Horizon Europe clustering event on climate sciences and responses for the transformation towards climate neutrality

ACHIEVE presented on the 10th of October the first project outcomes and policy-relevant messages to European Commission staff and policy officers as part of a clustering event organized for Horizon Europe’s Cluster 5 Destination 1 on climate sciences and responses for the transformation towards climate neutrality. Three key messages from our research so far:

• A mapping of cooperative climate initiatives indicates that the effectiveness of initiatives has decreased since 2018. ACHIEVE recommends increased attention being paid to the legitimacy of net-zero claims and widening the policy focus from net-zero to also other climate commitments so that also their credibility can be ensured.
• Emission coverage by signatories of initiatives launched at COP26 is limited, the institutional robustness of initiatives varies widely, and only few governments followed up on their commitment. Important follow-ups for the initiatives are setting up robust governance frameworks, and for government signatories to reflect the initiative goals in their next NDCs.
• A synthesis of voluntary initiatives by financial institutions points to the need of binding regulations to provide incentives for financial institutions to align their investment behavior.