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In Bangkok, building on consistent calls at negotiation sessions since Paris in December 2015, many developing countries argued that loss and damage should be systematically considered in this context. How did that go?

This blog gives an overview of the most important recent studies on climate impacts and extreme events. Much of it will be synthesised in the IPCC special report on 1.5˚C, due out in October, which will be a key document for setting the course of climate policy at a global level.

The adoption of the Paris Agreement started a lively debate among scientists about the interpretation of several of its elements. Of particular interest has been the long-term temperature goal of limiting warming to “well below” 2°C or 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and the question of how progress against the goal should be tracked. As there are a number of different observed datasets for global temperature – as well as methods that use climate models – it means different studies can arrive at different assessments.

Climate extremes, many now bearing human fingerprints, are already causing devastating impacts across the globe, and the time is high for Loss and Damage to be considered in concrete and actionable terms in the implementation of the Paris Agreement. But what are the next steps to really move this issue forward, and in particular what needs to be done at the first “Islands COP” in Bonn?

In an analysis prepared for the NDC Partnership our experts looked into the recent developments in terms of NDCs submission and renewables deployment. They also outlined a number of instruments that can be utilised to decrease the gap between current emissions trends and the Paris Agreement compatible emissions pathways.