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Yale Climate Change Dialogue Executive Summary:
Building Toward Breakthrough: Energizing the Paris 2015 Climate Negotiations and PostParis Action Agenda through a Framework for Broader Engagement
Raising the trajectory of the 2015 Climate Change Agreement, to be concluded in December in
Paris, demands fresh thinking and an action agenda that goes beyond the efforts of the past two
decades. A truly robust and ambitious Paris outcome must launch a framework that emphasizes
broader engagement on climate change mitigation and adaptation – and celebrates the real
progress that mayors, governors, CEOs, and other civil society leaders are already achieving in
this regard.
A diverse group of climate change thought-leaders from around the world – under the auspices
of the Yale Climate Change Dialogue – has brainstormed, analyzed, and framed a set of options
and opportunities for delivering a meaningful global response to climate change. This model –
which aims to energize the global response to climate change and change the “psychology” of
the negotiation – would:
1. Highlight the successful commitments of non-nation-state actors in the Paris
Agreement or one of its associated decisions or annexes;
2. Encourage and track the city, state/province, and corporate commitments – and gauge
their effectiveness through innovative metrics that will induce broader climate action,
track performance across scales, and provide accountability; and
3. Scale up clean energy finance through strategies designed to support wide-ranging
action, particularly using limited public funding to leverage private capital.
Together, these three components can invigorate the climate change negotiations, support the
“Agenda of Solutions” that the 2015 Paris Agreement needs to advance, and build post-Paris
momentum for broad-gauge action on climate change on a range of scales.
1. Broadening the Engagement of Non-Nation-Actors at COP 21
Climate change success will require moving beyond the 20th Century focus on nation-state
targets and timetables to emphasize a broader base of action on a more bottom-up basis. We
propose, therefore, that the outcome from COP 21, whether the formal Paris Agreement or the
Decision of the Conference of the Parties, provides a mechanism that allows mayors, governors,
CEOs, and civil society leaders to signal their endorsement of the goals of the 2015 Agreement
and to formalize their own climate change commitments. To avoid an unwieldy outcome that
tries to incorporate specifics of each non-nation-state commitment, the outcome could list the
non-nation-state entities that have made action pledges. Such a listing could cross-reference a
platform that houses the detail of these pledges such as the Non-state Actor Zone for Climate
Action (NAZCA) portal.
2. Encourage and Track Non-Nation-State Commitments Through Innovative
Metrics
An “all-hands-on-deck” approach to future climate change action argues for having the Paris
Agreement establishing a simple reporting structure that encourages commitments from nonnation-state actors, providing an easy-to-follow set of metrics, and promoting action by all who
are positioned to contribute to the global response to climate change.
Whether built upon the existing NAZCA platform or established elsewhere, the Paris Agreement
needs to strive to achieve the delicate balance between a simple reporting and review structure
that facilitates commitments from the widest possible range of parties while also promoting
robust climate change mitigation and adaptation:
•
A tiered approach to include non-nation-state and subnational actions within a
platform like NAZCA, allowing for actors who may not have the capacity to submit
detailed information on base-year emissions, projected mitigation or adaptation
potential, and financing to be “phased in.” At the same time, stricter criteria for
inclusion (e.g., emissions information or other third-party verification requirements)
could be specified for actors who seek greater recognition for efforts.
•
A broader suite of metrics that captures a range of information from both state, nonnation-state and subnational actors to allow for better evaluation of ambition,
implementation, and impact. Metrics that can allow for aggregating impact or
assessing the ambition and likely implementation of pledges are needed to evaluate
progress toward global climate goals.
3. Scale Up Clean Energy Finance Strategies That Support Wide-Ranging Action
To help a new set of players engage in climate change action, to build confidence in their own
commitments, and empower them to measure, report, and verify their success, it is essential to
increase the flow of private capital to climate change mitigation and adaptation activities. The
scale of traditional public financing is simply too small, but the UNFCCC can bring private
capital to center stage. Using new structures (green banks, green bonds, etc.), the reach of public
funds can be extended using various derisking strategies to attract new private capital.