2015 was a watershed year for addressing global challenges. Under the umbrella of the United Nations, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction were adopted. Six years after their adoption,...

The report analyzes, by looking back at existing compliance systems in the EU, Alberta, Australia, Colombia and Japan, the conditions under which offsets can add value to the compliance system without undermining its environmental integrity. The compliance system’s climate ambition as well as...

The report examines the role offset approaches can play in the post-2020 climate regime. For this purpose, the report first develops a conceptual approach and a normative vision of what should be viewed as successful offset use. It then proposes tools to operationalize this vision. Lastly it...

The report develops an assessment framework that policy makers can use to determine whether offsets can add value while ensuring the environmental integrity of a compliance system. It uses an assessment framework for these factors to: (1) identify sectors that warrant offsets as cost-containment...

A transition to sustainable development and net-zero greenhouse gas emissions is key to achieve the temperature limits established by the Paris Agreement (PA) and the global sustainable development goals (SDGs) agreed in the 2030 Agenda. To explore how carbon market approaches under Article 6 of...

In November 2018, the European Commission published its Strategic Long-Term Vision entitled “A Clean Planet for all” calling for the target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. This proposal was subsequently agreed upon by EU heads of state and government, it features centrally in...

A broad range of mitigation options have been identified and assessed in the literature that enable countries to close the existing gap between 2030 emission projections resulting from the aggregate efforts of countries to achieve their Nationally Determined Contributions to the Paris Agreement...

The adoption of the Paris Agreement with the long-term temperature limit has important repercussions for the distribution of effort between its signatories. The application of the equity and least-cost approaches to the distribution effort leadsto different outcomes. The disparity of the results...

This report examines how, and under which circumstances different forms of financing are suitable for results- or transfer-based mechanisms for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation as well as enhancing removals in forests (REDD+) in the context of different countries and...