Comment

When considering what kind of support developing countries will need to implement their climate plans (Nationally Determined Contributions) under the Paris Agreement, let’s not forget that emission reductions offered in current climate pledges are grossly inadequate to meet the objective of the Paris Agreement to keep warming to 1.5°C, and therefore must be ramped up. If emission reductions are not ramped up, the climate change impacts will be unnecessarily severe, damages will be unnecessarily large, and the costs of adaptation will be unnecessarily high.

The EU, plagued by internal differences, is on the verge of losing its long-standing leadership in climate change policy. If the European Commission is unable to forge a consensus on an ambitious climate policy, a smaller 'coalition of the willing' should take up the climate banner.

Fossil fuel divestment started as a grass-roots movement and, as it gains momentum, more and more actors — university campuses, cities, pension funds, banks, to name but a few — commit to move away from investing in coal, oil and gas. Divestment campaigns have been increasing the pressure on governments and institutions in the run up to the upcoming climate summit in Paris but will also play an important role once the expected global agreement to halt climate change is in place.