Edinburgh Law School LLM graduate leads debate on climate

Cleo Verkuijl, graduate of the LLM in Global Environment and Climate Change programme 2012-13, and now working at the Stockholm Environment Institute, is widely cited in the Press as one of the authors of a major UN report on fossil fuel production and the climate.

This first-ever Production Gap Report, which is a collaboration of several research and academic institutions and experts, provides the analysis, policy options, and findings that governments need to better align fossil fuel production with global climate goals. It is modelled after, and complements, UNEP’s annual Emissions Gap Report. It highlights the concerning gap between Paris goals and countries’ plans for fossil fuel production. It also provides a go-to resource for policymakers, researchers, and civil society on winding down fossil fuel supply in line with the Paris Agreement goals.

The report’s main findings include:

• The world is on track to produce about 50% more fossil fuels in 2030 than would be consistent with limiting warming to 2°C and 120% more than would be consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C.

•  This production gap is largest for coal. Countries plan to produce 150% more coal in 2030 than would be consistent with limiting warming to 2°C, and 280% more than would be consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C.

• Oil and gas are also on track to exceed carbon budgets, with continued investment and infrastructure locking in use of these fuels, until countries are producing between 40% and 50% more oil and gas by 2040 than would be consistent with limiting warming to 2°C.

• National projections suggest that countries are planning on 17% more coal, 10% more oil and 5% more gas production in 2030 than consistent with NDC implementation (which itself is not enough to limit warming to 1.5°C or 2°C).

You can read the full report here.

For many years after leaving Edinburgh, Cleo also taught on our eLLM course, The Law of Climate Change.