Search Climate Insights Directory

The report advocates for low-carbon procurement in China's heavy industry to reduce transition costs via economies of scale and shared green premiums. It outlines a five-part implementation framework and identifies five priority value chains: steel-automotive, steel-construction, cement-construction, aluminum-automotive, and plastics-consumer goods.

Ember's analysis indicates that Whitehaven Coal Limited could release over 1.2 million tonnes of methane by 2050, with emissions potentially doubling by 2030 due to planned expansions. The report highlights severe discrepancies in reporting, noting that the Narrabri mine's actual emissions have been nearly five times higher than final EIS estimates. Ember argues that Whitehaven's use of internal emission factors for open-cut mines—which are often significantly lower than Australian averages—leads to underreporting. The report recommends third-party verification, improved transparency, and a 75% reduction in portfolio-wide methane emissions by 2030 to align with 1.5 degree pathways.

The analysis of Canada's Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) indicates that while decarbonization is essential for long-term socio-economic benefits, many of its policies require additional social and economic safeguards to prevent inequality and actively reduce poverty.

The submission argues that the Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill [B23 – 2023] lacks sufficient provisions for a just transition, energy decentralisation, and transparency. It specifically criticises the potential for grid privatisation through wheeling agreements, the lack of regulatory support for energy storage and small-scale embedded generation (SSEG), and the expansion of Ministerial discretion over the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) and procurement processes. The authors also object to proposed confidentiality clauses that could limit public access to licence applications and call for stronger public participation requirements aligned with PAJA and PAIA.

The text argues that global decarbonisation requires bold measures and long-term political stability, specifically calling for a coordinated energy transition strategy in the Euro-Mediterranean region to avoid economic loss and energy insecurity.

The policy brief outlines how Saudi Arabia and the UAE can leverage their geological storage potential and National Oil Companies to scale up carbon capture and storage (CCS). It identifies current project statuses, storage capacities, and recommends the creation of carbon management strategies, open-access storage hubs, and enduring financial incentives to decarbonize hard-to-abate industries and the power sector.

Lodha is implementing a systems-leadership approach to decarbonize India's rapidly growing built environment, aiming for carbon neutrality by 2035. Central to this strategy is the Palava project near Mumbai, which serves as a 'smart city learning lab' to test sustainable urban design and energy-efficient construction. Through the Lodha Net Zero Urban Accelerator, the company seeks to scale these learnings and influence industry standards and government policy.

The Clean Air Task Force recommends that the EU implement a 100% CO2 emissions reduction target for new heavy-duty trucks by 2035, remove incentives for low-emission vehicles by 2030, and eliminate loopholes like the 'carbon correction factor'. The author asserts that zero-emission technologies, such as battery electric and fuel cells, are already commercially available and that regulatory certainty is required to prevent the EU from losing up to 11% of its market to China and the US by 2035. Adopting these standards is projected to add 27 billion EUR to the EU GDP and create 23,000 jobs.

The report identifies a fragmented policy environment and significant perceived cost barriers hindering the adoption of net zero carbon buildings in Nigeria. While the country possesses an advanced green bond market and established conventional debt financing, most other financial and policy instruments remain nascent or small-scale. The authors recommend establishing a national net zero carbon building strategy, increasing professional capacity, and ensuring a just transition that links building affordability with local job creation.

The document argues that climate change is a health emergency in Canada, citing record-breaking heat and wildfires in 2023. It calls on the Minister of Health to lead decarbonization of the healthcare system, address fossil fuel pollution as a root cause of health harms, and implement the National Adaptation Strategy to protect vulnerable populations.

The report advocates for Indonesia Green Taxonomy 2.0 to incorporate 'transition finance' to bridge the gap between traditional and green finance. It highlights the ASEAN Taxonomy's approach to coal phase-out—where shortening a plant's commercial operation to a maximum of 35 years can qualify it as sustainable—and warns against including 'captive coal plants' in the green category to avoid deterring global investors. The author proposes a framework based on five G20 pillars, emphasizing clear technical screening criteria, synchronized disclosure policies, and a Just Transition Finance Framework to ensure equitable benefits.

