How can REDD credits be included in a future global carbon market, and what are the impacts of inclusion? We analyze ten different scenarios through 2020, varying the global emission caps and the REDD rules. An inclusion of REDD credits without any adjustments in the global cap will lower carbon prices significantly and cause crowding out. The cap must move towards the 2 degrees climate target if REDD inclusion is to maintain high carbon prices and strong incentives for emissions reductions in other sectors. At the same time, reaching the 2 degree target without full REDD inclusion will increase global mitigation costs by more than 50%.
Since 2009, the Nordic countries have increased their efforts to support developing economies in the mobilization of private finance. It is now time to take stock of the success stories. Regardless of the progress, several barriers limit the Nordic ability to scale up private climate finance even more. This brief presents ideas for addressing some of these the barriers and increasing the ambition in mobilizing private finance, including considerations on de-risking solutions and the applicability of Article 6 under the Paris Agreement. The brief was produced as part of the Nordic Public-Private Platform on Mobilization of Climate Finance Mobilization, and ahead of the global climate conference in Katowice, December 2018. It builds on previous studies funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers, such as “Mobilizing climate finance flows – Nordic approaches and opportunities”.
In 2013, Parties to the UNFCCC were invited to prepare and communicate their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) under a 2015 agreement. Assessment and review of INDCs can help to ensure that these contributions are in line with internationally agreed objectives and principles, help establish and enhance transparency, trust and accountability between Parties, and raise ambition over time.
This report analyses the existing review processes both under and outside the UNFCCC. It suggests that some form of ex ante assessment and review process of INDCs could help ensure that they are ambitious and fair. Such process can be complemented by assessments by observer organizations and informal discussions among Parties. In addition, a periodic review of collective ambition is desirable from the perspective of environmental effectiveness, and can build on existing review processes.
Peatlands in the Nordic Baltic region and elsewhere in the world store large amounts of carbon and are at the same time important for conservation of biodiversity. Thus peatlands are space-effective carbon stocks, but when drained carbon and nitrogen are released as greenhouse gases to the atmosphere and as nitrate to the surface water, while methane will be released when rewetting.
New knowledge reveals that one of the most efficient means to mitigate emissions of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere are the restoration of drained peatlands by reestablish former high water tables on organic soils.
This project on synergies between climate change mitigation and the restoration of peatlands has been conducted under a regional Ramsar initiative covering the Nordic and Baltic countries (NorBalWet), with support from the Nordic Council of Ministers. The report contains chapters on peatlands and their role in climate change mitigation, individual country chapters and the role of the Ramsar Convention.
Climate change is expected to have a profound impact on natural resources, and thus on the primary industries (agriculture, forestry and fisheries) in the Nordic countries. Climate change induces risks but also creates possibilities for new production systems on land and in the ocean. Climatic changes also represent great challenges for policy-making and management regimes. The current knowledge base on natural resources in the Nordic region needs to be expanded to fully address the impacts of climate change. In particular it is important to address the need for improved policies and new policy instruments. The research programme Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation and Mitigation in Nordic Primary Industries is a coordinated set of thematic research networks with the objective to create a Nordic knowledge base on climate change interactions with primary industries in the Nordic region.
The report use ozone measurement data retrieved in the Arctic with balloon borne ozone sondes for the last 20-30 years. Four stations with the best data series have been selected. Using a Monte Carlo method the yearly period is subtracted from the data and the remains, the anomalies, are correlated towards the area of the Polar Front, the temperature rise of the Nortern Hemisphere and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and towards one another. It was found that the NAO correlates negatively with ozone anomalies for all four stations albeit the correlations are weak. Besides, the polar front area correlates weakly positive with the ozone anomalies for three out of the four stations. These results, together with the observation that the ozone-anomalies have a brief decorrelation time, indicate that most of the variability in the anomalies should be found in local conditions.
Ozone soundings from 9 Nordic stations with rather different data coverage have been homogenized followed by an interpolation to standard tropospheric pressure levels. A Bayesian model was applied which included a low-frequency variability, an annual cycle with harmonics, the possibility for variability in seasonal amplitude and phasing, and noise. Regarding the low-frequency variability it was found that only Scoresbysund, Ny Aalesund and Sodankyla showed statistical significant changes with a maximum near 2007 followed by a decrease. We hypothesize that this decrease could be explained by an observed decrease in nitrogen oxide in Europe.
