Instruments to increase climate policy ambition before 2020 – economic and political implications in selected industry and emerging countries

Currently there exists a gap between the emissions projected in the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) submitted by countries to the UNFCCC and the emissions that are consistent with limiting global warming to below 2°C (Climate Action Tracker, 2015a; UNFCCC, 2015). Given that the INDCs only commit countries to mitigation actions beyond 2020, there is an opportunity to further reduce this projected emission gap in 2030 based upon more ambitious mitigation efforts prior to 2020. The aim of this research paper is to analyse the current mitigation of countries efforts, identify best practices and estimate the global impact on emission reductions in 2020 if applied globally. By estimating the extent to which mitigation potential may exist up until 2020 and by providing insights on how policy barriers may be overcome, this report aims to facilitate enhanced action by countries participating in the UNFCCC negotiations prior to 2020.