The impact of good practice policies on regional and global greenhouse gas emissions
The report "The impact of good practice policies on regional and global greenhouse gas emissions" by NewClimate Institute, PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis looks at the impact of “good practice” emission reduction policies in nine different areas globally and across six countries: China, Brazil, India, the US, Russia and Japan. These include renewable energy, a variety of energy efficiency standards (buildings, car fuel efficiency, appliances and lighting, industry), hydrofluorocarbons (HFC’s), emissions from fossil fuel production, electric cars and forestry. The authors looked at the most ambitious “good practice” policies around the world that are being implemented now, and calculated the difference these would make if everybody were to apply them. If all governments follow those governments that currently adopt the best climate policies in just nine different areas, they could reduce emissions close to the levels needed to stay on track to hold global warming below 2˚C. The implementation of good practice policies is projected to stabilise greenhouse gas emissions at 49 – 50 GtCO2e by 2020, and decrease to 44 – 47 GtCO2e by 2030 – close to the 2°C emissions range (30-44 GtCO2e) by 2030. Direct replication of good practice policies is projected to halt emissions growth in most regions significantly before 2030. In contrast, current policies are expected to see emissions to increase to around 54 GtCO2e by 2020 and 59 – 60 GtCO2e by 2030.