BRICS Climate Cooperation in the Post-Paris Agreement Era

As representatives of emerging economies,BRICS countries are increasingly prominent in global governance.The rapid economic development of BRICS countries is accompanied by a significant increase in greenhouse gas(GHG)emissions,and BRICS countries are paying increasing attention to climate change issues and actively participating in the construction of the international climate regime.The Paris Agreement was a historic breakthrough in international climate negotiations,and since then BRICS countries have strengthened multilateral and bilateral cooperation in energy efficiency,agricultural emission reduction and climate governance financing.Due to the constraints of technology,cooperation mechanism construction,financing,and other objective conditions,BRICS countries still face some challenges to further advance the global climate governance agenda with their group power in the short term.Whether BRICS countries can further advance the global climate governance agenda as a group in the post-Paris Agreement era depends on whether they can improve energy efficiency and optimize their energy mix,and whether they can deepen cooperation in agricultural emission reduction and climate finance.BRICS countries need to continue to promote clean energy development and low-carbon economic transformation,deepen the potential of climate cooperation in agricultural emission reduction,and give full play to the climate financing role of the New Development Bank,so as to further enhance the level of climate cooperation.At the same time,BRICS countries can widely involve developing countries in climate governance cooperation and strengthen dialogue and exchanges with other countries,so as to promote global climate governance in the post-Paris Agreement era.

Establishing a measurement,reporting,and verification system for climate finance in post-Paris agreement period

The measurement,reporting,and verification(MRV) of climate finance was originated from discussions under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC).It has been one of the key issues of global climate negotiations since 2009 and will continue to be of significant importance in addressing climate change and strengthening international trust.This paper analyses the concept,the objective,and the progress of the MRV of climate finance based on reviews of the latest literature and think-tank reports regarding climate finance regime and MRV.Following the analysis,challenges faced with the MRV of climate finance are illustrated.This paper presents that the comparability of climate finance data needs to be improved due to the variety of methodologies used for disaggregating climate finance.In addition,the integrality of the MRV system of climate finance has been impaired by the lack of feedback mechanism from the recipients to the contributors in reporting system.Furthermore,although accounting system of climate finance has been developing and improving,it remains incapacity in providing accurate data on disbursed climate finance.Responding to the above challenges,this paper proposes the key tasks in establishing a comprehensive MRV system for climate finance at international level.The tasks involve developing a measurement system with consistent data basis and accounting basis,a reporting system with more detailed guidance and standardized formats,as well as a verification mechanism balancing top-down and bottom-up review processes.In the last section,this paper concludes that the establishment of an improved MRV of climate finance requires concerted cooperation and negotiations between developed and developing country Parties under the UNFCCC.As one of the few developing country donors to the Global Environmental Facility(GEF),China is suggested to clarify its propositions as a developing country in aspects such as concept,coverage,and architecture of climate finance and MRV system,and gain bargaining power in improving operating and technical rules of international climate finance regime.

The Paris Agreement Revisited: Diplomatic Triumphalism or Denial of Climate Justice?

The 2015 Paris COP 21, after the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen COP, raised many expectations regarding the elaboration of the post-Kyoto legal instrument to lead the global fight against climate change. At the sunset of the summit, world leaders and climate negotiators, relayed by mainstream Medias, presented the results of the Paris climate discussions as an important success for the global climate community. A success contested by climate justice and just transition defenders. Given the foundation role the Paris agreement plays for subsequent global, national and sub-national climate policies on one side and, on the other side, the continuous growing global demands for climate justice and just transition, this article investigates the conciliatory possibilities put in place by the agreement to advance those demands. To reach such goals, the article focuses on the retrospective critical reading of the agreement in the light of human-centered climate perspectives such as climate justice and just transition, without neglecting other aspects related to the very nature of the agreement, and the enhanced commodification of nature and resulting carbon trading. This analysis of the agreement through climate justice lenses will be instrumental in confirming or disproving the following hypothesis: From the climate justice and just transition perspectives, the success of the Paris regime will not pass through the implementation of the Paris agreement itself, but thought corrective mechanisms that could be put in place to correct the loopholes of the agreement. The initiative of putting such post-Paris corrective mechanisms in place is expected to be one of the key priorities of the international community.

