A collection of words with which we hope to plant the seeds of awareness, providing in depth definitions of some of the most pressing topics related to climate change.
Because understanding the discourse that surrounds the climate crisis is the key to a sustainable future.
One of the first steps towards creating global climate diplomacy, the Kyoto Protocol laid the groundwork for today’s climate negotiations. From its innovative elements, to what it sought to achieve and how it worked, understanding the Kyoto Protocol is essential for a better understanding of the UNFCCC process.
Giving a price to carbon means innovation, technological deployment, and profound changes in the economic system. However, the costs of a low-carbon transition will not be felt equally by all. Trading emissions in a carbon market allows us to start cutting emissions where it is cheapest whilst leaving room for the most virtuous to make gains. Origins and evolutions of a flexible and cost-effective policy with almost 20 years of history.
As countries implement measures to curb emissions they are also looking to protect local industry players from unfair competition and ensure that emissions aren’t simply shifted outside of their jurisdiction. Carbon border adjustments use levies and rebates to do just that. How do they work and why are they contentious?
By connecting the real and virtual worlds digital twins help create, test and deploy the disruptive technologies and ideas needed to respond to the climate crisis at an unprecedented pace. A look at how experts such as Peter Bauer, Director of Destination Earth at the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, are using digital twins to help plan and define the future.
Is it possible to build a zero-carbon world and, at the same time, guarantee sustainable development and well-being prospects? The answer depends on how capable we are of building development models in which economic growth does not go hand in hand with growth in greenhouse gas emissions.
Is it possible and what are the consequences of exceeding a given global mean temperature threshold and then bringing warming back down again? Although a limited and temporary climate overshoot is better than reaching a peak temperature and staying there, some of its impacts may be irreversible and could push ecosystems towards dangerous tipping points.
The impacts of a changing climate on people and communities are taking center stage, leading to an increasing focus on both the theoretical and practical implications of climate justice.
Without a marked acceleration in cutting CO2 emissions, plans to meet climate goals increasingly rely on capturing excess carbon dioxide emissions, processing them and then storing them. From technology and opportunities, to objectives, risks, costs and global policies, an in-depth look at one of the key debates surrounding climate change mitigation.
Scenarios are not predictions. They are a construction of a future that looks at the consequences of given developments and actions. A future that is being sculpted by our current actions.
What is it that makes one statement more reliable than another and how can we claim that science has reached a consensus on any given issue? Increasingly, talk of climate change revolves around discussions of a “scientific consensus” and how this shapes our present and future understanding of climate issues and policymaking.
Over 30 years of international debates around climate-related loss and damage (L&D) and there is still no agreed upon definition. Negotiators, scientists and experts, both in developed and developing countries, often have different and even conflicting understandings of L&D, which has always been associated with controversial issues such as calls for justice and responsibility, state liability and compensation. The key issues of L&D in the realms of policy and science.
Almost 200 players, a common goal and a limited budget with which to reach it. Tackling climate change is no easy feat. Can the Carbon Budget concept guide decision makers towards the right choices when trying to cut emissions?
