
Policy Area
Climate Change, Sustainable Energy & Environment
POLICY BRIEFS
Policy Briefs contain recommendations or visions and cover policy areas that are of interest to G20 policymakers. The majority of the Policy Briefs has been developed by a corresponding Think20 Task Force.
T20 Recommendations Reports tie related policy proposals made under different G20 Presidencies into a common policy advice framework. They aim to leverage connections between T20 research organizations as well as other stakeholders to address well-defined global problems, in order to support G20 policymakers and to aid business and civil society organizations in complementing G20 policy efforts.
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G20 2020
Bioeconomy: A sustainable development strategy -
G20 2020
The true cost of food -
G20 2020
Sector coupling, regulatory convergence and climate change -
G20 2020
Enhanced water security and energy access: Key investments for Sub-Saharan Africa -
G20 2020
Framing energy and minerals for future pathways -
G20 2020
Promoting human-centric technologies and the urban NEXUS to address the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) sustainability challenges of smart cities -
G20 2020
Integrated policies to improve the Energy-Water-Food System Nexus to achieve the SDGS -
G20 2020
The WEF Nexus approach: An imperative enabler for sustainable development in the MENA Region -
G20 2020
Waste management and electricity generation in Africa: Developing Waste-to-Energy to the benefit of sustainable cities? -
G20 2020
Promoting energy market stability in a transitioning world -
G20 2020
Integrated nexus policies for sustainable and resilient energy, water, and food systems -
G20 2020
Scaling sustainable agricultural practices -
G20 2020
Responsible large-scale agricultural investments in and by G20 countries: A call for more transparency -
G20 2020
Refreshing global energy security policy and infrastructure for the energy transition -
G20 2020
Adaptive policy to leverage hydrogen in the energy transition -
G20 2020
Embracing innovation to meet food systems challenges -
G20 2020
Forest and food solutions for the climate crisis -
G20 2020
Climate change induced migration: Informing policy on the internal migration -
G20 2020
Addressing climate-related financial risks and overcoming barriers to scaling-up sustainable investment -
G20 2020
Targeting pollution to improve health and mitigate climate change: The G20 “Safeguarding the planet” agenda – a call for action -
G20 2020
Displaced populations due to environmental perils: The challenge of climate migrants for the G20 community -
G20 2020
Coastal challenges: Mainstreaming climate action in the G20 development agenda -
G20 2020
Trade and climate change: A key agenda for the G20 -
G20 2020
A cost-effective low-carbon framework to manage emissions from water desalination -
G20 2020
Managing global transport energy use and emissions through technology, policy, and collaborative initiatives -
G20 2020
The integration of climate action into economic development and stimulus measures: Policy options for the G20 -
G20 2020
A G20 circular carbon economy: policies and practices to foster circularity in plastics -
G20 2020
Covid-19 recovery: How the G20 can accelerate sustainable energy transitions in the power sector by supporting the private sector -
G20 2020
G20’s role in marine biodiversity – policy options and best practices for enhancing marine protected areas (MPA) -
G20 2020
Enhancing voluntary collaboration on cooling through the G20 -
G20 2020
Measurement, reporting, verification, and certification of methane emissions from fossil fuel production and natural gas value chains -
G20 2020
Carbon price policies and international competitiveness in G20 countries -
G20 2020
Does a climate-constrained world need nuclear energy? -
G20 2020
Promoting carbon-neutral hydrogen through UNFCCC and national-level policies -
G20 2020
Nature-based solutions to climate change: Towards a blue carbon economy future -
G20 2020
Achieving net-zero in the G20: A novel supply-side climate policy to value carbon sinks -
G20 2020
A carbon management system of innovation: Towards a circular carbon economy -
G20 2020
Financing energy efficiency of buildings: Green instruments and policy guidance -
G20 2020
A cost-effective pathway to a low-emissions transportation future -
G20 2020
Toward a comprehensive approach to youth empowerment for climate action -
G20 Japan
Policies and Practices to Enable Business Models for Resource Efficiency and a Circular Economy -
G20 Japan
Six Proposals for Future Policies towards Circular Economy and Society -
G20 Japan
Improving Future Ocean Governance – Governance of Global Goods in an Age of Global Shifts -
G20 Japan
Promotion of Constructing Zero Carbon Society: Effectiveness of Quantitative Evaluation of Technology and System for Sustainable Economic Development -
G20 Japan
Sustainable Prevention of Food Crises in Sub-Saharan Africa -
G20 Japan
Delivering National Climate Action Through Decarbonized Cities -
G20 Japan
Investing in Climate Change Mitigation: A G20 Action Plan for Upscaling Private Sector Contributions -
G20 Japan
Addressing Critical Issues for Building Climate Resilient Infrastructure -
G20 Japan
Energy Transition in Emerging and Developing Countries: Promoting the New Paradigm -
G20 Japan
Potential of Various Renewable Energy and its Introduction Policy in Southeast Asia
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Global Solutions Journal G20/T20 Italy 2021 Edition
The Global Solutions Journal G20/T20 Italy 2021 Edition focuses on Italy’s G20 priorities, overcoming the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Digital Governance and New Measurement.