Achieving Paris Agreement temperature goals requires carbon neutrality by middle century with far-reaching transitions in the whole society

The concept of carbon neutrality is much emphasized in IPCC Spatial Report on Global Warming of 1.5C in order to achieve the long-termtemperature goals as reflected in Paris Agreement.To keep these goals within reach,peaking the global carbon emissions as soon as possible andachieving carbon neutrality are urgently needed.However,global CO_(2)emissions continued to grow up to a record high of 43.1 Gt CO_(2)during2019,with fossil CO_(2)emissions of 36.5 Gt CO_(2)and land-use change emissions of 6.6 Gt CO_(2).In such case,the global carbon emissions mustdrop 32 Gt CO_(2)(7.6%per year)from 2020 to 2030 for the 1.5C warming limit,which is even larger than the COVID-induced reduction(6.4%)in global CO_(2)emissions during 2020.Recently,China has announced scaling up its national commitments,aiming to peak its CO_(2)emissionsbefore 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.Achieving these goals requires rapid and far-reaching transitions in the whole society.Onthe one hand,deeper emissions reduction in all sectors includes decarbonization of energy,electrification,increasing share of renewables,energyefficiency,sustainable land management,decarbonization of transport,reducing food loss and waste,as well as behavior and lifestyles changes.On the other hand,possible actions by removing CO_(2)from the atmosphere involves enlarging land and ocean net carbon sink,CO_(2)removaltechnologies(such as Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage),and CO_(2)capture,utilization and storage technologies,but should be cautionfor their scales and tradeoffs.

Effects of the US withdrawal from Paris Agreement on the carbon emission space and cost of China and India

Climate mitigation has become a global issue and most countries have promised their greenhouse gas reduction target. However, after Trump took office as president of the United States （US）, the US withdrew from the Paris Agreement. As the biggest economy, this would have impacts on the emission space of other countries. This paper, by using the integrated model of energy, environ- ment and economy/computable general equilibrium （IMED/CGE） model, assesses the impacts of the US withdrawal from Paris Agreement on China, India in terms of carbon emission space and mitigation cost under Nationally Determined Contributions （NDCs） and 2~C scenarios due to changed emission pathway of the US. The results show that, under the condition of constant global cumulative carbon emissions and fixed burden sharing scheme among the countries, the failure of the US to honor its NDC commitment will increase its carbon emission space and decrease its mitigation cost. However, the carbon emission space of other regions, including China and India, will be reduced and their mitigation costs will be raised. In 2030, under the 2℃ target, the carbon price will increase by US$14.3 to US$45.3/t in China and by US S10.7 to US$33.9/t in India. In addition, China and India will incur additional GDP loss. Under the 2℃ target, the GDP loss of China would increase by US$23.3 to US$72.6 billion （equivalent to US$17.4 to US$54.2/capita）, and that of India would rise by US$14.2 to US$43.1 billion （equivalent to US$9.3 to US$28.2/capita）.

Is the Paris rulebook sufficient for effective implementation of Paris Agreement?

Glasgow Climate Conference concluded the negotiation on implementing rules for Paris Agreement and adopted the Glasgow Climate Pact.Based on practices under the UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol,Paris Agreement enhanced global climate change governance.Paris Agreement established a system centered around‘nationally determined contributions’(NDCs)of Parties,with a transparency framework to ensure information flow running the system,meanwhile facilitating implementation by Parties through the mechanism on facilitation and compliance,as well as urging Parties to enhance ambition both at individual level and aggregate level through the mechanism on Global Stocktake.By doing so,it is logical that the system would lead to the achievement of the goal set by Paris Agreement.However,the system stil faces significant deficiency,such as lack of information timeliness,intransparency of some necessary information,hypothesis-based but not solution-based decision-making,and lack of effective assurance for developing countries to get finance and technology support.It is concluded that this system is beneficial to long-term climate change policy decision and tracking progress of actions,while for shor-term decision-making,more comprehensive consideration is needed than only based on the mechanisms of and outcomes from the system.International society should pay more attention to the progress of implementation,as well as ambition of various support provided to developing countries,than only the ambition of mitigation target numbers.

