The IEA released their new Redrawing the Energy-Climate Map report in London yesterday. It offers 4 measures they say can stop the emissions growth by 2020 at no net economic cost, reducing emissions by 3.1 G - that's 80% of the savings required for a 2 °C path:
Energy efficiency is a key investment area for the shift to a low-carbon economy. A Technical Working Group has been convened to develop eligibility criteria for the certification of energy efficiency related bonds under the Climate Bonds Standard.
The first meeting, via teleconference, was held on 20 July 2012.
This Working Group is focusing on the built environment; a separate Working Group will be convened to look at industrial and manufacturing energy efficiency.
And then you get snippets to cheer you up:
- China’s State Council is studying the introduction of a green tax. They're also planning to cut emissions the unit of GDP by 16% within 4 years; that's very ambitious.
The Australian Government announced on the weekend it will set up a "Clean Energy Finance Corporation" (CEFC) as a statutory body. The initiative is part of a large package of climate change finance measures, including a long-awaited carbon tax.
The Australian Conservation Foundation has just released a useful new report, "Funding the transition to a clean energy economy" (see http://goo.gl/AGPdQ).
