Launching a New Climate Regime

Joint Program Report
Launching a New Climate Regime
Jacoby, H.D. and Y.H.-H. Chen (2015)
Joint Program Report Series, 22 p.

Report 286 [Download]

Abstract/Summary:

At the 2015 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meeting in Paris, participants in a new international climate agreement will volunteer Nationally Determined Contributions to emissions reductions. To put the planet on a path to declared temperature goals, the growth of global greenhouse gas emissions must cease, and begin to decline, by 2035 to 2040; however, the expected contributions do not yield results consistent with this timeline. Three achievements in Paris and follow-on activities are then crucial components of the new climate regime: a robust system of review with widely accepted measures of national effort; an established, durable plan of future pledge cycles; and increased financial support for the mitigation efforts of less developed countries. The MIT Economic Projection and Policy Analysis (EPPA) model is applied to assess emissions outcomes of expected pledges and national performances in meeting them, and to elaborate the components of a successful launch.

Citation:

Jacoby, H.D. and Y.H.-H. Chen (2015): Launching a New Climate Regime. Joint Program Report Series Report 286, 22 p. (http://globalchange.mit.edu/publication/16227)
  • Joint Program Report
Launching a New Climate Regime

Jacoby, H.D. and Y.H.-H. Chen

Report 

286
22 p.
2016

Abstract/Summary: 

At the 2015 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meeting in Paris, participants in a new international climate agreement will volunteer Nationally Determined Contributions to emissions reductions. To put the planet on a path to declared temperature goals, the growth of global greenhouse gas emissions must cease, and begin to decline, by 2035 to 2040; however, the expected contributions do not yield results consistent with this timeline. Three achievements in Paris and follow-on activities are then crucial components of the new climate regime: a robust system of review with widely accepted measures of national effort; an established, durable plan of future pledge cycles; and increased financial support for the mitigation efforts of less developed countries. The MIT Economic Projection and Policy Analysis (EPPA) model is applied to assess emissions outcomes of expected pledges and national performances in meeting them, and to elaborate the components of a successful launch.