and provide civil society with a robust evidence basis for holding different actors accountable.
Each fact sheet includes qualitative and quantitative analyses of the initiatives' institutional robustness, progress towards achieving the set target, an indication of ambition, national-level case studies on interaction with domestic policymaking and a measure of each initiative's significance. They also point to related cooperative initiatives and effort areas of the Global Stocktake (GST). Particular focus is placed on national-level insights, which complement the existing literature on global progress and mitigation potential.
With several countries leaving global climate agreements or attempting to block international negotiations, cooperative climate initiatives are receiving more attention, as they focus on concrete, sector-specific goals and unite a 'coalition of the willing' behind them. This raises the profile of various mitigation topics, and incentivises other countries to join these efforts.
The initiatives we covered include:
- Zero Emission Vehicles Declaration
- Powering Past Coal Alliance
- Global Methane Pledge
- Glasgow Declaration on Forests and Land Use
- Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
