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2,826 documents from Stockholm Environment Institute
How limiting oil production could help California meet its climate goals
The document argues that restricting California's oil production can significantly lower global CO2 emissions because a portion of the avoided production is not replaced by other sources. It estimates that for every barrel of oil left in the ground in California, global consumption would drop by 0.2 to 0.6 barrels, leading to a reduction of 80 to 240 kg of CO2 per barrel. The brief identifies several policy options, including ceasing new well permits, implementing emissions performance standards, and targeting production in pollution-vulnerable areas. It notes that such measures are cost-competitive with other California climate strategies and could address 'carbon leakage' by complementing demand-side policies. Additionally, the report highlights that many of California's most productive oil fields are more GHG-intensive than global averages and are located in disadvantaged communities, making production limits a matter of environmental justice.
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Document type: Policy brief
Towards a climate test for industry: Assessing a gas-based methanol plant
The document evaluates the proposed Northwest Innovation Works methanol facility at the Port of Kalama, arguing that its greenhouse gas emissions are significantly underestimated and that it is unlikely to reduce global emissions. It proposes a 'climate test' for new industry to ensure projects do not lock in high-carbon technologies or become stranded assets in a transition to a low-carbon economy.
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Document type: Briefing
Unifying explanation for variation in ozone sensitivity among woody plants
The research finds that ozone tolerance in woody plants is closely linked to leaf dry mass per unit leaf area (LMA). The study demonstrates that using a mass-based stomatal flux index rather than an area-based one reduces the variation in ozone sensitivity across species and allows the responses of broadleaf and needle-leaf species to converge, suggesting that LMA is a key trait for improving large-scale ozone impact assessments.
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Document type: Research paper
Mainstreaming Climate Adaptation
The paper examines the effectiveness of integrating climate adaptation objectives into existing policies rather than creating standalone adaptation policies. It identifies a significant 'implementation gap' where policy outputs do not consistently lead to policy outcomes, a trend particularly pronounced in developing countries, although the effectiveness of outcomes themselves does not vary by country. The authors call for more unified frameworks and explicit definitions to improve future research and policy recommendations.
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Document type: Research paper
Water Security and Climate Change
The paper argues that the 'water security' discourse often leads to the securitization of water challenges, which can justify the transgression of normative positions. In contrast, the authors propose a 'water equity' discourse that incorporates norm-critical considerations to empower sub-national agents and bypass traditional power-brokering cycles in addressing water controversies exacerbated by climate change.
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Document type: Research paper
Climate finance for the Indian Ocean and African Small Island Developing States
Between 2010 and 2015, US$ 978 million in climate finance was committed to seven Indian Ocean and African SIDS, with 83% of these funds concentrated in Cape Verde and Mauritius. The financing was dominated by bilateral ODA loans (74%) and primarily targeted mitigation (56%) over adaptation (42%). Sectoral focus was narrow, concentrating on water and sanitation, energy, and general environmental protection, while critical resilience sectors like health, education, and agriculture were largely ignored. Disbursement rates were notably low, with only 39% of committed funds actually spent across the region, a rate significantly lower than for non-climate ODA.
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Document type: Research paper
Crediting Baselines
The report examines the development of baselines for scaled-up crediting programs under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, focusing on establishing reference levels for greenhouse gas emissions to quantify reductions while ensuring environmental integrity and avoiding double counting.
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Document type: Report
Bridging the Gap: The Role of Short-Lived Climate Pollutants
The document discusses the role of short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) in closing the 'emissions gap'—the difference between current Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and the trajectories needed to keep global temperature rise below 2°C or 1.5°C. It identifies methane, tropospheric ozone, black carbon, and hydrofluorocarbons as primary targets for reduction, noting that while some strategies target single pollutants, most affect multiple. The text emphasizes that SLCP reductions, especially when combined with CO2 reductions, can limit long-term warming.
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Document type: Report
International transfers under Article 6 in the context of diverse ambition of NDCs
The study investigates how internationally transferred mitigation outcomes (ITMOs) could increase global GHG emissions if countries with Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) less stringent than business-as-usual (BAU) projections transfer 'hot air'. Through road-testing 17 countries, the authors evaluate relative and absolute limits on transfers, concluding that while absolute limits are simple, relative limits based on historical emissions (as proposed by Brazil) could more effectively prevent hot air transfers, though they may restrict developing countries with increasing emissions trends.
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Document type: Research paper
Climate Change Mitigation Consultancy Final Report
The report uses the Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning (LEAP) system to model Jamaica's GHG emissions and assess various mitigation actions across energy, waste, and agriculture sectors. It finds that while baseline emissions are projected to increase by 58% by 2055, significant low-cost abatement is possible, potentially allowing Jamaica to exceed its NDC targets without additional direct social costs. The analysis also highlights gender-differentiated impacts and identifies financial and technical capacity needs, particularly in domestic mitigation modeling and renewable energy implementation.
