Climate Change - A Global Issue

With the adoption of the Paris Agreement, the UNFCCC requested that the IPCC produce a special report on “the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre–industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emissions pathways”. The report, known as SR1.5, assesses what a 1.5°C warmer world would look like, and also the different pathways by which global temperature rise could be limited to 1.5°C.

The main activity of the IPCC is to at regular intervals provide Assessment Reports of the state of knowledge on climate change. The latest one is the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5), which was finalized in November 2014.

This WRI analysis finds that renewable energy supplies are set to double collectively in eight major economies by 2030 spurred on by new national climate and energy plans. These renewable energy levels will be 18 percent higher in 2030 than previously projected growth rates.

This report provides a new detailed quantitative assessment of the consequences of climate change on economic growth through to 2060 and beyond. It focuses on how climate change affects different drivers of growth, including labour productivity and capital supply, in different sectors across the world.

An integrated assessment of how human activities are interacting with complex Earth systems and ultimately affecting the natural resources on which we depend.

Provides information about which sources and financial instruments are driving investments, and how much climate finance is flowing globally. The report aims to provide an updated picture on how, where, and from whom finance is flowing toward low-carbon and climate-resilient actions globally, and to improve understanding of how public and private sources of finance interact.

Presents an annual assessment by the U.S. Energy Information Administration of the outlook for international energy markets through 2050, as well as modeled projections and analysis of energy topics.

An international research collaboration dedicated to tracking the world's response to climate change, and the health benefits that emerge from this transition. Published annually in the Lancet.

The Third Symposium on the Ocean in a High-CO2 World (Monterey, California, September 2012) convened 540 experts from 37 countries to discuss the results of research into ocean acidification, its impacts on ecosystems, socio-economic
consequences and implications for policy.

REthinking Energy, the flagship report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), examines trends and developments in the global quest for a sustainable energy future.

This report explores the relation between climate change, climate policies, and poverty outcomes by examining three questions: the (static) impact on poor people's livelihood and well-being; the impact on the risk for non-poor individuals to fall into poverty; and the impact on the ability of poor people to escape poverty.

Currently, about 40 national jurisdictions and over 20 cities, states, and regions—representing almost a quarter of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions—are putting a price on carbon. Together, carbon pricing instruments cover about half of the emissions in these jurisdictions, which translates to about 7 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2e) or about 12 percent of global emissions.

The Trends in global CO2 emissions report is one in a series of annual publications by PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency and the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC). Are global CO2 emissions still rising? PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency presents the latest facts and figures.

Designed to be an authoritative assessment of the science of climate change, with a focus on the United States, to serve as the foundation for efforts to assess climate-related risks and inform decision-making about responses. It represents the first of two volumes of the Fourth National Climate Assessment, mandated by the Global Change Research Act of 1990.

The UNEP Emissions Gap Report provides a scientific assessment of the mitigation contributions from the submitted INDCs and presents an assessment of current national mitigation efforts and the ambitions countries have presented in their Nationally Determined Contributions, which form the foundation of the Paris Agreement.

The National Climate Assessment summarizes the impacts of climate change on the United States, now and in the future. A team of more than 300 experts guided by a 60-member Federal Advisory Committee produced the report, which was extensively reviewed by the public and experts, including federal agencies and a panel of the National Academy of Sciences.

This annual publication reveals that parallels can be drawn between the challenges currently facing the international community and those that confronted the world in the past. These lessons from the past are relevant to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 

The annual bulletin is based on observations from the WMO Global Atmosphere Watch Programme. These observations help to track the changing levels of greenhouse gases and serve as an early warning system for changes in these key atmospheric drivers of climate change.