Climate & Energy

The publication is a combination of two papers: the first written by Wilson Rickerson and others providing an overview of the current US situation on renewable heating and cooling, and the second written by Uwe Leprich and others providing a detailed look at the German support mechanisms for renewable heating and cooling policy in Germany.

The world has moved beyond simple acknowledgement that climate change and environmental degradation pose significant risks to humanity and the planet’s ecosystems. In recognition of theincreased vulnerability of billions of people, mostly in the developing world, Northern donors have pledged billions of dollars in new financial commitments. Those funds are to be delivered through no fewer than a dozen new environmental funding mechanisms seeking to mitigate these risks and to help the most vulnerable to adapt to coming societal and environmental changes.

An Overview concerning Chinese Domestic Laws, and the Instruments and Measures of Climate Change Mitigation

Feed-in tariff policies have driven rapid renewable energy growth for electricity in Europe, but have not been widely adopted in North America to date. This paper reviews the experience of US states which have introduced feed-in tariff legislation, and discusses the outlook for Community-Based Energy Development policies.

Working Group on Development and the Environment in the Americas

This is the report for a roundtable held on September 21, and which was a landmark event, one of the first high-level sessions to focus on the linkages between gender equality and climatechange.

The diffusion of renewable energy policies around the world has prompted dialogue and debate on the comparative merits of different policy schemes. The most prevalent policies for supporting new renewable electricity are variations of the feed-in tariff and the Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS).