This report examines the implications of committed and proposed
developments in the LNG and coal mining sectors for reform of Australia's Safeguard
Mechanism.
Our areas of expertise include:
- Sea level rise
- Ocean acidification
- Climate sensitivity and feedbacks
- Probabilistic climate projections
- Emission pathways and climate goals
- Role of Non-CO2 gases and air pollutants
Contact
Dr. Michiel Schaeffer
Climate science is highly complex and the policy implications are not always clear. We therefore work to advance scientific knowledge on climate science, policy and impacts and make this information accessible to stakeholders working in the international climate change arena.
To do this, we conduct our own research (for example, projecting sea-level rise or evaluating impacts and risks at different levels of warming) and communicate key findings from the scientific literature, and their implications.
Projections of future climate change are subject to uncertainty, as they depend on a range of developments that cannot be foreseen. There remain important limitations to the understanding and modelling of some processes in the climate system. Much of our work is therefore focused on understanding these processes and the probabilities associated with climate impact projections.
Publications
Based on scenarios underlying the IPCC's 6th Assessment Report, in this paper we construct a suite of scenarios that combine the following elements: (a) two quantifications of a moral claim to the remaining carbon space by South Asia, and Africa, (b) a 'highest possible emission reduction' effort by developed regions, and (c) a corresponding range for other developing regions. Our findings raise important questions of perspectives on equity in the context of the Paris Agreement including on the critical importance of climate finance.
Considering cryosphere and warming uncertainties together implies drastically increased risk of threshold crossing in the cryosphere, even under lower-emission pathways, and underscores the need to halve emissions by 2030 in line with the 1.5 °C limit of the Paris Agreement.
This briefing summarises the latest science on 1.5°C including from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the International Energy Agency and other key reports.
Limiting global warming to 1.5°C requires transforming almost all systems, from how we power our economy and build our cities to how we feed a growing population and manage our land. This report provides an overview of how we are collectively doing in addressing the climate crisis.
Land cover and land management change has a critical role in mitigation scenarios for both global mitigation and local adaptation. Yet the dependence of different land cover and land management change options on the background climate, and the local vs. non-local responses are still poorly understood across different Earth system models.
This study builds on work by Samset et al., who reported that the effects of emission mitigation will only be perceived through global temperature with a multi-decadal delay. This paper provides additional context and expresses concerns with the approach towards assessing a discernible warming response under different greenhouse gas concentration pathways.
Projects
This project, funded by the IKEA Foundation, shows how a group of countries from different regions can update their NDCs (national climate pledges) to be in line with the Paris Agreement goals.
IMPACT is a cross-cutting, multi-faceted project that aims to strengthen the connections between the scientific assessments of climate impacts, vulnerability and adaptation to help enable access to finance and help Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) implement concrete projects.
Science and policy to assist and support SIDSs and LDCs to negotiate a strong international climate regime, enabling low carbon development and supporting adaptation needs.
This project aims to establish a scientifically robust and transparent link between the latest climate-economic science data and the Climate Bonds Initiative’s project universe. The Framework's goal is to ensure that project categories certified under the Climate Bond Standards represent mitigation actions that current climate science finds most relevant in order to keep global warming below 2° C. Project period: 2015 - 2016.
Climate Analytics provides analytical support to NGOs.
Project Period: 2009
Climate Analytics contributes to European Capacity Building Initiative (ECBI) policy-makers workshops in Africa.
Project Period: 2009