The Open Climate Network recently concluded a three-day workshop in which participants from 18 organizations in 13 countries gathered to refine methodologies for the network’s first national assessment report, expected next year. The report will analyze country progress on climate change commitments, with a view towards “ground-truthing” countries’ performance on implementing effective policies that contribute to the low-carbon transition.
In addition, the Open Climate Network is working on methods to track developed countries’ provision of climate finance and to analyze the extent to which countries are achieving low-carbon growth and competitiveness. With these efforts, the Open Climate Network aims to encourage countries to implement low-carbon strategies and to prepare key players, especially civil society, to participate actively and constructively in debates about low-carbon growth.
With expert partners working on the ground in a range of countries, the Open Climate Network is uniquely positioned. Our partners are performing exciting analysis at the domestic level in many areas of climate change policy, including greening cities, addressing the impacts of tar sands, and assessing the feasibility of low-carbon growth. Over the coming weeks and months, this website will share more findings from different corners of the globe:
In Brazil, The Open Climate Network is working with two institutions, the Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV) in Rio de Janeiro and Instituto Centro de Vida (ICV) in Cuiabá. FGV will assess implementation of Brazil’s national climate change policy at the federal level, and ICV is examining how national policies are implemented at the state level in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, with a focus on forests and land use. Look out for an overview of Brazilian climate policy coming to the OCN website in the coming weeks!
In South Africa, our partner IDASA is examining the country’s barriers to renewable energy. Using Open Climate Network tools, IDASA has begun to analyze some of the key policies that will influence South Africa’s progress towards meeting its global climate change commitments. IDASA will be sharing their insights into South Africa’s Renewable Energy Feed-In Tariff (REFIT) in a series of web stories that will appear on the OCN website.
In Denmark, OCN partner CONCITO has completed its second Annual Climate Outlook, an analysis of climate action in Denmark. From the report, CONCITO has developed a series of recommendations for Denmark’s policy makers.
In the United States, the World Resources Institute has explored potential greenhouse gas emissions reductions based on a range of possible policy scenarios within the U.S., and is assessing new emissions standards for the U.S. power sector. WRI is also examining the role of states in a federal climate program, and is tracking fast start climate finance pledged by the U.S. (and others) to developing countries.
This is just a sample of the hard-hitting work that Open Climate Network partners are doing around the globe. Our national assessment report will draw heavily on our partners’ in-depth knowledge of the domestic context and will present it in a way that is relevant at the international level. Please check back soon for updates to our timeline and methodology sections, where we will post more outcomes from our workshop and work moving forward.
