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Harnessing geothermal energy: The case of Kenya
Kenya is diversifying its energy mix by prioritising geothermal power to reduce its reliance on climate-vulnerable hydroelectricity. The government has established the Geothermal Development Company (GDC) to mitigate high upfront exploration risks, implemented feed-in tariffs, and leveraged carbon finance to attract investment. While facing technical skill shortages and geological challenges, Kenya aims to significantly increase geothermal capacity by 2030 to support economic growth and rural electrification.
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Document type: Policy brief
A Framework for Nordic Actor-Oriented Climate Adaptation Research
The document identifies a significant disconnect between climate adaptation research and its application in policy and practice within the Nordic region. It argues that traditional systemic approaches ignore 'agency' and the operational realities of stakeholders. To address this, the authors introduce an actor-oriented framework—implemented through the NORD-STAR project—that integrates modelling, visualisation, and policy analysis across thematic areas like land-use, energy transitions, and finance. Crucially, the framework expands the definition of adaptation to include responses to the consequences of climate policy, not just climate impacts.
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Document type: Research paper
Developed Country Fast-Start Climate Finance Pledges: A Summary of Self-Reported Information
The document provides a detailed breakdown of climate finance pledges from various developed nations and the European Union, detailing the amounts pledged, the actual allocations made, the channeling institutions used, and the countries' positions on whether the funds are 'new and additional' to existing Official Development Assistance (ODA).
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Document type: Report
The European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS)
The EU-ETS is the world's largest cap-and-trade system, regulating approximately half of the EU's CO2 emissions across 30 countries. While it has evolved through three trading periods to include more greenhouse gases and airline emissions, the system has suffered from severe over-allocation of allowances, leading to price collapses and a surplus of approximately 2 billion allowances by the end of 2012.
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Document type: Fact sheet
RACER Rapid assessment of CiRCum-aRCtiC eCosystem ResilienCe
The RACER method shifts Arctic conservation from focusing on current vulnerabilities to identifying 'key features'—areas of exceptional biological productivity and diversity—that act as sources of ecological strength. By analyzing these features and the drivers that fuel them, RACER predicts whether these sources of resilience will persist through the 21st century using General Circulation Models (GCMs). The guide provides a framework for mapping these features and includes pilot case studies for the Beaufort Continental Coast and Shelf (marine) and Eastern Chukotka (terrestrial) to illustrate how the tool can be used to safeguard ecosystem services and biodiversity in a rapidly warming region.
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Document type: Guide
Addressing leakage concerns
The paper uses the CASE II model to analyze how different EU ETS allocation modes and emissions targets (-21% to -34%) affect carbon leakage and production in the cement, aluminium, steel, and electricity sectors. It finds that while output-based allocation (OBA) and border adjustments (BA) can mitigate leakage, they create different trade-offs regarding production levels and electricity prices. The author concludes that carbon leakage must be readdressed if the EU raises its ambition, as the impacts vary significantly by sector and allocation method.
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Document type: Research paper
Trade lessons for Africa in the aftermath of the flight disruptions
The 2010 flight disruptions caused by the Eyjafjallajokull eruption primarily affected African countries dependent on air-transported agricultural perishables, such as flower exporters in East Africa. While bulk commodity trade via sea remained stable, the crisis highlighted the vulnerability of relying on Europe as a primary trading partner. The author argues that African nations must diversify their trade partners, specifically exploring South-South trade with emerging economies like Brazil, India, and China, to mitigate risks from future natural disasters or trade restrictions.
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Document type: Research paper
COMPARABILITY OF EFFORT BY ANNEX 1 PARTIES
The report argues that while precise surgical assessment of comparability is currently impossible, a common set of core indicators is necessary to define fairness and support domestic and international negotiations. It proposes an 'apples with apples' anchoring point based on economy-wide emissions excluding LULUCF and introduces 'trajectory indicators' to align 2020 targets with 2050 goals. The analysis categorizes Annex I Parties into 'New World' economies, 'Old OECD economies', and 'Transition economies' based on emissions, population, and GDP trends. Finally, it emphasizes the need for harmonized economic modelling to provide a rational basis for cost-comparability, especially following the global financial crisis.
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Document type: Executive summary
COMPARABILITY OF EFFORT BY ANNEX 1 PARTIES
The paper examines the challenges of defining 'comparable effort' for Annex I Parties, arguing that a simple set of transparent indicators is more conducive to political agreement than complex fairness models. It analyzes proposed 2020 targets against emissions, population, and GDP data, introducing 'trajectory indicators' to assess the consistency of short-term targets with 2050 goals. The authors highlight that Annex I countries fall into three distinct economic groups—'New World' economies, 'Old OECD' economies, and 'Transition economies'—which must be recognized for any target-setting to be feasible. Finally, the document reviews cost-based indicators, concluding that current model results are too inconsistent and outdated, particularly following the global financial crisis, to provide a reliable basis for cost-comparability without further harmonization.
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Document type: Research paper
Africa as an actor in global governance reform for development
The document assesses Africa's economic vulnerabilities and its limited role in global governance. It argues that while the G20 has emerged as a key coordinator for global challenges like climate change, Africa's voice is weakened by fragmented economies and colonial-era infrastructure. The author contends that Africa must increase intra-African trade and strengthen regional economic communities to earn a more significant place in world decision-making.
