Search

The objective of this paper is to explain elements that are related to credit credibility and high quality carbon credits to buyers (private companies) who are considering the use of offset credits. These elements could serve as a general guidance and should be considered when purchasing offset credits from voluntary carbon markets (VCMs). In addition, in the paper we highlight the risks related to those elements that would undermine the quality of carbon credits. We also describe how independent crediting mechanisms can reduce those risks, which credit buyers should take into consideration when selecting high quality offset credits.

Integrating climate actions and the SDGs poses some major governance-related challenges, in the forms of horizontal integration across different governmental agencies and vertical interactions among different levels of administrative decision making, while at the same time ensuring effective participation of relevant stakeholders in the policymaking processes. There is increasing recognition that vertical interactions can help bridge the gaps between global, national and local policy processes. In this respect, local and subnational authorities such as provinces and cities play crucial roles due to their potential for dynamic responses to climate change and sustainable development issues. The current study explores these issues and questions for West Java, a region of a country that is moving rapidly on its climate and SDG agenda. The study made use of a stakeholder consultation, which was conducted through an online questionnaire survey involving over 100 stakeholders, followed by an online focused group discussion (FGD) involving over 20 of the survey respondents. The stakeholder consultation aimed at eliciting the key challenges, synergies and trade-offs between climate actions and the SDGs, and involved IGES partnering with the Center for Sustainable Development Goals Studies (SDGs Center) at the University of Padjadjaran (UNPAD). This paper introduces the stakeholder consultation activity conducted in West Java, summarises the results and discusses the stakeholder perceptions on the interlinkages of climate actions and SDGs in the local context. The results from this paper can be used in analyses of the synergies and trade-offs between climate actions and the SDGs for West Java.

The enhanced transparency framework (ETF) under Article 13 of the Paris Agreement (PA) builds on and enhances the existing transparency arrangements under the UN Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The objective of this paper is to identify to what extent the existing reporting of greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories and mitigation actions by developing countries are already in line with new reporting requirements under the ETF at the time of submitting their latest biennial update reports (BURs) in October 2019. The paper found that the majority of the 50 developing countries analysed are in line with the ETF requirements for “use of IPCC inventory guidelines”, “reporting of GHGs” and “reporting of gases affected by mitigation actions”. On the other hand, only a minority of them have met the ETF requirements for “use of Global Warming Potential (GWP)”, “reporting of consistent annual time series”, “latest reporting year” and “projections of national GHG emissions”. Detailed reporting related to Article 6 will also be new to many developing countries. These areas are the most critical for developing countries to prepare for reporting GHG inventories and mitigation actions under the ETF.

Commentary on reporting options under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement. In this paper, we provided a summary ofreporting options and its evaluation for the three information items which are required in the initial report and regular information under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement: 1) Timing of submission of the initial report; 2) Arrangements for authorisation of the use of internationally transferred mitigation outcomes (ITMOs); and 3) Quantity of ITMOs applied for corresponding adjustments (CAs).

This discussion paper aims to identify critical factors to encourage the business and finance sectors to act on transitioning to investments for decarbonised and resilient society by recognising the climate risks and opportunities. Chapter 1 defines climate risks and opportunities for the business and finance sectors, referring mainly to recommendations from the Task Force on Climate related Financial Disclosure (TCFD) under the Financial Stability Board of G20. Chapter 2 identifies some tangible options that business and finance should take to manage climate risks and opportunities. Chapter 3 discusses how green finance can encourage such actions and what are the challenges and how they should be addressed. Finally, Chapter 4 addresses some of critical policy tools and enabling environment for business and finance sector to implement their climate actions toward a decarbonisedand more resilient society.