Situation and measures of China＇s CO2 emission mitigation after the Paris Agreement

Global response to climate change has entered the phase of full implementation of the Paris Agreement. To control the global temperature rise below 2℃, all countries must make more efforts to reduce emission. China has combined its goal of emission reduction for combating climate change with its domestic sustainable development strategy to promote energy revolution and the transition of economic development to low-carbon pat- terns. Through reinforcing the commitment and action before 2020, the CO2 intensity of GDP can decrease by more than 50% by 2020 compared with that of 2005, and the external commitment target of a 40%-45% decrease can be over fulfilled. Currently, under the new economic normal, China further strengthens the policy measure, vigorously saves energy, enhances energy use efficiency and the economic output benefit, and simultaneously develops new and renewable energy and accelerates energy structural decarbonization, so that the annual decrease rate of the CO2 intensity of GDP keeps a high level of more than 4% and remains increasing. Thus, the decrease rate of the CO2 intensity of GDP will exceed the GDP growth rate, and then CO2 emission will peak around 2030. This will promote the fundamental turning of economic development mode, and lay a foundation for the establishment of a sustainable energy system with near- zero emissions and with new and renewable energy as the main body in the second half of this century. China implements the concept of green low-carbon development and accelerates the low carbon transition of energy and economy to achieve win-win results in economic growth and CO2 emission mitigation, and these policies and actions will also provide experiences for many other developing countries. On the other hand, China will continue to play a positive and constructive leading role in the implementation of the Paris Agreement internationally, and promote the construction of new mechanisms of win- win cooperation, fairness and justice and common development for global climate governance. Moreover, China will make an effort to build a community of common destiny for mankind, promote pragmatic coopera- tion among countries, especially among developing countries, and take combating climate change as a new development opportunity for jointly moving toward climate-friendly low-carbon economic development path.

AWI Signs Landmark Agreement with Leading Paris Style Agency

Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) today announced it had engaged world renowned style and innovation agency PeclersParis to provide colour and design trend direction for the Woolmark.Peclers’ team of fashion experts and trend forecasters this week

China's response to climate change issues after Paris Climate Change Conference

The Paris Climate Change Conference was successfully concluded with the Paris Agreement, which is a milestone for the world in collectively combating climate change. By participating in IPCC assessments and conducting national climate change assessments, China has been increasing its understanding of the issue. For the first time, China's top leader attended the Conference of the Parties, which indicates the acknowledgement of the rationality and necessity of climate change response by China at different levels. Moreover, this participation reflects China's commitment to including climate change in its ecology improvement program and pursuing a low-carbon society and economy. In order to ensure the success of the Paris Conference, China has contributed significantly. China's constructive participation in global governance shows that China is a responsible power. These principles such as the creation of a future of winewin cooperation with each country contributing to the best of its ability; a future of the rule of law, fairness, and justice; and a future of inclusiveness, mutual learning, and common development will serve as China's guidelines in its efforts to facilitate the implementation of the Paris Agreement and participate in the design of international systems.

The post-Paris approach to mitigating Arctic warming——perspectives from shipping emissions reduction

The availability of increased Arctic shipping as a consequence of sea ice decline is a regional issue that is closely linked with international climate governance and global governance of the maritime industry. Sea ice decline creates favorable circumstances for the development of merchant shipping, but is accompanied by increases in greenhouse gas emissions. Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from the shipping industry is of utmost importance to prevent the destruction of the fragile Arctic ecosystem. This paper focuses on the core content of the Paris Agreement and suggests that the International Maritime Organization could guide the shipping industry to reach a fair agreement with states that includes market-based measures, capacity building, and voluntary actions of shipping companies as non-state actors.