The Nordic countries’ climate policies are relatively ambitious in an international perspective, and the countries have progressively raised their climate targets in recent years. However, when designing national climate policies, it is important to assess not only their effects on territorial emissions but also the degree to which they will affect emissions in other countries. This policy brief provides recommendations on how the Nordic countries can optimise the overall impact of their climate policies.
There is strong evidence showing the urgent need for scaling-up climate finance to mitigate greenhouse gases in line with the 2°C target, and to support adaptation to safeguard the international community from the consequences of a changing climate. While public actors have a responsibility to deploy climate finance, it is clear that the contribution from the private sector needs to be significant. Consequently, a strong public commitment is needed to engage with the private sector and ensure climate finance is leveraged and deployed effectively. In this context, Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) are a promising avenue to contribute to climate finance delivery. PPPs provide frameworks to ensure public leadership and accountability in tackling climate change, while enabling the ownership of certain components of climate finance to be transferred to private hands.
The Nordic network ERMOND, Ecosystem Resilience for Mitigation of Natural Disasters, reviewed information on natural hazards and ecosystem conditions in the Nordic countries. Many natural hazards put pressure on Nordic societies, primarily floods, landslides, storms, snow avalanches and volcanic activity. Intensified land use and predicted climate change are likely to increase the impacts of natural hazards in the future. Ecosystems in good condition have the ability to reduce the impacts of natural hazards. Our study showed, however, that degradation of natural habitats in the Nordic countries may have reduced or even seriously damaged this ability. Nordic disaster risk reduction policies and strategies should recognize this situation and place restoration of degraded ecosystems on the agenda as an integrated part of future disaster risk reduction management in the Nordic countries.
If the Agreement’s goal - limit the global temperature increase below 2°C - is to be met, all financial flows need to shift dramatically and rapidly from current investment patterns to 2°C compatible pathways. This study analyses the roles Nordic actors might play in mobilizing finance flows internationally and outlines a roadmap that can guide joint Nordic action during the next five to ten years. While the roadmap covers components of “climate related ODA” and climate compatible contributions from the private sector, the focus of the roadmap lies on the crucial bridging and dialogue that is required between key actors. Building on identified Nordic strengths and areas needing accelerated international support, the report concludes with a set of immediate next steps to operationalize the roadmap in 2017-2018.
In recent years, Nordic actors have illustrate leadership in mobilizing private finance for climate compatible investments with, for example, Nordic joint finance institutions and development finance institutions (DFIs) as key contributors. Greening the financial system - Nordic experiences and ways forward highlights some lessons learned by the Nordics. It also reviews Nordic experiences in light of the recent global agreements and commitments, with a particular view on how the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and the on-going EU work on sustainable finance can help accelerate action. The brief was produced as part of the Nordic Public-Private Platform on Mobilization of Climate Finance that brought together leading Nordic actors through four thematic issues groups.
The goal of reaching an ambitious globally binding climate agreement by 2015 is one of the key challenges that the international community needs to address. Issues on how private finance can be linked to public funding structures to ensure sufficient funding for mitigation and adaptation activities, and how technology transfer could work as part of climate finance continue to be key topics in the upcoming climate negotiations.This report focuses on the current Nordic climate finance landscape, and uses the Nordic Climate Facility (NCF) as a case study, to offer examples of and lessons learned from practical Nordic climate actions that can be used in on-going and future climate negotiations. The report concludes with eight targeted recommendations that highlight key points and lessons learned that can be used for replication and scaling up of future climate actions.
It is widely acknowledged that the greenhouse gas emissions reduction pledges made by national governments are insufficient to achieve what is required by science to avoid dangerous levels of global warming. In parallel to the formal climate negotiations, a multitude of international cooperative initiatives (ICIs) are now engaging in efforts to address the growing emissions gap.
A database and web platform have been developed that presents the most current and comprehensive publically available collection of information on ICIs in operation. The web platform includes details of more than 180 mitigation-focused initiatives that have the potential for impact at the global scale. The project also makes recommendations for continuing support for the database and additional activities to support an increasing use of the database to inform negotiators and other stakeholders.
International Cooperative Initiatives (ICIs) could hold significant promise for closing the global emissions gap between a pathway to a 2°C warming limit and current national emission reduction pledges. This report examines a selection of these ICIs to explore their potential for delivering additional greenhouse gas mitigation and for raising ambition at national and international levels. It concludes that there are a range of ICIs already making an important contribution. Many have potential to scale-up their activities and could offer promising new channels for public climate finance.
