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The impacts of the COVID-19 crisis and the global response to it will co-determine the future of climate policy. The recovery packages responding to the impacts of the pandemic may either help to chart a new sustainable course, or they will further cement existing high-emission pathways and thwart the achievement of the Paris Agreement objectives. This article discusses how international climate governance may help align the recovery packages with the climate agenda. For this purpose, the article investigates five key governance functions through which international institutions may contribute: send guidance and signals, establish rules and standards, provide transparency and accountability, organize the provision of means of implementation, and promote collective learning. Reflecting on these functions, the article finds that the process under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), together with other international institutions, could promote sustainable recovery in several ways. Key policy insights: The incoming UK presidency of the Conference of the Parties (COP) should urge Parties to present transformative sustainable stimulus packages alongside more ambitious nationally determined contributions (NDCs) at the postponed Glasgow Climate Conference (COP 26). Specific principles and criteria for sustainable recovery should be adopted. A coalition of interested governments should work through institutions such as G20 to enable swift action even before COP 26. The Glasgow Conference should establish a process to review the consistency of recovery packages with the Paris Agreement and their implementation, to support their sustainability and promote policy learning. Developed countries and international financial institutions should renew their climate finance commitments, and work towards an increased long-term finance objective in the context of greening recovery packages. At COP 26 governments could take stock of the 'Paris-compatibility' of international recovery support and adopt further guidance as necessary.

Current actions to mitigate climate change are highly insufficient to keep the temperature goal of the Paris Agreement within reach. It will be key for the Global Stocktake under the Paris Agreement to formulate clear messages on increasing mitigation action. These messages should be concise, name specific actions and targets, and inform Parties in updating and enhancing their actions. Key mitigation actions are suggested to cover renewable energy, energy efficiency and sufficiency, the phasing out of fossil fuels and related subsidies, actions in transport, buildings and industry, circular material flows, the reduction of methane emissions, actions in the land sector and sustainable food systems. The proposed mitigation actions and targets could be included as key messages in the cover decision of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA). Targets could also be included in declarations as part of the Global Stocktake outputs. Finally, additional information on key mitigation actions could be provided in a technical annex. The messages on mitigation need to address both the time horizon until 2030 to avert catastrophic climate change and the time horizon until 2035 for new NDCs.

Die internationale Klimapolitik tritt in ein neues Zeitalter unter teils widersprüchlichen Vorzeichen ein: Während das US-Wahlergebnis auf erschwerte Rahmenbedingungen für die Bekämpfung des Klimawandels hindeutet, konnten auf der UN-Ebene bei der COP22 in Marrakech einige Fortschritte erzielt werden. Die Autoren zeigen die verschiedenen Szenarien auf, die sich damit für eine ambitionierte internationale Klimapolitik ergeben.

What is necessary to reach net zero emissions in the transport sector on a global level? To keep limiting global warming to 1.5° C within reach, the world has to decarbonise by mid-century, with every sector contributing as much as possible as soon as possible. This paper identifies what has to be done in road transport, aviation, and shipping to achieve net zero emission in the transport sector. For this purpose, it first sets the scene by providing an overview of the origins and impacts of the concept of net zero emissions in international climate policy as well as of the current state and future prospects of global transport emissions using currently available scenarios for low-emission and net zero transport. While for staying below 1.5° C, the basic approach to reducing transport emissions remains unchanged from what has been suggested in the past, the set, intensity and pace of actions as to shift fundamentally. Without first drastically reducing traffic volume and shifting transport demand to low-emission modes, reaching net zero transport will not be feasible: the amount of additional electricity required to fully electrify the sector with renewable energy is otherwise just too huge. After portraying key instruments for achieving net zero emissions in land transport, aviation, and shipping, this paper identifies key barriers for net zero transport. Based on this analysis, the authors recommend the following to be able to move transport to net zero: 1. Adapt Decarbonisation Strategies to Different Transport Sub-sectors; 2. Prioritise and Significantly Increase Investment in Zero-/low-carbon Infrastructure; 3. Massively Invest in the Development and Roll out of Zero-/low-emission Technologies; 4. Focus on a Just Transition to Overcome Social and Political Barriers; 5. Increase International Support and Cooperation.

US-Präsident Donald Trump verkündete am Nachmittag des 1. Juni 2017 im Rosengarten des Weißen Hauses, dass er das Pariser Klimaabkommen aus dem Jahr 2015 kündigen wolle. Was bedeutet dieser Schritt der USA für den globalen Klimaschutz? Dieser in brief zeigt, in welcher Weise die an Klimaschutz interessierten Staaten sich am besten organisieren, um das Pariser Klimaabkommen und die globale Klimapolitik erfolgreich weiterzuführen.

Die 26. Konferenz der Vertragsstaaten des Rahmenübereinkommens der Vereinten Nationen über Klimaänderungen (Conference of the Parties, COP26) fand Anfang November 2021 unter britischem Vorsitz in Glasgow statt. Die COP26 markierte die symbolische Halbzeit zwischen der Verabschiedung der UN-Klimarahmenkonvention (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC) im Jahr 1992 und dem Jahr 2050, wo laut IPCC weltweit netto null CO2-Emissionen erreicht werden müssen. Bis heute steigen die CO2-Emissionen jedoch stetig an. Vor diesem Hintergrund war das Pariser Abkommen (PA) von 2015 ein zentraler Durchbruch. Es ist das erste internationale Abkommen, das von allen Ländern ehrgeizige Klimaschutzmaßnahmen verlangt.