Accelerating global climate action by 2030

The Parties to the Paris Agreement agreed to hold the long-term rise in global temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius, and pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. However, Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and climate protection measures are not sufficient to achieve this goal. By 2030, current projections predict an ambition gap of 26 to 29 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalents if the NDCs are not raised (Climate Action Tracker 2019).

Bi- and multilateral agreements and cooperation are an effective means to promote and accelerate this process. Not only do they facilitate international knowledge transfer about existing and effective mechanisms, but they also drive the development of new strategies and solutions and can help addressing the unequal distribution of emission sources, climate change impacts and mitigation costs.

Member states of the G20 currently account for about 80 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and are therefore of key importance for the achievement of the Paris Agreement and climate mitigation targets. However, their NDCs are either insufficient to comply with the limit of 1.5 degree Celsius or are not being implemented sufficiently.

The project aims to identify and assess relevant options for multilateral initiatives to accelerate global climate action by 2030. The project results are designed to support scientific policy advise and climate diplomacy, for example among the G20 countries.

The first step of the project summarizes existing analyses of technical mitigation options and develops criteria for the selection and evaluation of existing multilateral initiatives. For four policy fields - energy transition, synthetic e-fuels, sustainable food systems and forest protection – the project develops concrete proposals in the next step. During an international conference and in digital formats, the project results are discussed with its target audience. The project started in December 2019 and was completed at the end of 2021.

The background paper "Key mitigation options to close the global 2030 ambition and action gap" includes an overview of technical mitigation options discussed in the current literature that can contribute to closing the ambition gap. It serves as a basis for identifying key policy fields and promising initiatives for intergovernmental cooperation among G20 countries and other actors. A second background papier „Methodology and criteria for assessing multilateral initiatives to close the global 2030 climate ambition and action gap“ explains the methodology for the assessment in further detail.

In several policy papers, detailed analyses of a selection of multilateral initiatives of the G20 countries are conducted for particularly relevant policy areas - energy transition, synthetic e-fuels, sustainable food systems, and forest protection. On this basis, the policy papers develop proposals for new and improved multilateral initiatives:

Policy field energy transition

• an initiative to coordinate efforts for a green recovery
• an initiative to reduce the supply of fossil fuels
• a club of national and sub-national governments that commit to a fully renewable energy supply
• a dedicated institution to foster energy efficiency and energy conservation
• an alliance specifically aimed at the non-usual suspects

Policy field synthetic e-fuels

• a Sustainable e-Kerosene Alliance
• a Sustainable e-fuel Alliance for Maritime Shipping
• a Hard-to-Abate Sector Partnership
• a Global Supply-demand-partnership

Policy field sustainable food systems

• an international institution to support national food system frameworks
• an initiative to strengthen a food system approach in international climate policy
• a collaboration and exchange mechanism to implement the Planetary Health Diet locally
• an initiative for an international food loss and waste accreditation scheme

Policy field forest protection

• increasing stakeholder participation to improve ownership
• establishing a facility to provide a global reference data set of land use emissions
• jurisdictional approaches to enhance private sector engagement
• increasing integration of forest protection and restoration pledges into NDCs
• combining COVID-19 recovery with policies for forest protection and restoration

Synthesis report: Advancing multilateral cooperation on climate action

The synthesis report of the project summarizes the proposals for new initiatives in all four policy. It further analyses interactions, synergies and trade-offs between the policy fields, and identifies relevant actors and countries. The report concludes with recommendations how the initiatives could be implemented in processes connected to UNFCCC, the G7 or G20 and in cooperation with the US.