The CO₂ emissions from passenger cars is declining. Some changes are due to ever improved technology provided by car manufacturers and others induced by political regulation. The report investigates the recent changes in CO₂ intensity in the car fleets in the Nordic countries. The trends in the car sales are presented and the impacts on overall CO₂ intensity are outlined. All Nordic countries have in the past ten years changed the national regulation of passenger cars through different economic incentives and various schemes making low emissions vehicles more favourable. The report describes these changes and complement with an overview of international empirical findings concerning the main tax instruments (purchase-, annual-, fuel tax and road user charges). The potential impact of these taxes are reviewed and recommendations for future uses of the various instruments are provided.
The Arctic region is warming almost four times as fast as the global average. Snow and ice are thawing at an increasing rate, and the rapid environmental shifts have a disproportionate effect on communities across the Northern Hemisphere. This leads to significant permafrost degradation, which disrupts community infrastructure, cultural heritage, landscapes, and impacts animal migration and subsistence activities. This change has severe consequences for the youth in the region, affecting their present lives and future outlooks.
This working paper emphasizes the importance of addressing these issues and enhancing the voices of Arctic youth, who advocate for climate change adaptation and mitigation, as they will be central in shaping society in the face of these environmental shifts. The paper highlights Arctic youths' perspectives on climate change and permafrost degradation, covering individuals from the legal age to early-career experts up to 35. Further, the paper states a need for more research and exploration of youth engagement methodologies in the Arctic to address the impacts of climate change and permafrost degradation.
To what extent and how can equity be operationalized in a spectrum of mitigation commitments? We approach this question through academic literature review and analysis of Parties' submissions and statements. We argue that a potentially feasible and constructive way forward is a mutual recognition approach. This approach implies that parties should accept a set or norms, and a range of interpretations of these norms, as legitimate. Parties should also respect a principle of reciprocity, which means that any (interpretation of a) principle of fairness invoked by oneself can legitimately be invoked also by others. We apply this approach to the issue of equity indicators, and propose a non-coercive template of indicators approach, building on two critical components: transparency and open, critical review of Parties' pledges and justifications thereof.
The Nordic Partnership Initiative on Up-Scaled Mitigation Action (NPI) has been established in December 2011 to support climate change mitigation efforts in developing countries. The NPI is funded by Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and implemented in co-operation with Peru and Vietnam. The implementing partner in Peru is the Ministry of Environment of Peru (MINAM).
La Iniciativa de la Asociación de Países Nórdicos para las Acciones de Mitigación (NPI, por sus siglas en inglés) se constituyó en diciembre de 2011 con la finalidad de apoyar los esfuerzos de mitigación del cambio climático en los países en desarrollo. La NPI fue fundada por Dinamarca, Finlandia, Islandia, Noruega y Suecia e implementada en colaboración con Perú y Vietnam. El socio colaborador para la implementación en Perú es el Ministerio del Ambiente de Perú (MINAM).
En Perú, el Programa de Preparación de Medidas de Mitigación apropiadas para cada pais (NAMA, por sus siglas en inglés) elaborado en virtud de la NPI se implementó entre agosto de 2013 y junio de 2015 y se centró en los residuos sólidos municipales, es decir, residuos domésticos y residuos procedentes de actividades comerciales y turísticas. El Programa de preparación dio lugar a una propuesta de NAMA a gran escala para el sector de residuos en Perú.
The aim of the Initiative is to demonstrate how innovativefinancial and regulatory incentives as well as the removingof barriers can achieve sector-wide greenhouse gasemission reductions in developing countries. The initiativealso aims at building capacity in developing countries. Using a bottom-up methodology that draws heavily on theinput of local stakeholders, NAMA Readiness Programmeshave been conducted in Peru and Vietnam.
Under the Paris Agreement, the Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) requirements for greenhouse gas emissions of all countries will be harmonised. Sector-wide MRV systems developed for Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs), such as in the NAMA Readiness Programmes established under the Nordic Partnership Initiative in Vietnam and Peru, can provide important lessons learned for the development of the new transparency rules. NAMAs can serve as concrete building blocks for future Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement.