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Document type: Report
Toward Implementation
The 2017 AdaptationWatch report argues that the Paris Agreement has shifted climate policy into an era of implementation, yet significant gaps remain in adaptation finance and transparency. It highlights that adaptation funding is overwhelmingly lower than mitigation funding and is often difficult for the most vulnerable nations to access due to complex accreditation processes and a lack of clear definitions distinguishing adaptation from general development. The report examines regional experiences, noting that while Latin American and Caribbean countries have made progress in institutional frameworks and GCF Readiness, Southeast Asia faces a disconnect between global finance scales and local needs. It also identifies a critical lack of compliance and standardized methodology in the Biennial Update Reports (BURs) of non-Annex I Parties, which obscures the actual amount of finance received. The document concludes with ten recommendations, emphasizing the need for increased adaptation finance, co-designing actions with local communities, and reorienting capacity building toward long-term, in-country ownership.
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Document type: Report
Case study on sediment in the Mekong River Basin: Current state and future trends
The report analyzes the critical role of sediment in the Mekong River Basin and the threats posed by human activity and climate change. It finds that hydropower dams and riverbed mining are drastically reducing sediment loads, which threatens the productivity of the Mekong Delta and Tonle Sap, impacts fisheries and agriculture, and increases coastal erosion. The authors recommend enhanced regional monitoring, better data sharing between China and Lower Mekong countries, and the integration of sediment management into the entire hydropower lifecycle.
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Document type: Report
Adaptation: Reducing Vulnerability or Redistributing it?
The authors find that practitioners and policy-makers give only superficial attention to the risk of adaptation activities redistributing vulnerability, and that conceptual research on maladaptation has not yet translated into sufficient empirical evidence regarding the distributional impacts of real-world adaptation.
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Document type: Research paper
Getting Numbers Right: Revisiting Woodfuel Sustainability in the Developing World
The paper finds that emission reductions from 286 woodfuel carbon-offset projects across 51 countries are 41%–59% lower than expected, estimating actual reductions between 57 and 81 MtCO2e compared to the expected 138 MtCO2e. It advocates for the use of spatial assessments to identify woodfuel 'hotspots' in East, West, and Southern Africa and South Asia, where approximately 300 million people face acute woodfuel scarcity, to better target interventions for reducing deforestation and degradation.
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Document type: Research paper
Designing Border Carbon Adjustments
The document outlines the role of border carbon adjustments (BCAs) in mitigating emissions leakage and competitiveness concerns resulting from asymmetrical domestic climate actions following the Paris Agreement. It suggests that BCAs can incentivize trade partners to improve their climate policies and vary in effectiveness from moderate to very high in tackling leakage.
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Document type: Policy brief
Decentralising Climate Finance: Insights from Kenya and Ethiopia
The paper examines how climate finance is decentralized in Ethiopia and Kenya, specifically analyzing the Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) facility and the County Climate Change Funds (CCCFs). It assesses the extent to which these funds align local community priorities with national climate policies and development plans, focusing on the impact of decision-making authority and jurisdictional levels on investment prioritization.
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Document type: Research paper
EU Climate Leadership After Paris: Rising to the Challenge
The document examines the European Union's historical leadership in climate action and the current obstacles it faces, including Brexit and the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. It argues that current policies are insufficient to meet the Paris Agreement's temperature targets and suggests that ambitious climate policies could strengthen the EU's internal cohesion and international credibility.
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Document type: Research paper
Subsidies to fossil fuel companies: United States crude oil production
The study finds that federal and state subsidies, including tax preferences, make nearly half of new US oil investments profitable at oil prices of USD 50 per barrel. This support could increase US oil production by 17 billion barrels over several decades, contributing up to 6 billion tonnes of CO2 and representing as much as 20% of US oil production through 2050 under a 2 °C warming limit. The authors argue that removing these incentives would align with G20 commitments and provide climate benefits.
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Document type: Research paper
Environmental impact assessment of wheat straw alkyl polyglucosides: chemical approaches
The study compares a hybridised synthesis technique for alkyl polyglucosides (APG) using wheat straw against a commercial palm kernel and wheat grain pathway. The wheat straw-derived process significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions, waste generation, water use, and fossil energy consumption, addressing the 'food vs. chemical' sustainability conflict.
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Document type: Research paper
Ülevaade erakondade keskkonnalubadustest valimisplatvormides Eesti 2017. aasta kohalike omavalitsuste volikogude valimistel
The report analyzes environmental pledges from seven parties and two alliances for the 2017 Estonian local elections. It finds a strong focus on urban mobility—specifically cycling and public transport—in Tallinn and Tartu, but a general lack of comprehensive strategies for climate change mitigation and adaptation. While some parties like the Social Democrats (SDE) and the Greens (Rohelised) provided more detailed environmental sections, the report notes a recurring conflict between promises to increase parking/road infrastructure and the goal of preserving urban green spaces. Nationally, platforms focused more on regional development and organic farming than on specific climate targets.
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Document type: Report