International Policy Research Organisations

The interactions of climate change and climate responses with sustainable development including sustainable development impacts at 1.5C and 2C, the synergies and tradeoffs of mitigation and adaptation with the Sustainable Development Goals/SDGs, and the possibilities for sustainable and equitable low carbon, climate resilient development pathways.

This chapter takes sustainable development as the starting point and focus for analysis. It considers the broad and multifaceted bi-directional interplay between sustainable development, including its focus on eradicating poverty and reducing inequality in their multidimensional aspects, and climate actions in a 1.5°C warmer world. These fundamental connections are embedded in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The chapter also examines synergies and trade-offs of adaptation and mitigation options with sustainable development and the SDGs and offers insights into possible pathways, especially climate-resilient development pathways towards a 1.5°C warmer world.

The global response to warming of 1.5oC comprises transitions in land and ecosystem, energy, urban and infrastructure, and industrial systems. The feasibility of mitigation and adaptation options, and the enabling conditions for strengthening and implementing the systemic changes, are assessed in this chapter.

Limiting warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels would require transformative systemic change, integrated with sustainable development. Such change would require the upscaling and acceleration of the implementation of arreaching, multilevel and cross-sectoral climate mitigation and addressing barriers. Such systemic change would need to be linked to complementary adaptation actions, including transformational adaptation, especially for pathways that temporarily overshoot 1.5°C (medium evidence, high agreement). Current national pledges on mitigation and adaptation are not enough to stay below the Paris Agreement temperature limits and achieve its adaptation goals. While transitions in energy efficiency, carbon intensity of fuels, electrification and land-use change are underway in various countries, limiting warming to 1.5°C will require a greater scale and pace of change to transform energy, land, urban and industrial systems globally.

Why is it necessary and even vital to maintain the global temperature increase below 1.5°C versus higher levels? Adaptation will be less difficult. Our world will suffer fewer negative impacts on intensity and frequency of extreme events, on resources, ecosystems, biodiversity, food security, cities, tourism and carbon removal.

Showing how emissions can be brought to zero by mid-century stay within the small remaining carbon budget for limiting global warming to 1.5°C.

This chapter assesses mitigation pathways consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. In doing so, it explores the following key questions: What role do CO2 and non-CO2 emissions play? To what extent do 1.5°C pathways involve overshooting and returning below 1.5°C during the 21st century? What are the implications for transitions in energy, land use and sustainable development? How do policy frameworks affect the ability to limit warming to 1.5°C? What are the associated knowledge gaps?

This chapter frames the context, knowledge-base and assessment approaches used to understand the impacts of 1.5°C global warming above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, building on the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (AR5), in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty.

An IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is the newest actor in the multilateral climate finance architecture and became fully operational in 2015, approving USD 168 million for its first eight projects just weeks before COP 21. The GCF is an operating entity of the Financial Mechanism of the UNFCCC. A legally independent institution hosted by South Korea, it has its own secretariat and the World Bank as its interim trustee but functions under the guidance of, and is accountable to, the UNFCCC COP. The 24 GCF Board members, with equal representation of developed and developing countries, and support from the secretariat have been working to operationalise the fund since their first meeting in August 2012. This year the GCF further developed essential policies and frameworks to receive, manage, programme and disburse finance as well as measure and account for its results and impacts. It also accredited its first 20 implementing entities. The initial resource mobilisation effort that began in June 2014, raised USD 10.2 billion from 37 contributing countries (including eight developing countries). In 2015, USD 5.8 billion of pledged finance was formalised through contribution agreements. Heading into COP 21 in Paris, this Climate Finance Fundamental provides a snapshot of the operationalisation and functions of the Fund. The Fund’s role in a post-2020 climate regime as the major finance channel under the Convention as well as the scale of its resourcing remain to be clarified and confirmed in Paris. Past editions of this Climate Finance Fundamental detail the design and operationalisation phases of the Fund.

The objective of this user’s guide is to assist accredited entities to develop a concept note (CN) to be submitted to the Green Climate Fund ("Fund").

As a voluntary step, accredited entities may use the concept note to present a summary of a proposed project/programme to the Fund in order to receive feedback and recommendations from the Secretariat on whether the concept is broadly aligned with the Fund’s objectives. The recommendation will clarify whether the concept is endorsed, not endorsed with a possibility of resubmission, or rejected.

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is a new global fund created to support the efforts of developing countries to respond to the challenge of climate change. GCF helps developing countries limit or reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and adapt to climate change. It seeks to promote a paradigm shift to low-emission and climate-resilient development, taking into account the needs of nations that are particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts.

International Climate Finance Funds require certain safeguards.

In carrying out its mandate of promoting a paradigm shift towards low-emission and climate-resilient development pathways in the context of sustainable development, GCF will effectively and equitably manage environmental and social risks and impacts, and improve outcomes of all GCF-financed activities.