The Warming of the Tibetan Plateau in Response to Transient and Stabilized 2.0℃/1.5℃Global Warming Targets

As "the third pole", the Tibetan Plateau(TP) is sensitive to climate forcing and has experienced rapid warming in recent decades. This study analyzes annual and seasonal near-surface air temperature changes on the TP in response to transient and stabilized 2.0℃/1.5℃ global warming targets based on simulations of the Community Earth System Model(CESM). Elevation-dependent warming(EDW) with faster warming at higher elevations is predicted. A surface energy budget analysis is adopted to uncover the mechanisms responsible for the temperature changes. Our results indicate a clear amplified warming on the TP with positive EDW in 2.0℃/1.5℃ warmer futures, especially in the cold season. Mean TP warming relative to the reference period(1961–90) is dominated by an enhanced downward longwave radiation flux, while the variations in surface albedo shape the detailed pattern of EDW. For the same global warming level, the temperature changes under transient scenarios are ~0.2℃ higher than those under stabilized scenarios, and the characteristics of EDW are broadly similar for both scenarios. These differences can be primarily attributed to the combined effects of differential downward longwave radiation, cloud radiative forcing, and surface sensible and latent heat fluxes. These findings contribute to a more detailed understanding of regional climate on the TP in response to the long-term climate goals of the Paris Agreement and highlight the differences between transient and stabilized warming scenarios.

COP26:Progress,Challenges,and Outlook

The 26th Conference of the Parties(COP26)to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC)was held in Glasgow a year later than scheduled,with expected outcomes achieved under a post-pandemic background.Based on the Issue-Actor-Mechanism Framework,this paper systematically evaluates the outcomes achieved at COP26 and analyzes the tendency of post-COP26 climate negotiations.Overall,with the concerted efforts of all parties,COP26 has achieved a balanced and inclusive package of outcomes and concluded six years of negotiations on the Paris Rulebook.It is fair to say that COP26 is another milestone in climate governance following the implementation of the Paris Agreement.Meanwhile,the Glasgow Climate Pact has cemented the consensus on a global commitment to accelerating climate action over the next decade and reached a breakthrough consensus on reducing coal,controlling methane,and halting deforestation.In the post-COP26 era,we still need to take concrete actions to implement the outcomes of the Paris Agreement and the Glasgow Climate Pact,innovate ways to speed up CO_(2) emissions reduction,and continue to strive for breakthroughs in important issues such as finance,technology,adaptation,and collaboration.In addition to avoiding the escalation of international conflicts,we need to collectively and properly handle the relationship between energy security,carbon reduction,and development and facilitate the efforts of countries to achieve their Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs),including climate-related goals.China will continue to maintain the existing multilateral mechanisms and processes for climate governance,unremittingly take concrete actions to address climate change,promote a domestic comprehensive green transition and global cooperation on carbon neutrality,and contribute constructively to global climate governance.

Policy Diffusion of the Emission Trading Scheme in China:Progress and Prospects

Chinese national emissions trading scheme(ETS)of greenhouse gas(GHG)was scheduled to start simulation trading in the power sector in 2020.Now it is good timing to review its progress and prospect.This study first examines policy diffusion in relation ETSs in China and particularly those for CO2 emissions,including the causes,determinants,process,and impacts.It argues in a centralized political system with highly and widely differentiated local circumstances,policy diffusion is progressed through a more complicated process,presented as a three-tier process in the paper,illustrating how international arrangement,national jurisdiction,and local administration interact and influence policy-making in a follower’s jurisdiction.China,which is now the biggest GHG emitter,has been preparing to establish a national ETS since 2017.So far,eight sub-national governments have introduced ETS pilot programs to feedback their experiences and to determine best practice for the national scheme.These eight pilots,especially the relatively successful ones,are found to be motivated by a competitive relationship that aims to stabilize its carbon market,which may eventually contribute to the progress of policy diffusion of the ETS in China.

