WWF - Climate change publications, factsheets & other resources

International transport: turning an emissions problem into a finance opportunity (June 2011)

2011-06-04

Summary:

•Emissions from international aviation and shipping must be controlled to give a good chance of limiting warming to 1.5oC or 2oC.

•Policies to control them could raise $24 billion annually, according to the AGF . In WWF's view the large majority of this should be used for financing climate action in developing countries through the UNFCCC.

•Co-operative global policies can be in line with the UN Climate Convention if designed appropriately, e.g., if they ensure that developing countries incur no incremental costs (have 'no net incidence').

•A promising approach in the shipping sector is a universal mechanism with a rebate for developing countries to neutralize any economic burden.

•In the aviation sector options to be explored include a rebate mechanism and limiting the policy to flights into and/or out of particular countries – e.g., developed countries or those with a significant share of air traffic.

•The overall impacts of these policies on trade and prices would be very small: a potential increase in costs of imported goods of only around 0.2% from a shipping mechanism.

•The COP should take a decision in Durban that encourages swift action from ICAO and IMO to implement policies, and that generates revenue and channels it to climate finance.

WWF Expectations for the UNFCCC Bonn Session June 2011

2011-06-01

WWF has prioritized the following areas for early progress to be made by parties in Bonn:
•Identify ways in which the Gigatonne Gap can be addressed in order to enhance mitigation action
•Laying the basis for ambition to match the science
•Define a robust process to negotiate an agreement on new sources of Finance
•Advance MRV guidelines, modalities and timetables
•Advance work on the content and modalities of Low-Carbon Development Strategies for developed and developing countries.
•Deepen agreements on the Cancun Adaptation Framework and emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+)

IMO - Three WWF Submissions on reducing GHG emissions from shipping

2011-05-19

Towards an optimal rebate key for a global maritime MBM

Submitted to IMO by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)

This document provides detailed information on identifying an
optimal rebate key to ensure that no net incidence on developing
countries arises from the application of a global Market-Based
Measure for GHG emissions from international maritime transport.
A country's share of global imports from non-adjacent countries is
proposed as the basis for the optimal key to be used with the
Rebate Mechanism or any revenue-raising MBM under consideration.
Detailed calculations are provided for over 150 countries.

The IMO, global MBMs that reduce emissions and the question of Principles

Submitted to IMO by Clean Shipping Coalition (CSC) and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)

This document suggests returning to the question of the application
of Market-Based Measures (MBMs) and analyses options for
establishing an MBM that is based on the IMO principle of
non-discrimination (no more favourable treatment) and also
accounts for the UNFCCC principle of common but differentiated
responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR). The document
examines four ways in which differentiated application could be
achieved, and conclude that all have serious drawbacks. The
co-sponsors suggest that the UNFCCC allows for a global shipping
measure, provided that developing countries do not incur net
incremental costs, and that a rebate mechanism could achieve this.
The report of the UN High-level Advisory Group on Climate Change
Financing endorses the concept of a global scheme with a rebate
mechanism to ensure "no net incidence" on developing countries.
Finally, the co-sponsors request that these matters be discussed at
the GHG-WG 3 itself, with a view to recommending that MEPC
prepare a resolution for the IMO Assembly.

Fiji Mangroves People and Livelihoods

2011-05-17

WWF's Highlights from IPCC Renewable Energy Report

2011-05-10

This short factsheet expresses WWF's analysis of findings from the new IPCC Special Report Renewable Energy Sources And Climate Change Mitigation (SRREN). It highlights a few key facts that are important to understand the new IPCC report. Facts and figures are either from the negotiated Summary For Policymakers (SPM) or the underlying detailed full report and its Technical Summary.

WWF expectations for the UNFCCC Bangkok Conference, April 2011

2011-03-29

Bangkok must agree on a process to operationalize the Cancun Agreements as well as lay the basis for increasing ambition especially in terms of mitigation and finance pledges in time for COP 17 in Durban.

The UNFCCC inter-sessional meetings in Bangkok present the first opportunity after Cancun to start to map out the way forward from the Cancun Agreements. The meeting must ensure there is no further slippage of the timelines agreed in Cancun, and lay the basis to set ambitious and achievable objectives for the Durban meeting at the end of this year and beyond. In terms of issues,

WWF has prioritized the following areas for early progress to be made in Bangkok:
•Enhancing Mitigation action through addressing the Gigatonne Gap
•Reaching agreement on sources of Finance
•Deepening agreements on Adaptation and Deforestation
•Deepening agreement on Low Emission Development Strategies differentiated for developed and developing countries.

