Available online: https://pub.norden.org/temanord2022-563/ An increasing number of non-state actors are taking steps towards and beyond carbon neutrality and making claims about their contribution to global climate action. The voluntary use of carbon credits is one way to support more, earlier and faster climate action than what would be possible with own emission reductions alone, if high environmental and social integrity is ensured. The Nordic Dialogue on Voluntary Compensation brought together Nordic stakeholders to co-create guidance for the robust voluntary use of carbon credits in line with the long-term goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Agenda. This report summarises Nordic perspectives on best practice for the voluntary use of carbon credits and related claims, and recommendations for further Nordic cooperation in this field.

Available online: https://pub.norden.org/temanord2023-521/ All Nordic countries have set ambitious targets to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions through various national goals and legislation. Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) has a key role in strategies to achieve net-zero emissions through mitigating emissions from fossil fuels and removing CO2 permanently from the atmosphere. This project aimed to analyse regulatory aspects that are relevant for deployment of CCS-based mitigation options in a Nordic context. The report identifies similarities and differences between the Nordic countries concerning CCS regulation, barriers to CCS deployment due to regulatory frameworks, and currently ongoing regulatory development aimed at promoting responsible CCS deployment. Recommendations are provided concerning areas where further development, coordination, and capacity building might be prioritised by the Nordic countries.

Available online: https://pub.norden.org/politiknord2023-728/ Our Vision 2030 describes what it will take to make the Nordic Region the most sustainable and integrated region in the world. The sheer ambition makes it important to monitor progress closely. To this end, the Nordic Council of Ministers commissioned Rambøll Management Consulting to conduct baseline measurements back in 2021. The idea was to map out the starting point for work on the vision. This status report follows up on the baseline measurements and assesses progress towards realising the vision. It is based on the 45 indicators adopted by the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2021 and the methodology used for the baseline report. Overall, the 2023 status report shows that the Nordic Region remains on track to become the most sustainable and integrated region in the world. This is particularly true for the visions of a competitive Nordic Region and a socially sustainable Nordic Region. However, there is room for improvement with regard to the visions for a green Nordic Region.

Available online: https://pub.norden.org/temanord2023-546/ Climate change leads to more severe and frequent disasters, increasing heat and sea level rise. When natural or man-made systems meet soft or hard adaptation limits, it can lead to loss and damage (L&D). L&D is unequally distributed, affecting the most vulnerable and least developed countries the worst. The Nordic Council of Ministers’ Working Group for Climate and Air (NKL) has commissioned a project in which the main objective is to map, identify and further develop potential solutions and sources for financial support to developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to climate change induced L&D. This study is a key outcome from this project. In short, this study’s focus is on how to enhance and improve existing solutions and sources and innovate and create new sources of finance that can be used for financing L&D actions.

International commissions, academics, practitioners, and the media have long been critical of the UN’s development efforts as disjointed and not fit for purpose; yet the organization has been an essential contributor to progress and peacebuilding. This handbook explores the activities of the UN development system (UNDS), the largest operational pillar of the organization and arguably the arena in which its ideational endeavors have made the biggest contribution to thinking and standards. Contributions focus on the role of the UNDS in sustainable social, economic, and environmental development, describing how the UNDS interacts with the other major functions of the UN system, and how it performs operationally in the context of the new 2030 development agenda focused on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The volume is divided into three sections: Realizing the SDGs: opportunities and challenges; Resources, partnerships, and management; and Imagining the future of the UN in development. Comprised of chapters by knowledgeable and authoritative UN experts, this book provides cutting-edge and up-to-date research on the strengths and weaknesses of the UNDS, with each chapter focusing on different operational and ideational aspects. Chapter 11 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

This volume provides cutting-edge interdisciplinary analysis of the synergies between foreign investment and environmental protection by leading scholars and practitioners.

This book is open access under a Creative Commons license. This authoritative book presents the ever progressing state of the art in evaluating climate change strategies and action. It builds upon a selection of relevant and practical papers and presentations given at the 2nd International Conference on Evaluating Climate Change and Development held in Washington DC in 2014 and includes perspectives from independent evaluations of the major international organisations supporting climate action in developing countries, such as the Global Environment Facility. The first section of the book sets the stage and provides an overview of independent evaluations, carried out by multilateral development banks and development organisations. Important topics include how policies and organisations aim to achieve impact and how this is measured, whether climate change is mainstreamed into other development programs, and whether operations are meeting the urgency of climate change challenges. The following sections focus on evaluation of climate change projects and policies as they link to development, from the perspective of international organisations, NGO’s, multilateral and bilateral aid agencies, and academia. The authors share methodologies or approaches used to better understand problems and assess interventions, strategies and policies. They also share challenges encountered, what was done to solve these and lessons learned from evaluations. Collectively, the authors illustrate the importance of evaluation in providing evidence to guide policy change to informed decision-making.