The Global Stocktake assesses the collective progress towards the goals of the Paris Agreement every five years. The first Global Stocktake concluded in 2023 with a decision at COP28 on the way forward to increase action and support to effectively address climate change.
Parties to the Paris Agreement are updating their plans for climate action. Less than half of the countries analysed as part of a project funded by the German Environment Agency are increasing their ambition. Many are lacking a clear plan for implementation. This is the result of a new methodology, which analyses 20 recently submitted Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
A research project for the German Environment Agency developed a method for the systematic analysis of the design of nationally determined contributions (NDCs) of Parties to the Paris Agreement. As part of this project, the design of 20 NDCs were analysed with this method.
A research project for the German Environment Agency investigates options for multilateral initiatives of G20 countries to close the climate ambition gap between insufficient current policies and contributions and the goals of the Paris Agreement by 2030. The policy fields energy transition, synthetic e-fuels, sustainable food systems and forest protection are at the spotlight of the analysis.
Minimizing cumulative emissions is essential for reducing the risk of overshooting the warming limit of 1.5 degrees. This study commissioned by the German Environment Agency analyses the implications for the EU ETS and presents different scenarios for this goal. The authors conclude that the cap reduction factor should be increased to 4 percent starting from 2021 or 5.8 percent starting from 2026.
The Paris Agreement has strengthened objectives to limit global warming remarkably. Considering a fair or cost-effective contribution to global efforts relevant greenhouse gas emitting countries should upgrade their national 2030 commitments to comply with the respective goals. Even, simply redistributing cost-effective reductions among parties by 2050 would not meet fairness considerations.
In 2018, the European Commission published its communication “A clean planet for all”, which calls for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. A thorough study commissioned by UBA assessing the underlying scenarios for policy making shows, that central aspects for building an adequate ambitious long-term climate strategy, such as socio-economic, fiscal and technological, had been considered.
With the Paris Agreement the EU urgently needs to re-assess its long-term target. A new scenario, commissioned by UBA, shows that a GHG-neutral EU is feasible, based on a fully decarbonized energy supply, without carbon capture and storage. Key components of the scenario are a strong increase in energy efficiency as well as far-reaching electrification. The use of bioenergy is strongly limited.
