This report reviews evidence that overshooting 1.5°C may push the earth over several tipping points, leading to irreversible and severe changes in the climate system. If triggered, tipping point impacts will rapidly cascade through socio-economic and ecological systems, leading to severe effects on human and natural systems and imposing important challenges for human adaptation.
This report provides a synthesis of the OECD Net Zero+ project, covering the first phase of an ongoing, cross-cutting initiative, representing a major step forward for an OECD whole-of-government approach to climate policy.
This report explores how institutional investors can apply risk-based due diligence as recommended by the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct and help them prevent and mitigate adverse climate impacts associated with their investee companies on society and the environment.
The Climate Action Monitor is a key publication of the International Programme for Action on Climate (IPAC). It provides a synthesis of climate action and progress towards net-zero targets for 51 OECD and OECD partner countries. This year's edition presents a summary of information on greenhouse gas emissions, an assessment of climate-related hazards and recent trends in climate action. Directed towards policymakers and practitioners, the findings suggest that without increased ambition and a significant expansion in national climate action, countries will not be able to meet the net-zero challenge.
Greenhouse gas concentrations are rapidly increasing and as a result, fundamental economic transitions are needed to limit global warming. This essential book examines the climate and energy policies of selected jurisdictions in Europe and East Asia that have vowed to become carbon neutral.
This report highlights countries’ practices in implementing the OECD Council Recommendation on Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development (PCSD). It illustrates how governments can use institutional mechanisms for PCSD to address complex international problems together – including implementing the 2030 Agenda – and explores how policy coherence principles can be applied to promote whole-of-government approaches to policymaking.
This textbook introduces and explains the issues around climate change and its mitigation. It includes topics across disciplines and can be used as a single-volume text by students studying a range of subjects. Among the topics included are: ·How to adopt significant mitigation measures now to avoid the most catastrophic long-term consequences of climate change. ·Reducing the rates of highly potent, short-lived emissions of methane gas and black carbon particulates—reductions that are necessary to meet the temperature targets of the Paris Agreements. ·Implementing wide-ranging adaptation measures to reduce the deaths and economic costs of extreme heat waves, droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, and floods. ·Recognizing the unusually rapid warming in the Arctic, which is disrupting weather patterns in the northern hemisphere and currents in the Atlantic Ocean, causing world-wide sea-level rise, and also causing methane leaks in the Arctic region—leaks that could eventually lead to irreversible global warming consequences. Meeting these challenges effectively requires action by both governments and businesses. The book examines the national and local governmental policies—and business practices—that are needed in sector-specific chapters. An objective of the book is to inform readers about specific problems resulting from climate change—and the wide range of potential government policies and business practices, changes in technologies, and changes in public attitudes and actions that can reduce the emissions and otherwise lessen their impacts. Indeed, a central message is that understanding the issues posed by climate change requires no less than an understanding of climate science, micro- and macro-economics, technologies for mitigation and adaptation measures, as well as politics and law at many governmental levels from local to global. The author has included short case studies that illustrate and integrate multiple analytic perspectives. The book is therefore appropriate for students, professionals, and general audiences with wide-ranging interests and backgrounds.
Climate change presents a unique challenge in that policy makers need to balance the speed and scale required to achieve global objectives within the time required to ensure political acceptability and social sustainability. Within Reach: Navigating the Political Economy of Decarbonization identifies the key political economy barriers and explores the options to address them through four key recommendations: * Climate governance: strategically adapt the institutional architecture and embed climate objectives into a positive development narrative. Strategic governance institutions that reflect societal goals--such as climate change framework laws, longterm strategies, or just transition frameworks--can alter the political economy, set clear objectives, facilitate coordination across actors, and help monitor progress and hold decision-makers accountable. * Policy sequencing: balance short-term feasibility and long-term ambition. Because the political economy and institutional context are dynamic and can be influenced by policies, policy makers can select their priorities, not only to make policy implementation feasible but also to actively build capacity and change the political economy and institutional context, building momentum toward the long-term objective and transformation. * Policy design: focus on people and manage the distributional effects of climate policies. Climate policies have heterogenous impacts across households, sectors, and locations. Active labor policies, reskilling programs, compensations and transfers, place-based policies, and green industrial policies can be used to protect vulnerable populations, facilitate a just transition, and make policies more acceptable and sustainable. * Policy process: use public engagement and communication to improve design and legitimacy. Civic engagement can improve a policy's design, enhance legitimacy, foster compromise, and help identify unintended consequences early. Effective communication can make reforms more accessible to the public and increase support. This book shows how appropriate governance frameworks, strong institutional capacity, well-designed policies with adequate compensation measures, and early engagement with all stakeholders are essential strategic elements to building consensus and momentum for transformative policies. By deploying these tools, policy makers can navigate the urgency in climate action and its political economy challenges to achieve their long-term climate goals and secure a livable planet.
This report identifies LAC countries’ main climate change policy priorities, which were discussed through a series of Regional Policy Dialogues and Expert Workshops and complements these with findings of recent analyses by the OECD and other international partners. It explores issues related to their implementation on climate adaptation, mitigation, and cross-cutting policy areas.
This report explores evidence-based action areas to increase and accelerate the mobilisation of private finance for climate action in developing countries, and the role of international public finance providers in doing so.