China and the United States’ Critical Roles in Tackling Climate Change and Shaping the International Regimes

This paper argues that major powers can play critical roles in a complicated regime system,as evidenced by China and the U.S.which have had pivotal influence in the construction of the post-2020 climate regime.China and the U.S.have participated in multilateral consultations beyond the scope of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC)while making use of many political platforms,such as Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC),G20,and informal meetings and dialogues to bridge the gap among various approaches to mitigating climate impacts.China-U.S.bilateral cooperation has incorporated energy and climate issues into the strategic and economic dialogue(S&ED)and launched other schemes,such as EcoPartnerships and wide-ranging dialogues and initiatives on clean energy/clean vehicles.These schemes support the reconciliation of ideas related to domestic abatement policies in the areas of energy,climate change,and environmental protection.Since the Trump administration came to power in 2017,the bilateral cooperation at national level has been retreated significantly and therefore slowdown the UN’s institutional response to climate change.At the stage,the U.S.may not be able to play a critical role in shaping the regime,yet China is regarded to be the most important player in negotiations under the Paris Agreement.

Comparison and analysis of mitigation ambitions of Parties’ updated Nationally Determined Contributions

Understanding mitigation ambitions of the Nationally Determined Contributions(NDCs)should include both the equity of supporting the Paris Agreement goals and the costs of achieving the proposed mitigation targets.This study presents a new framework that combines equity and economic costs to compare and analyze mitigation ambitions of Parties'updated NDCs.Under representative 2℃ and 1.5℃ pathways,this framework uses multiple equity-principled allocations to derive the alignment of the updated NDCs with the Paris Agreement goals,and further applies a computable general equilibrium model to assess the economic costs of implementing the updated NDCs.The results show that global 2030 emissions may meet the selected global 2℃ pathway if all Parties achieve their most ambitious mitigation efforts,but there is still an emissions gap of 10-15 GtCO_(2) to follow the selected 1.5℃ pathway.From the perspective of equity,the updated NDCs of the USA,the EU(including the UK in this study),and Japan lack ambition with respect to‘equal cumulative per capita emissions’under 2℃ and do not align with any equity principles under 1.5℃.The updated NDCs of China,India,Brazil and South Africa reflect their claims to‘equity’and‘common but differentiated responsibilities’.From the perspective of economic costs,the GDP and welfare losses of China,Brazil and South Africa incurred by achieving the updated NDCs are not lower than those of the three developed Parties.China's GDP loss is estimated at 0.43%-0.55%in 2030,which is higher than that of the USA(0.30%-0.38%)and the EU(0.25%-0.28%).This study suggests that developed Parties take the lead in further ratcheting up the NDCs and strengthen financial and technological support to developing countries so that the world could close the gap to 1.5℃.

China’s Climate Change Response in the Context of Global Change: from Domain Response to Mitigation and Adaptation then to Scientific and Technological Progress

Climate change has become one of the key issues affecting global society and economic development,and it is related to the sustainable development of mankind and the earth’s ecological system.Firstly,this research begins with the important international conferences and agreements on Global Climate Governance,and analyzes the recent progress of the Paris Agreement,the Marrakech climate conference and the major progress of China&US climate cooperation and China’s contribution.Secondly,from the perspective of China’s adaptation and response to climate change,the main progress of climate change in China is reviewed from a multi-level perspective.The main scientific and technological progress and achievements in China’s response to climate change have been tracked.Finally,from the environmental risk areas,the future risks of climate change are predicted from six aspects,to contribute to the scientific and technological support program for climate change governance.