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Document type: Statement
Desperate Times, Desperate Measures
The document examines the rapid decline of Arctic sea ice and the potential for geoengineering, specifically solar radiation management, as a last-resort insurance policy. It critiques the 'business-as-usual' approach of Arctic nations that prioritize resource extraction over climate mitigation and proposes that the Arctic Council use its scientific legitimacy and inclusive structure to frame the geoengineering debate and conduct necessary research.
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Document type: Report
Greenhouse Gases and Human Well-Being
The paper examines the correlation between CO2 emissions per capita and PPP-adjusted GDP per capita across 174 countries, using China to illustrate the challenges of balancing development with emissions reductions. It finds that income is the strongest determinant of emissions and argues that current high-income lifestyles are incompatible with low-carbon stabilization targets, necessitating technological innovation.
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Document type: Research paper
How Geothermal Energy Works
The document describes geothermal energy as a sustainable, baseload power source derived from Earth's internal heat. It details three types of power plants—dry steam, flash, and binary cycle—and the use of ground-source heat pumps for building climate control. While the U.S. is a global leader in capacity, largely centered in California, the text highlights emerging technologies like Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) and co-production in oil and gas wells as keys to unlocking vast untapped energy reserves.
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Document type: Guide
Climate Change Fact Sheet
The document summarizes key scientific literature on climate change, including the role of CO2 in temperature variation, ocean warming, sea level rise, and ecological impacts. It highlights foundational research from Svante Arrhenius and Charles Keeling, as well as reports from the IPCC and the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment. Key findings include the detection of human-induced ocean heat increases, the potential for significant sea level rise from ice sheet melt, and the correlation between rising tropical sea surface temperatures and increased hurricane destructiveness.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Youth Networking, Education and Communications Channels Across the Circumpolar Region
The report identifies a lack of youth-specific mainstream media in the circumpolar North and highlights the critical importance of in-person interaction and experiential learning over formal education. It notes significant barriers to formal schooling in Canada, including curricula that lack Northern content and a lack of home internet access in remote communities. While various youth networks exist, the report finds that engagement is often dependent on external champions and that networks frequently suffer from a 'hub and spokes' model, limiting their sustainability.
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Document type: Report
Michael Crichton's State of Fear
The Union of Concerned Scientists addresses several claims from Michael Crichton's State of Fear that cast doubt on global warming. The document explains that regional cooling trends are compatible with global warming due to factors like sulfate aerosols, and that the urban heat island effect is a minor component of temperature trends. It asserts that CO2 is a primary driver of warming, though other factors like volcanic eruptions influence short-term trends. The text highlights the retreat of major ice sheets and the long-term persistence of atmospheric CO2 as urgent reasons to reduce fossil fuel dependence.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Developments Since the Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference Doha Mandates
The document details the early stages of the Doha Round negotiations on WTO rules, highlighting the friction between developed and developing nations over trade remedies and subsidies. It examines specific proposals to reform anti-dumping procedures, the debate over the 'safe harbour' of OECD export credit standards, and the contentious issue of fisheries subsidies. Additionally, it outlines the effort to balance the proliferation of regional trade agreements with multilateralism, noting a lack of consensus on key definitions and the developmental impact of such agreements.
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Document type: Briefing
Visions of Sustainability in the Baltic Sea Region: Beyond Conventional Development
The report examines the Baltic Sea Region's trajectory toward 2030, contrasting a business-as-usual scenario with a sustainability vision. It argues that conventional development will lead to increased environmental pressure and persistent socio-economic disparities, whereas a sustainability vision requires decoupling economic growth from resource throughput through aggressive technological innovation and a shift in human values.
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Document type: Report
EU Action Plan on Geothermal Energy: An opportunity to champion innovative clean energy generation pathways
The Clean Air Task Force (CATF) advocates for the European Commission to prioritize next-generation geothermal technologies—such as Engineered Geothermal Systems (EGS), closed-loop systems (Advanced Geothermal Systems), and superhot rock systems—within the EU Action Plan on Geothermal Energy. These technologies, which access heat from deeper and hotter crustal layers (above 374°C), offer higher energy density and can be deployed more widely than traditional geothermal energy. CATF recommends a bold R&D agenda, the establishment of financial risk-sharing mechanisms via the European Investment Bank, the creation of a standardized permitting template based on Germany's Geothermal Acceleration Law, and the development of an EU-wide geothermal data repository to attract private capital and accelerate deployment by the early 2030s.
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Document type: Statement
Response to consultation on reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of aviation fuel in the UK
The Clean Air Task Force (CATF) advocates for the inclusion of 'blue' hydrogen in the UK's sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) mandate, arguing that biofuels and 'green' hydrogen alone cannot meet the sector's energy demands or the 2030 target of 10% SAF. CATF asserts that 'blue' hydrogen is more scalable and cost-effective than 'green' hydrogen and can achieve comparable lifecycle emissions if high carbon capture rates and strict methane leakage controls are implemented. The document provides cost comparisons and estimates the significant renewable energy capacity that would be required if the mandate were met solely through 'green' hydrogen.
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Document type: Statement