Analys av påverkan av ett förändrat klimat och ändrade utsläpp av luftföroreningar på halter av marknära ozon och kvävenedfall. Resultaten visar att påverkan av klimatförändringar fram till 2050 är små jämfört med de förbättringar som förväntas av minskade utsläpp av ozonbildande ämnen och kväveföreningar. An analysis of the impact of climate change on future surface ozone concentrations and nitrogen deposition in Europe. The results show that the climate penalty until 2050 for surface ozone and nitrogen deposition is small compared to the expected benefits obtained from emission reductions.
Denna rapport syftar till att ge ett kunskapsunderlagom hur stad och landsbygd i Norden påverkasav klimatomställningen och vilken effekt dettahar på sammanhållningen i Norden.
The Paris Agreement aims to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels (and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C), but does not refer specifically to greenhouse gas emissions from the international maritime transport sector. This Report outlines the findings of a project commissioned by the Nordic Council of Ministers, focusing on opportunities for Nordic countries to achieve a transition to low-carbon shipping at national, regional and global scales. It is informed by discussions at the World Maritime University in Malmö in December 2016 between representatives of governments, businesses, NGOs and the research community. The Report presents a low-carbon roadmap for shipping with actions and outcomes concerning low-carbon technology, ship operations, finance, public policy, and public-private partnerships.
This report presents research on fossil fuel subsidy reform across 20 countries and reveals an average reduction in national GHG emissions of 11% by 2020 from potential reform, and savings of USD 93 per tonne of CO2. With modest recycling of resources to renewables and energy efficiency, reductions can be improved. Countries are including reforms in contributions towards a climate agreement. Authored by the Global Subsidies Initiative as part of the Nordic Prime Ministers' green growth initiative www.norden.org/greengrowth
According to the EU Commission, the heating and cooling sector must sharply reduce its energy consumption and cut its use of fossil fuel in order to meet the EU's climate and energy goals. In the Nordic countries, a lot of effort has already been put to make heat production and consumption energy efficient and to decrease the emissions. To disseminate these experiences and good practices wider in Europe, and to identify further needs for co-operation, this study attempts to identify the common approaches of the Nordic countries towards the EU’s heating and cooling strategy and Winter Package regulation. This report describes the results of the work based on Pöyry’s analysis of the current heating and cooling sector practices and regulation in the Nordic countries, and interviews of the regulators and energy industry representatives from each country.
AS of January 2015, it is no longer allowed to refill HCFC refrigeration systems in the Nordic countries. This might cause problems for some owners and users of HCFC refrigeration systems if they have not yet planned to install alternative refrigeration systems.This report has been prepared by the Danish Technological Institute in cooperation with Hans Haukås, Norway, for the Nordic Ozone Group under the Nordic Council of Ministers in an effort to ease the final transformation from the use of HCFC to alternative refrigerants and to encourage the use of alternatives that do not harm the environment. The aim of this report is to provide information which can be used to guide the refrigeration industry and the owners and users of HCFC-refrigeration systems. The report also provides examples of how to change to more environmental friendly refrigeration systems with natural refrigerants
In this report, we look into Nordic carbon footprint calculators and selected benchmarks from other countries. We present data on 10 carbon footprint calculators for public use. The focus is on the features, recorded number of users, and experiences on using the calculators in campaigns and research projects. The purpose is to highlight good practices in the design and use of calculators for ordinary citizens which can be used to introduce the role of consumption choices in climate change mitigation. The report provides suggestions for the future development of existing or new calculator initiatives. The study was carried out by the Finnish Environment Institute, financed by the Nordic Council of Ministers, administrated by the Sustainable Consumption and Production Working Group and guided by a steering group consisting of representatives from Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.
Few doubt the impact from human activities on global warming and the negative consequences of rising temperatures for both terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Efficient policy instruments are needed to change the development. This report uses empirical models to analyse how CO2 emissions, fleet structure, economic performance, and employment opportunities are affected by imposing management instruments to reduce climate impacts. These instruments include both fisheries management such as larger stock levels and more efficient fleets, and energy policy such as fuel taxes or CO2 trading schemes. To get a representative view of the Nordic fisheries, the analysis contains case studies from all the Nordic countries: Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Finland. The fleet segments analysed range from coastal small-scale trap nets to large off-shore trawlers.
This booklet presents actions taken by the Nordic countries to speed the transition to a sustainable low-carbon society. It shows how sustainable development is possible, with strong climate policies contributing to economic growth and job creation as well as environmental improvements. The Nordic countries successfully demonstrate how ambitious climate change mitigation targets and policies can be combined with high levels of human development.