Low-Carbon and Environmental Leadership in the ICT Industry

2011-02-16

The information and communication technology (ICT) industry and its individual providers are at an important juncture. Are they really going to commit themselves to the necessary investments to develop low-carbon and environmental solutions during a period when, with some exceptions (such as energy-efficient ICT equipment, intelligent buildings and smart grids), the markets for any such solutions are at best emerging?

We look at which providers are placing their bets and developing the capabilities that will make them effective innovation partners for enterprises and give them platforms for leadership in a low-carbon and more sustainable economy.

Key Findings

During 2009 and 2010, there has been rapid progress in the maturity of ICT vendors in terms of their internal environmental programs and in terms of the development of a set of low-carbon market offerings. The dominance of talking in 2008 has evolved into a lot more action in 2010 in terms of suitable products, services development and policy-related activity.
We now have a clear group of market makers (BT, IBM, Cisco, Ericsson, HP, Fujitsu and SAP) that we believe are beginning to build distinguishing capabilities.
The 2008 leaders, such as IBM, BT, Ericsson, Fujitsu and HP, have maintained their relatively strong positions with good, well-rounded low-carbon and environmental programs, improving their own internal performance, and developing market-facing solutions ranging from more-energy-efficient ICT equipment and mobile phone networks, through logistics and transportation, to solutions that enable smart grids.
Aside from the important task of making ICT equipment more energy efficient, and a couple of particularly hot areas such as smart grids, developing solutions for a low-carbon economy is definitely not yet "core business."
With a couple of exceptions, the industry is hobbled by the short-term incremental sustainability-related goals that it is setting for itself, rather than setting more-challenging, longer-term goals that could result in transformative solutions.
There are limited signs of disruptive innovation, and more of a focus on incrementalism.
The industry is fearful of committing its weight to influencing national and international climate change and sustainability policy; rather, it is standing on the sidelines as a cheerleader.
The industry no longer predominantly sees climate change and sustainability as a risk, but sees it as an emerging opportunity.
Service and software providers have improved their positions from 2008, but remain relatively immature in terms of their internal programs and their market offerings. SAP would stand out as a relatively strong performer with big improvements in its internal programs, transparency, product development and road map.
Management of the environmental performance of the supply chain remains an area of significant differentiation, demanding much higher standards from everyone if the ICT industry is to credibly defend its position as a climate leader.
ICT providers in Asia (not Japan) are still lagging overall, but we have seen some dramatic improvements, and we would anticipate that continuing.
IT organizations still need to pay close attention to the balanced nature of the programs from IT providers, covering all areas of influence from direct, indirect and policy issues. We still see plenty of examples of providers with significant gaps in their programs.
Interindustry partnerships are starting to emerge, particularly from the leaders. For example, IBM and Johnson Controls developing intelligent building solutions. These partnerships are a very significant and important step in the ability of ICTs to develop commercially viable solutions for a low-carbon economy.
While the recent Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) report outlining a high-level methodology for measuring the enabling effects of ICT related to the climate is a good step forward, the industry has so far only made a limited attempt at measuring the environmental benefits of its solutions, and has made no attempt at all to understand their systemic and rebound impacts. (That is, the indirect and frequently unforeseen change in behaviors, consumption patterns and so on, resulting from the introduction of new technologies, policy measures, etc.)
The industry continues to bask in the afterglow of the Smart 2020 report (www.smart2020.org), when it should really be moving that thinking forward at a much faster pace.

Recommendations

In choosing a long-term supplier and partner, look for systemic capabilities, and look for suppliers for which low-carbon and sustainability-related solutions are part of their core business. Failure to do so could result in choosing providers with insufficient executive commitment and capabilities to meet the enterprise's immediate and future requirements.

Strong internal environmental programs are no guarantee of strong low-carbon product and service offerings; however, weak internal programs usually mean weak product offerings. So look for ICT providers with strong programs and an established track record of good performance.

Look for transparency. As a starting point, look for ICT providers with clear, specific policy statements focused on material issues that then link to a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) with short- and long-term goals covering the whole of their operations. Favor providers systematically tackling their global operations in an integrated way. Good examples are IBM, Fujitsu, BT, HP and Dell. Assume providers with only country-level KPIs and case examples are immature.

