1. Central goal:

Keeping to a Paris-compatible
remaining CO2 budget

CO2 emissions accumulate in the atmosphere. Therefore, the sum of the emissions that we still cause is crucial in order to comply with certain global warming limits.

Notes on the CO2 clock

An ambition mechanism was agreed in the Paris Agreement, in which countries are to deliver increasingly ambitious nationally determined contributions (NDCs).

We now urgently need a global discourse on what is a fair share of the globally necessary efforts, especially of the major emitters (China, USA, EU, India, Russia and Japan), which are responsible for around 70% of CO2 emissions. The pressure on all parties to the Paris Agreement to submit Paris-compatible NDCs must be massively increased.

We say that when setting an NDC derived from a global remaining carbon budget, at least the two most important factors "current reality" and "climate justice" should be taken into account. This can be implemented through a weighted allocation key that includes a country's share of current global emissions and global population.

Here is a web application to implement this approach:
http://short.national-budgets.climate-calculator.info

Here is an overview of our tools and papers on Paris-compatible emissions targets: https://climate-calculator.info.

See the tabs "publications", "downloads" and "ESPM" for publications, tools and exemplary results.

2. Central tool:

Effective CO2 price & full climate dividend

CO2 emissions must be given an effective price. "Effective" means that the CO2 price is high enough for the reduction targets to be met - however high they have to be (whatever-it-takes-CO2-prices).

The entire revenue from the pricing of CO2 should be returned to the citizens in the same amount per capita. Such a climate dividend creates broad acceptance for an ambitious climate policy and very effective social equalisation.

The broadest possible social agreement is needed to accept the CO2 price required for successful decarbonisation. If a society can agree on such effective CO2 prices, this will also create the all-important planning security for private and public investments in a fossil-free future.

Here a brief description of how an effective CO2 price with a full climate dividend works.

Let's all take responsibility now and pull the decisive lever for a good decarbonisation process through effective CO2 prices.

Paradigm shift in climate policy =
effective CO2 prices +
full climate dividend =
effective climate protection +
full solidarity

The best instrument to ensure compliance with remaining CO2 budgets are emissions trading systems (ETS) with binding emission caps (hard caps). Such emissions trading generates the CO2 price that is necessary to comply with the CO2 budget. However, the resulting "whaterver-it-takes-CO2-prices" are only politically conceivable and socially justifiable with a full climate dividend.

climate protection is human protection

Notes on the CO2 clock of the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC)

The clock indicates how many years the remaining budget would last if emissions remained the same. You can choose between the 2°C and 1.5°C scenarios.

The CO2 clock is intended to illustrate how tight the remaining budgets are. The terms "2°C scenario" and "1.5°C scenario" are perhaps somewhat misleading, as it will not be the case that we emit at the same level every year for a certain period of time and then suddenly emit nothing at all from one year to the next. If you double the years given, you get roughly the years until emissions neutrality would have to be achieved with a linear reduction path. Here is a web app with which you can derive global linear emission paths and also take an overshoot into account: http://global-paths.climate-calculator.info

Please also note that the remaining budgets used were based on a compliance probability of only 66%. However, the closer we get to the 2°C limit, the more certain we should be that we will actually comply with it, as otherwise we are playing Russian roulette with the tipping points in the climate system. The 2°C scenario should therefore actually be based on a significantly lower remaining budget than the MCC's CO2 clock does.

Here a detailed description of the MCC's CO2 clock.

More information on this topic can be found on our website at "CO2 budget".

How an effective CO2 price with a climate dividend works

If all fossil fuels are priced uniformly according to their carbon content, then the end consumer prices of all products across all value chains reflect the CO2 footprint in the price.

All companies in the supply chain have an incentive to reduce the carbon footprint of their products in order to make more profit and remain competitive.

Consumers can then also consider whether the benefits of a product are still worth the price or whether they see alternatives. If the end consumer can choose between different manufacturers, then the cheaper product is better for the climate in case of doubt.

If the CO2 price is high enough (whatever-it-takes-CO2-price), we will meet our overall CO2 reduction target with innovative, customised and cost-effective solutions, including the necessary lifestyle changes.

In this sense, an effective CO2 price would revolutionise climate protection and greatly simplify it, as everyone is actually looking out for their own advantage and yet the world is being saved.

Of course, even with an effective carbon price, the state must ensure that planning and approval processes are accelerated, that there is sufficient land available for wind turbines, that the necessary power lines, cycle paths, railway tracks etc. are built and that other regulations do not stand in the way of a fossil-free future. But the state and society as a whole will also find it easier to make the right decisions with an effective CO2 price. Basically, the better the other instrument mix is set up, the less the CO2 price will have to rise in order to meet the targets.

The open flank of any purely national climate policy is that - where possible - imported products could be used, which are subject to a less ambitious climate policy and may therefore be more cost-effective. Intelligent special regulations (carbon leakage protection) are therefore necessary for particularly CO2-intensive production processes such as steel production or cracking in the chemical industry, as long as comparable rules do not yet apply globally or comparable climate ambitions exist. Overall, however, we need to ensure that we also get into gear globally (see a web application for clarification). There is no other way to achieve the Paris climate targets. If we meet climate targets significantly with an effective carbon price, this will strengthen national competitiveness due to its advantages in terms of cost efficiency and innovation.

The climate dividend is simply calculated by dividing the total revenue from CO2 pricing by the number of citizens (in short: per capita emissions * CO2 price).

With a full climate dividend, the average citizen is not burdened by the CO2 price per se. Low-income earners and families, on the other hand, will benefit significantly, as their per capita emissions are generally well below average. The bottom line is that around 60% of citizens would be relieved in terms of the CO2 price and climate dividend.

See for yourself how the CO2 price and climate dividend interact with the www.co2-preis-rechner.de from the citizens' climate lobby.

Prof Dr Ottmar Edenhofer (Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research) says it all in one sentence: "It doesn't cost the earth to save the planet"

Two things are crucial for limiting global warming:

1. Central goal: Keeping to a Paris-compatible remaining CO2 budget

2. Central tool: Effective CO2 price & full climate dividend

climate protection is human protection

Notes on the CO2 clock of the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC)

How an effective CO2 price with a climate dividend works

Prof Dr Ottmar Edenhofer (Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research) says it all in one sentence:
"It doesn't cost the earth to save the planet"

1. Central goal:

Keeping to a Paris-compatible
remaining CO2 budget

2. Central tool:

Effective CO2 price & full climate dividend