The latest IPCC report from shows clearly that economic growth is a key driver of carbon dioxide emissions. At the same time the experience gained in the Nordic countries shows that a different, more sustainable development is possible whereby strong climate policies are not contrary to economic growth. In fact, strong climate policies can promote growth and job creation. The Nordic countries have high domestic mitigation ambitions and have been successful in demonstrating that it is possible to combine ambitious mitigation targets and policies with economic growth and prosperity.
The NAMA Readiness Programme for Vietnam’s cement sector has been on-going since March 2014. It focuses on improving the energy efficiency of the country’s cement sector and mitigating the resulting carbon emissions. The Programme is expected to enable Vietnam to prepare for a full-scale Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA) in the cement sector. The NAMA would count as a part of Vietnam’s contribution under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC ) and allow the sector to attract international support towards the implementation of the proposal.
Emission inventories of Short Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCP), and especially of Black Carbon (BC), are uncertain and not always comparable. Comparable and reliable emission inventories are essential when aiming for efficient strategies and policies for reduced emissions. This report presents the Nordic emissions and emission inventories of SLCP, the important emission sources and their development over time. It also discusses knowledge gaps, factors contributing to the uncertainties, and possibilities for improved emission estimates. The overall objective of the three-year project is to improve the Nordic emission inventories of Short Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCP), with a focus on Black Carbon (BC). This report presents the results from the first phase of the project, an analysis of the present status of knowledge, with focus on BC and particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions from residential biomass combustion, on-road and non-road diesel vehicles, and shipping. The next phase will draw on the results from this background analysis in designing and implementing an emission measurement program, where the objective is to expand the knowledge and develop well documented and reliable emission factors, primarily for BC, for use in future national emission inventories.
Climate change has already resulted in challenges for Nordic agriculture and the difficulties will continue to increase in the future. It is therefore important to act now to adapt our agriculture to future conditions, especially since the development of new crop varieties takes a long time (8-15 years).
In this report, based on a workshop with the leading researchers and plant breeders in the Nordic region, nine specific recommendations are listed. The recommendations have the main goal to support future food security in the Nordic countries by facilitating the development of new crop varieties adapted to our future needs. Special attention is given to the challenge of adaptation to climate change and high-quality food and feed production.
In order to investigate how climate efforts and competitiveness are connected in the Nordic region, CEO's and top management of some of the leading companies in the five countries have been interviewed. According to the interviews, the Nordic region can contribute to reaching the Paris Agreement. Climate change is top of mind of CEOs, chairs and top-level management in Nordic companies, and contributing to reaching global climate goals is not only altruistic. Almost all companies say that climate efforts can boost competitiveness. There is strong support for the Nordic region to be front runners in global climate efforts and acting together to push the EU to adapt more ambitious climate policies. The interviewed companies have approximately 540 000 employees. The aggregated revenue of the companies is around 200 billion EUR, corresponding to 17 percent of the GDP of the Nordic region.
The Nordic countries are often seen as green both in terms of a good environment and being capable of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This report is concerned with the development in GHG emissions over time and with the policies that have been effective in the reduction path. The purpose of the description is both to highlight effective climate policies and to tell the comprehensive story of climate policy in the Nordic countries. The project is developed in partnership with the Open Climate Network, an international network lead by the World Resources Institute.
The Nordic Partnership Initiative on Up-Scaled Mitigation Action (NPI) has been established in December 2011 to support climate change mitigation efforts in developing countries. The NPI is funded by Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and implemented in co-operation with Peru and Vietnam.
At their summer meeting in Finland in 2007, the five Nordic Prime Ministers decided to strengthen efforts related to Nordic research and innovation. They asked the Nordic Council of Ministers to draw up a proposal that would promote Nordic top-level research in close cooperation with trade and industry. The Nordic Prime Ministers met again in April 2008 at the Riksgränsen ski resort in Sweden, where they drew up the Riksgränsen Declaration which laid the foundation for the largest joint Nordic effort to promote research and innovation ever undertaken, focusing on climate, energy and the environment.
The Prime Ministers’ pioneering Nordic cooperative effort became the Top-level Research Initiative. This book describes some of the important results from the initiative by the five Nordic Prime Ministers: Geir H. Haarde, Jens Stoltenberg, Anders Fogh Rasmussen,Fredrik Reinfeldt, Matti Vanhanen.