The report examines South Africa's transition from a coal-dependent energy system to renewable sources, emphasizing the need for a 'just' transition that integrates decarbonization with social justice and industrialization. It analyzes the role of the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), the challenges of the national grid, the financial vulnerabilities of municipalities, and the potential for domestic and international climate finance to support the transition.

The global steel sector faces significant challenges in decarbonization, with emissions intensity growing by 0.5% annually since 2010. While hydrogen-based Direct Reduced Iron (H-DRI) and Electric Arc Furnaces (EAF) offer paths to near-zero emissions, their deployment is hindered by high costs, limited green hydrogen supply, and a shortage of high-grade iron ore. The report highlights a geographic divide: the EU and US are shifting toward low-emission tech supported by subsidies and carbon pricing, while high-growth regions like India continue to expand high-emission Blast Furnace-Basic Oxygen Furnace (BF-BOF) capacity. Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is viewed as a necessary but expensive tool for abating existing capacity, though commercial-scale projects remain limited.

The report finds that companies purchasing voluntary carbon credits are generally climate leaders who outperform non-buyers in emissions transparency, target ambition, and direct decarbonization investments, suggesting credits are used as a supplement to, rather than a replacement for, internal emissions reductions.

Mass timber, including cross-laminated timber, offers a lower-carbon alternative to steel and concrete, potentially reducing building material emissions by 13% to 26.5%. In the U.S., the number of projects grew to 1,860 by June 2023, supported by USDA Wood Innovations Grants and the 2018 Farm Bill. While it provides carbon storage and supports forest health by utilizing small-diameter trees, challenges include moisture-related risks like fungi and mold, which require specific mitigation techniques.

RMI provides recommendations for Indonesia's coal transition based on a model applied to the Java-Bali grid, emphasizing the integration of coal retirement and clean energy deployment to ensure financial feasibility and emissions reductions.

The document advocates for a shift from extractive-centered development to 'anticipatory governance' for critical minerals in the SADC region. It proposes transitioning to a 'Resource Balanced Economy' (RBE) that accounts for energy constraints and resource flows, rather than relying on traditional linear or circular economy models. The brief emphasizes the need for a new social contract to protect workers against automation, financial innovations to reduce risk ratings and currency devaluation, and a 'bioregional' approach to value chains to prevent regional fragmentation and ensure fair benefit distribution among member states.

The analysis finds that most net-zero portfolio commitments by large asset managers are unlikely to achieve global net-zero emissions by mid-century and often do not signal a shift toward serious climate action. The report highlights that intensity-based sectoral targets and absolute targets without re-baselining are ineffective for driving a low-carbon transition, while short-term investor focus hinders collective action. It recommends that financial institutions, particularly universal owners, shift focus toward systematically supporting the transition of economic actors to sustainable business models and calls for more stringent oversight to prevent greenwashing.

The voluntary carbon market (VCM) is currently hindered by subjective data, lack of transparency, and burdensome processes. To realize its potential for climate finance, the market must shift toward objective measurement using digital and satellite technologies, adopt transparent pricing, and establish a consensus on credit quality through improved certification and governance models.

The policy brief contends that the US electricity grid is fragmented and unable to meet growing demand or integrate clean energy, with new projects facing interconnection delays of four years or more. It criticizes the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 for mandating a three-year NERC study on interregional transmission instead of implementing concrete reforms. The author argues that the need for more transmission is already well-documented, citing a DOE meta-analysis of over 50 reports. The brief proposes three urgent actions: implementing a minimum interregional transfer capability requirement (suggesting 30 percent of peak demand), mandating strong interregional planning and cost allocation standards via FERC, and streamlining federal and state permitting processes to reduce the current 10-year average project timeline.