The NDC Update Report tracks the progress on the implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement. The theme of this report is the role of long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategies (LTSs) in achieving the Paris Agreement goal. This report argues for the importance of developing long-term (sector) strategies to determine the highest possible ambition for the coming NDC update (until 2030) and to signal a clear path for future NDC ambition raising (towards net-zero in 2050). Governments can use the NDC update to signal that indeed the highest...

This report synthesises available analyses on the role and potential of mini-grids in Kenya and explores how this technology can help the country attain its goal of universal electrification by 2022 and also contribute to the achievement of other related development objectives. Executive summary: Even with the global electrification rate rising from 83% in 2010 to 89% in 2017, about 573 million people still lack adequate access to electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 calls for action to “ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern...

This study aims at supporting decision making in the electricity sector in Kenya by comparing geothermal and coal as two main power generation technologies, and the impact of developing these technologies on generation costs, affordability of electricity, and overall flexibility and reliability of electricity supply. Executive summary: Kenya is one of the fastest growing economies in Sub-Saharan Africa, with high anticipated economic growth rates and ambitious flagship infrastructure projects. However, recent electricity demand forecasts were considerably decreased. Both in the scenarios of...

This report explores how various political and financial measures could help to "de-risk" renewables investment using onshore wind investments in Serbia and Greece as case examples. Introduction: The financing costs for renewable energies in Southeast Europe have been significantly higher than for conventional power plants. Additionally, high risk premiums hamper the expansion of wind and solar power plants in the region. This study shows which political and financial de-risking measures can reduce costs of renewable energy projects in South East Europe. Most South East European countries rely...

The objective of this guidance document is to provide Contracting Parties of the Energy Community with a concise and simple guidance on how they could consolidate their multiple climate change and energy planning processes and international obligations into one single process, ensuring efficiency and alignment. Introduction: Energy Community Contracting Parties –Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo*, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia and Ukraine– have committed to monitoring and reporting in the areas of renewables, energy efficiency, and greenhouse gas emissions by...

The paper formulates 10 points for mitigation ambition and includes recommendations on ways to support ambition raising through international cooperation. Introduction: All governments have committed to the long-term goal of the Paris Agreement. The findings of IPCC 1.5 Special Report (IPCC 1.5SR) illustrate the climate impacts and risks associated with exceeding 1.5°C and clearly underscore that greater ambition is urgently needed to achieve this limit as current Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are inconsistent with Paris compatible pathways. This has implications for the role of...

To reach the long-term temperature goal of the Paris Agreement, most countries will need to reduce emissions to net-zero in 2050 or shortly thereafter. This report considers this challenge from a sector perspective, examining decarbonisation from several different angles. For the following five key sectors: power, industry, transport, buildings, and agriculture, forestry and other land-use, it highlights the leading mitigation options and their implications for longer-term planning. The report further describes how modelling and developing scenarios can support mitigation planning, and how...

The NDC Update Report tracks the progress on the implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement. The theme of this edition is "Ambition": We look ahead and explore whether governments are ready for the next round of pledges and where support and preparation could focus. Executive summary: In December 2018, two years on from the ratification of the Paris Agreement, and two years from the first call for more ambitious pledges, the international community is cautiously observing collective efforts to reduce emissions. The IPCC report Global Warming of 1.5oC...

The S DG C limate A ction N exus tool ( SCAN-tool ) is designed to provide high-level guidance on how mitigation actions can impact achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It can support policy makers to achieve greater policy coherence and to improve the efficiency of implementation by providing them with an initial indication of which climate actions may impact -positively or negatively- specific SDG targets. The SCAN-tool can also potentially inform the process of putting forward increasingly ambitious pledges of climate action, required every five years under the ambition...

The Climate Opportunity report investigates the economic, social and environmental benefits for climate change mitigation action in cities. Enhanced policies and measures for residential building retrofits, bus networks and district-scale renewable energy can generate millions of jobs, save billions of dollars for households, and prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths related to ambient air pollution worldwide. The analysis is based on the development of new methodologies, which provide local and national policymakers with a blueprint for how cities and nations can evaluate these impacts and...

The study updates an earlier 2014 analyses and was conducted in cooperation with ALCOR and UNDP. Objective Developing countries often suffer from a high cost of capital. Because utility-scale wind and solar photovoltaic power plants require high upfront capital investments, the corresponding levelized cost of electricity (LCOEs) are very sensible to the cost of capital. States can respond to a high a cost of capital by introducing public derisking measures, that can be understood as interventions by the government and its partners to address specific investment risks, in the form of policies...

In this special edition of the NDC Update Report, we focus on the relationship between Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and explore how climate and development actions can support each other. Key messages: 2015 was a breakthrough year for climate action and development, with the signing of the Paris Agree­ment and a global commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. These challenging and comprehensive global agendas require fundamental rethinking of the way our economies operate and have led to renewed calls for greater...

Although timely action on HFCs is likely to bring multiple benefits for end-users of cooling technologies, only few non-state actor driven initiatives exist yet that specifically target the refrigeration and air-conditioning (RAC) sector. It is important to address the barriers to non-state action in the RAC sector, while recognising that non-state action always needs to be accompanied by effective government policy and regulation to successfully address the climate challenge. Abstract: This paper seeks to inform policy makers and other stakeholders in partner countries of the Cool...