Authors from various sectors – politics, research, academia, business, and civil society – have contributed to this multifaceted edition.
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S20 Saudi Arabia Communique
S20 Saudi Arabia 2020: Read the Communique here.
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Will the G20 provide the urgent leadership needed on climate action?
Accounting for more than 80 percent of global emissions, the role of the G20 in reaching the goals of the Paris Agreement is pivotal. But will the G20 provide the urgent leadership needed on climate action, asks Amar Bhattacharya, senior fellow for Global Economy and Development at Brookings.
The need for strong ambition of the G20 to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement
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Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), Japan: Interview from Dean Yoshino on CNBC
Naoyuki Yoshino, Dean of the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), discusses infrastructure and climate change and argues that when leaders attend the G20 summit, they should adopt a global perspective instead of focusing on their own countries. This will help them negotiate and reach a conclusion.
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G20 Japan: Action Plan on Energy Transitions and Global Environment for Sustainable Growth
The G20 members have an important role in supporting the private sector in the promotion of innovation, investment, and a better business environment to develop and deploy affordable, reliable, sustainable, and low GHG emissions energy systems, and to achieve a cleaner, more resilient and sustainable future. Governments play a key role in innovation that provides clear signals and in creating an enabling environment.
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G20 Japan: Action Agenda on Adaptation and Resilient Infrastructure
The Action Agenda on Adaptation and Resilient Infrastructure is concluded by the G20 Environment Ministers as one of the outcomes of the G20 Adaptation Work Program (2018-2019), which outlines actions, initiatives, and best practices that G20 members wish to highlight and share with other countries.
G20 Action Agenda on Adaptation and Resilient Infrastructure
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G20 Japan: Implementation Framework for Actions on Marine Plastic Litter
The G20 members recognize the increasing urgency to tackle the issue of marine litter, especially marine plastic litter and microplastics, on a global scale, further building on existing efforts.
G20 Japan Implementation Framework for Actions on Marine Plastic Litter
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Companies plead for a circular economy
A group of sustainable companies including multinationals and 2000 SMEs call upon the G20 to boost demand and transparency for circular products and services. A move towards a circular economy, which is restorative and regenerative by design, presents a huge opportunity. To overcome the barriers, they call on the G20 to secure access to sustainably sourced raw materials, bio-based materials and biomass; enhance re-use, recycling and cascading; train governments in green public procurement; extend public responsibility schemes and green fiscal reform aiming at resource efficiency; and aim for increasing the uptake of high-quality secondary raw materials.
The full text is available here.
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G20 Climate Change Commitments and Compliance
In this research report, Brittaney Warren systemically analyses the compliance on climate change commitments made by the G20 since the first G20 summit in 2008 through to the 11th summit in 2016. One key observation is that a higher number of climate change commitments a summit makes does not correlate with high compliance on the issue overall.
Research Report: G20 Climate Change Commitments and Compliance
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G20 Energy Commitments and Compliance
In this study, Brittaney Warren systemically analyzes the G20 Research Group’s database on G20 energy commitments and compliance. It finds that of the 105 energy commitments the G20 made since 2009 compliance with the 16 assessed ones was in the mid range at an overall average of 73%.
Research Report: G20 Energy Commitments and Compliance
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IASS Policy Brief: An Ambitious Energy Agenda for the G20
This policy brief by the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies proposes three measures in addition to the goals of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which should be initiated by the G20 in order to bring about a global energy transition.
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G20 Energy Transformation during the German Presidency
With changing economic realities, an ambitious G20 green energy shift is overdue. In order to counter the financial stress in the fossil fuel and nuclear industries and the countries exporting fossil commodities, energy should no longer be left primarily to the G20 “Sherpa track”, but should be included prominently in the finance track. The authors of this policy brief discuss Germany’s opportunity to complete the shift during its G20 Presidency in 2017.
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The cleverest countries on climate change – and what we can learn from them
Alexander Starritt tracks down groundbreaking initiatives, plans, projects and targets from around the world regarding a shift to a clean economy, both to give credit where it’s due – and to set examples for governments to learn from the comparison.
The cleverest countries on climate change – and what we can learn from them, by Alexander Starritt
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COVID-19 and the Crisis of National Development
COVID-19’s rapid move from warning sign to global pandemic has yanked the spotlight onto a number of questions humanity has been uneasily avoiding for years. Beyond the human-focused ones like how to keep a global economy running when flights are shut down, it has also drawn attention to the human exploitation of ecosystems as national assets, which compels the human–animal interactions that probably made the virus infectious to humans in the first place.
COVID-19 and the Crisis of National Development
By Cobus van Staden (SAIIA)