Download the summary report here

The Implementation Challenge - Taking stock of government policies to protect and restore environmental flows

2010-11-18

Governments and water management authorities across the world have made significant and widespread progress in developing policies and laws to recognise environmental flow needs. While the concept of environmental flows long predates modern discussions of the subject, an understanding of environmental flows as a public policy imperative remains a comparatively recent development. However, there is now a proliferation of debates around environmental flows, and significant current dynamism around the development of laws and policies to recognise environmental flows across the world. Indeed, we are aware of no major nation in which environmental flows are not now being discussed or incorporated into high-level water policy decision-making.

Despite this significant policy development, in the majority of cases environmental flow provisions remain at the stage of policy and debate rather than implementation. Indeed, the defining characteristic of many contexts globally is precisely the lack of progress in translating these policies and intentions into action. While there has been progress in some places in capping future water development in recognition of environmental needs, successful re-allocation of water or re-operation of infrastructure in systems that are already stressed has been infrequent. Several related obstacles present challenges to the implementation of environmental flow policies across the world. These include a lack of political will and stakeholder support; insufficient resources and capacity, in water management and allocation institutions generally, and for the delivery of those functions tasked with assessing and enforcing environmental requirements;and, institutional barriers and conflicts of interest.

On the basis of a number of international reviews, and the case studies and analysis undertaken for this report, a number of guidelines emerge for advancing implementation of environmental flows.

Financial transaction taxes for climate change

2010-11-09

New and innovative sources of financing are urgently required to address the growing and global challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, poverty and social injustice.
Financial transaction taxes (FTTs) are one of the few sources of financing that can, if designed properly, provide sufficient funding to address all these global problems, as well as contribute to national budgets and repay the debts remaining from the global financial crisis.

WWF Asks for COP16, Cancun

2010-11-01

This page contains WWF's two key recommendation papers for the UN climate conference in Cancun, Mexico from 29 November to 10 December, 2010.

The first document is the ' WWF Expectations for the Cancun Package' which has the outline and recommendations for a good outcome in Cancun. You will find the French, German and Spanish versions here as well.

The other major document is the ''WWF key country demands for Cancun' which provides a list of "policy prescriptions" for eleven of the world's most influential nations to bring to the table of the UN climate negotiations. The eleven countries incude the US, UK, South Africa, China, Russia, Mexico, Japan, India, Germany, European Union, China and Brazil.

Agreeing a low-carbon future in Cancun

2010-10-27

A briefing paper on zero carbon action plans-ZCAPs and low carbon action plans-LCAPs defining what they mean and what progress can be achieved on these at COP16 in Cancun.

Recommendations for national communications process under UNFCCC

2010-10-27

At COP 16 governments need to agree to a fair, ambitious and balanced Cancun package. The Cancun package should secure consensus on key areas of substance, and identify a way forward on the negotiation process.

It is  imperative  that  Parties  make  progress  on  the issue of measurable, reportable and verifiable (MRV) -a checklist for accountability on measures for emission reductions.
The recommendation papers on this page examine where  Parties  need  to  make  progress  on  one  particular  element  of  the  MRV  system  for  developing  and developed countries National  Communications  process. These have been written by IndyACT,  Germanwatch,  Greenpeace  and  WWF  .

In addition to this, WWF released an analyisis earlier this year called - Counting the Gigatonnes: Building Trust in Greenhouse Gas Inventories from the United States and China. This paper outlines the systems already in place in both countries that can ensure accurate and timely data on greenhouse gas emissions.

The United States and China, by far the world's two biggest emitters of greenhouse gas pollution, have the technology and processes in place right now to accurately measure and report their emissions of CO2 and other heat-trapping gases.

WWF Adaptation Policy Recommendations, COP16 Cancun

2010-10-21

The adaptation decision should be part of a package of decisions at COP16 in Cancun.

After COP 15 we are in fact close to agreeing a decision on establishing an Adaptation Framework for Implementation. This paper gives recommendations on effectively moving the adaptation process forward at COP16.

Plugging the gigatonne gap

2010-10-04

Based on recent science, WWF's Plugging The Gap paper outlines that global emissions in 2020 should not exceed emissions of greenhouse gases 40 Gigatonnes in order to stay clear of dangerous warming levels. However, current promises by the world's governments will result in approximately 10 Gigatonnes more, up to 30% off the safety track.

Finance brief for Geneva Ministerial on climate finance, 2-3 Sept 2010

2010-08-27

On 2-3 September 2010, Ministers and officials from more than 40 countries met in Geneva, Switzerland to discuss climate finance and prepare for the climate negotiations later this year in Cancun, Mexico.
Hosted by Switzerland and Mexico, the Geneva Ministerial was an opportunity to advance the negotiations on financing institutions to support climate action in developing countries, and how to generate finance at the scale required to support ambitious actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prepare for those impacts that are unavoidable.