The policy-driven peak and reduction of China's carbon emissions

Pursuant to the Paris Agreement,China committed itself to peak its carbon emissions by around 2030 and to increase the non-fossil share ofprimary energy to 20%at the same time.The government has supported the international agreement by setting and strengthening the domesticpolicy targets for an earlier peak and faster reduction,aiming to contain the average global temperature increase to well below 2℃.We developa Kaya Inequality method to assess the time of peak and pace of reduction of China's energy-related CO2emissions based on the national energypolicy targets for 2030.We find that,despite the minor fluctuations,the current plateau essentially represents the peak emissions and should entera phase of steady decline by around 2025,given current trends in energy consumption and decarbonization.Such developments would beconsistent with the strengthened national policy target to achieve 50%of renewable power generation by 2030.However,the basic policy targetsea 20%share of non-fossil energy and 6 Gtce in total energy consumption by 2030ewould be insufficient to peak carbon emissions by around 2030.The synergy and interplay between domestic policy target setting and international climate commitments shed light on the need to elevatenational climate ambitions under the Paris Agreement and beyond.

Towards carbon neutrality:A study on China's long-term low-carbon transition pathways and strategies

As the world's biggest carbon dioxide(CO_(2))emitter and the largest developing country,China faces daunting challenges to peak its emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality within 40 years.This study fully considered the carbon-neutrality goal and the temperature rise constraints required by the Paris Agreement,by developing six long-term development scenarios,and conducting a quantitative evaluation on the carbon emissions pathways,energy transformation,technology,policy and investment demand for each scenario.This study combined both bottom-up and top-down methodologies,including simulations and analyses of energy consumption of end-use and power sectors(bottom-up),as well as scenario analysis,investment demand and technology evaluation at the macro level(top-down).This study demonstrates that achieving carbon neutrality before 2060 translates to significant efforts and overwhelming challenges for China.To comply with the target,a high rate of an average annual reduction of CO_(2) emissions by 9.3%from 2030 to 2050 is a necessity,which requires a huge investment demand.For example,in the 1.5℃ scenario,an investment in energy infrastructure alone equivalent to 2.6%of that year's GDP will be necessary.The technological pathway towards carbon neutrality will rely highly on both conventional emission reduction technologies and breakthrough technologies.China needs to balance a long-term development strategy of lower greenhouse gas emissions that meets both the Paris Agreement and the long-term goals for domestic economic and social development,with a phased implementation for both its five-year and long-term plans.

Modeling the implementation of NDCs and the scenarios below 2°C for the Belt and Road countries

In order to understand better on medium-and long-term climate change issues in international cooperation of the Belt and Road Initiative(BRI),this paper is meant to assess the implementation of National Determined Contributions(NDCs)of the BRI countries and the emission constraints under the Paris Agreement to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2℃ above pre-industrial levels,based on the Belt and Road Integrated Assessment Model(BRIAM)and the best available data.The results show that the BRI countries are expected to collectively reduce about 3.2 billion tons of CO_(2)emissions with the implementation of their NDCs by 2030.In order to achieve the global goal of 2℃,without appropriate mitigation burden sharing and enhanced climate finance support,the BRI countries will face big challenges to bridge the emission gaps.The investment in clean energy and related new infrastructures in BRI will rise sharply to above US$100 trillion by the end of this century accordingly with the increase in carbon price,which will also eventually have a significant impact on the price of electricity and oversea freight transport in a connecting world.

Tackling climate change and promoting the energy revolution

Following the Paris Agreement, green and low-carbon development has entered into a new stage. China＇s international responsibility to combat climate change is consistent with the inherent sustainable devel- opment needs of the country. In this paper, the reason- ability of China＇s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions （INDC） is examined and the fact that low- carbon development can lead to modernization is demon- strated based on data analysis of energy economics from developed countries. Considering the fact that such an energy revolution forms the basis for China＇s low-carbon transition, a roadmap of the China＇s energy utilization is presented. Based on research results from the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the three historical stages of China＇s energy structure reform are analyzed. Promoting a low-carbon transition through an energy revolution is a long-term and arduous process that requires a genuine transformation of development outlook and patterns. By empirically analyzing situations at home and abroad, a conclusion is made that economic development and a low- carbon transition can be achieved simultaneously; speci- fically, low-carbon development fosters new points of economic growth and gives rise to different development paths.