Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development

June 20, 2019

Study: U.S. Costal Communities Face More Than $400 Billion in Seawall Costs by 2040

Coastal communities in the contiguous U.S. face more than $400 billion in costs over the next 20 years, much of it sooner, to defend coastal communities from inevitable sea-level rise. As things stand, oil and gas companies and other climate polluters are paying none of these costs.

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March 25, 2019

Catastrophic Arctic Warming Predicted Even with Current Paris Pledges

Update & Correction: Following further consultation with global and Arctic climate experts, the UN has issued a revised version of Global Linkages–A graphic look at the changing Arctic. The revised report explains winter temperatures over the Arctic Ocean would increase 3 to 5°C by mid-century.

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November 10, 2018

Montreal Protocol Aims High in Quito to Avoid 1º C of Future Warming

At the conclusion of the annual meeting of the Montreal Protocol, the Parties took their strongest action yet to increase energy efficiency of cooling equipment in parallel with the mandated phase down of HFC refrigerants under the Kigali Amendment

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July 16, 2018

As World Warms, Millions More Need Cooling (and This Could Cause More Warming)

As the world warms up, the growing use of ACs and other cooling equipment will accelerate, and the extra energy needed to power the equipment will itself increase global warming. Two authoritative reports published this week grapple with how to break this vicious circle, and keep people cool without heating the planet.

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November 25, 2017

Montreal Protocol Concludes 30th Anniversary with Robust Financial Replenishment, Progress on Energy Efficiency

At the conclusion of the 30th anniversary Meeting of the Parties of the Montreal Protocol the Parties agreed to a robust three-year replenishment to fund the continuing phase out of HCFCs, and to a separate decision to have the TEAP study how best to integrate energy efficiency with the HFC phasedown under the Kigali Amendment.

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November 17, 2017

Kigali Amendment Reaches Needed Ratifications in Run Up to Montreal Protocol’s 30th Anniversary Meeting Next Week

In the run up to the Montreal Protocol’s 30th anniversary Meeting next week, this afternoon Sweden became the 20th Party to deposit its instrument of ratification to the Kigali Amendment, which ensures that the amendment will enter into force 1 January 2019.

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November 9, 2017

Vatican Pontifical Academy of Sciences Proposes Practical Solutions to Prevent Catastrophic Climate Change

Scalable and practical solutions exist to help preserve the quality of life of future generations in the face of accelerating climate impacts, and with perhaps a decade left to put these into place, the time for climate change action is now.

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September 14, 2017

New Reports Detail Essential Climate Policies Needed to Limit Warming Below 2°Celsius

Two new studies released today find that global temperature increases can be limited to less than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, as global leaders have pledged through the Paris Agreement, but only if the world quickly pursues three cooling approaches.

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June 14, 2017

Élysée Palace Announces Opening of IGSD Office in Paris

The Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development (IGSD) became the first climate research group to accept French President Emmanuel Macron’s invitation to France to work together on the fight against climate change.

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May 4, 2017

New strategy needed to cut the rate of global warming in half by 2042 say top scientists

Writing in today's issue of Science, the scientists – members of the Scientific Advisory Panel of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition – say that achieving the ambitious goal of slowing warming by 0.5 degree Celsius over the next quarter of a century is “plausible” and would have “many potential benefits” in tackling poverty, improving health and avoiding damage to crops besides reducing climate change.

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October 14, 2016

Nations Agree to Kigali Amendment: Largest Near-Term Temperature Reduction from Single Agreement

Warming caused by one of the six main greenhouse gases will be taken out of the climate system through the Kigali Amendment agreed in the early morning hours today in Rwanda. The amendment to the Montreal Protocol to phase out HFCs is the largest temperature reduction ever achieved by a single agreement.

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September 22, 2016

Philanthropic Group Launches World’s Largest Energy Efficiency Investment

Today Bill Gates and other philanthropic foundations announced fast-start funding to maximize energy efficiency in parallel with an ambitious HFC amendment under the Montreal Protocol.

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September 21, 2016

Watch: Reducing HFCs with the world’s most successful environmental treaty

Watch: Reducing HFCs with the world’s most successful environmental treaty

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IGSD works to promote just and sustainable societies and to protect the environment by advancing the understanding, development, and implementation of effective, and accountable systems of governance for sustainable development.

News

8 Aug

“Land is under growing human pressure; Land is part of the solution; but land can’t do it all.”

Released today, the IPCC’s Summary for Policymakers of its second Special Report Climate Change and Land (SRCCL)explores the complex connections between climate change and land. The Report confirms the significant role land use has on greenhouse gas emissions and, conversely, climate change’s impact on the world’s land use.
12 Jul

Loss of Arctic’s Reflective Sea Ice Will Advance 2°C Guardrail 25 Years

Losing the remaining Arctic sea ice and its reflective power to send incoming solar radiation safely back to space is equivalent to adding one trillion tons of CO2 to the atmosphere, on top of the 2.4 trillion emitted since the Industrial Age. This roughly equates to adding 25 years of additional global CO2 emissions.
5 Jul

India’s EESL and Voltas Protect Climate, Ozone Layer with Bulk Procurement of Super Efficient and Affordable ACs

India’s EESL will soon begin selling seven-star rated Voltas inverter-air room conditioners (RACs) at a discount price of ₹41,500 (US$604) for a 1.5-tonne unit, which is cheaper than a five-star rated AC. The price reduction is the result of EESL bulk procurement of 50,000 RACs.
24 Jun

New UC Textbook Lays Out Key Solutions to Climate Emergency

New course and textbook by the University of California, Bending the Curve: Climate Change Solutions, authored by more than 20 leading climate experts, lays out ten solutions that together can bend the curve of climate warming below dangerous levels.