WWF Brief: Finance from Aviation and Maritime sectors - UN High Level Group (2010)

2010-06-23

'Bunker finance' – revenues from the international aviation and maritime sectors – attracted considerable attention at COP 15 in Copenhagen as a potential new source of climate change finance.

This paper explains the different options for bunker finance, outlines the status of discussions in other fora, then assesses the options against the criteria published in the terms of reference for the AGF.

It finds that bunker finance could be a valuable, reliable and equitable source of finance, and that a recommendation from the AGF would give a boost to discussions elsewhere, potentially securing a double dividend by also unlocking mitigation packages in two sectors that have so far escaped greenhouse gas regulation.

WWF Recommendations for climate finance for the G20 Summit

2010-06-22

The still-unfolding oil spill disaster currently under way in the Gulf of Mexico is only the latest reminder of the urgent need to end our dependency on fossil fuels and make a rapid transition to a sustainable low carbon future.

We need to mobilize all possible forms of investment to support the global clean technology revolution that is essential to protect our planet and our children's future. Rapidly scaled up financing is needed to support developing countries in adopting low-carbon technologies and adapting to the impacts of climate change.

Political leadership is needed to shift investments from polluting and dangerous sources of energy to clean, renewable sources, and to mobilize the additional investments required to respond to climate change.

WWF Recommendations and Asks for G8 and G20 Summits in 2010

2010-06-09

The United Nations climate change talks in Copenhagen brought together unprecedented participation of Heads of State and Government in an attempt to broker a global deal to address climate change. It is clear from the unsatisfactory outcome that much remains to be done if world leaders are to answer the call of the millions of people around the world who called for much higher levels of action than were seen in Copenhagen.

The G8 and G20 Summits in Canada in June 2010, and the second G20 Summit in South Korea in November 2010 represent major opportunities for global leaders to confirm their commitments to resolve the issues that prevented them reaching a deal in Copenhagen. These meetings of the world's leading economies must provide clear political signals of a willingness to regain the momentum towards concluding a comprehensive climate agreement.

WWF advocates the necessity of pursuing climate finance and low-carbon economy issues in a way that can be leveraged positively by the UNFCCC process. WWF asks that Canada and South Korea show leadership as host countries, and put climate change – and specifically the climate-resilient low-carbon economy and finance for climate change mitigation and adaptation – as high priorities on the G8 and G20 agendas.

WWF Recommendations to the Advisory Group on Climate Finance

2010-06-08

Breaking the impasse over how to generate public funding for developing countries at a sufficient scale is essential if we want to create an equitable basis for global climate action, protect vulnerable countries and populations from climate impacts, and mobilize shifts in investment patterns needed to stimulate the rapid introduction of clean technologies.

In Copenhagen, developed countries committed to mobilizing US$100 billion annually by 2020.

Although estimates of required financing are much higher, rapid progress towards putting in place mechanisms to generate at least this amount is an essential step. WWF therefore congratulates the UN Secretary General for his initiative in convening the High-level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing (AGF). Members of this group have an important and challenging task ahead of them. Because of the financial expertise and institutions represented in the group we are confident the advisory group can play an important role in mobilizing the financial support to help developing countries mitigate and adapt to climate change.

What roads from Copenhagen to Cancún?

2010-06-03

Adaptation to the (uncertain) adverse impacts of climate change increasingly becomes a necessity across the globe. This is not for its own sake, but to ensure that sustainable development will be possible, that investments into poverty reduction, food and water security and health will not be undone and that progress achieved towards the Millennium Development Goals will not be reversed.

This paper assesses the state of the adaptation negotiations under the UNFCCC after the historic climate summit of Copenhagen. It compares the current draft negotiating text (June 2010) and compares it to key essentials that an ambitious adaptation action framework needs to contain to assist developing countries living up to the challenge of adaptation. It further provides an assessment of the key unresolved negotiation issues and scenarios of possible outcomes at the next climate summit in Cancún.

The current negotiating text still bears the opportunity to create a strong, implementation-focused adaptation action framework, but requires clarification and strengthening in issues which are the key to particularly vulnerable countries. This includes a strong financial mechanism which provides predictable and adequate support, and the establishment of an international mechanism to address loss and damage from climate change impacts with the immediate operationalisation of an insurance mechanism to deal with high-level extreme weather events, amongst others.

Download the document here