Press Release: UN Body decision marks end for dirty carbon credits from coal power in the EU emissions trading scheme

by CMWEU carbon market, Global markets, Sustainable developmentPosted on Comments are Disabled

Washington D.C., Brussels, 23 July 2012. The United Nations Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Executive Board has taken a significant step towards a major victory against propping up the dirty, carbon intensive coal industry. In a meeting last week, the CDM Executive Board requested yet another round of scrutiny of the set of rules that would allow coal power plants in India and China to receive carbon credits.

The CDM sustainable development tool: why ‘highlighting’ will not deliver (Newsletter #20)

by CMWEU carbon market, Human rights in climate action, Sustainable developmentPosted on Comments are Disabled

The CDM Executive Board is currently developing a tool to highlight sustainable co-benefits of CDM projects and PoAs. An initially promising opportunity was unfortunately wasted when it was decided that this tool shall be voluntary, with no monitoring in place. Or in other words, useless.

Hot air: toxic for the Kyoto Protocol (Newsletter #20)

by CMWEU carbon market, Global marketsPosted on Comments are Disabled

A gigantic 13 Gigatonne ‘hot air’ loophole is threatening to undermine the viability of the second commitment period of the Kyoto protocol. If Parties do not properly address the AAUs surplus this year this huge bubble of stale air may stifle the success for international climate negotiations for years to come.

A Review of UNFCCC Carbon Market Developments (Newsletter #20)

by CMWEU carbon market, Global markets, Human rights in climate action, Sustainable developmentPosted on Comments are Disabled

The last intercessional UN climate negotiations took place in May in Bonn, Germany. The main theme of the two-week conference seemed to be “diverging views” on about every agenda item. There were diverging views about the length of the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol; about the work programme of the new Durban Platform …

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Offsetting in the EU

by CMWEU carbon marketPosted on Comments are Disabled

Scroll down for French and Spanish The EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS) is a cap-and-trade system which came into force in 2005. The EU-ETS is the largest mandatory cap-and-trade scheme to date and includes 30 European countries. Up to 50% of the EU-wide reductions over the period 2008-2020 can be achieved by buying CDM and …

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Press Release: New rules for coal offsetting projects still severely flawed

by CMWEU carbon market, Global markets, Sustainable developmentPosted on Comments are Disabled

Bonn, Germany, 7 May. The UN’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Executive Board will discuss this week whether to approve revised rules on coal power offsetting projects. NGOs are urging the Board to reject the revision because they do not address crucial technical flaws. The revisions also fail to address the severe harm new coal projects …

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The CDM Project Barro Blanco – an Obstacle to Peace (Watch this! #1)

by CMWEU carbon market, Global markets, Human rights in climate action, Sustainable developmentPosted on Comments are Disabled

A lot of water has passed under the Tabasará Bridge, site of historical protests in Panama. Barro Blanco is the latest dam envisaged for this historic river named for its Ngäbe indigenous chief in their struggle against the Spaniards. The Ngäbes and their Movement 10th of April have resisted until now and demand protection of their rights and resources. All concessions that were granted without their approval should be cancelled, including for the contentious Barro Blanco hydro-electric project.

The Dismal Future (of Carbon Markets) (Watch this! #1)

by CMWEU carbon market, Global marketsPosted on Comments are Disabled

At the climate negotiations in Durban last November, countries agreed to establish a new market based mechanism and to come up with a framework that new bilateral or regional market mechanisms would have to comply with. Now they are working hard on coming up with rules and governance systems for these new market based systems. At the same time, the two largest market based mechanisms, the European Emissions Trading System (EU-ETS) and the CDM are on the brink of collapse.

Why the EU’s Position on Carbon Markets Matters (Watch this! #1)

by CMWEU carbon market, Global marketsPosted on Comments are Disabled

Scroll down for Spanish By Diego Martinez Schütt, CDM Watch The European Union (EU) plays a unique role in the CDM: it is its biggest client. The EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), which covers 50% of all EU GHG emissions, is the world’s biggest greenhouse gas (GHG) cap-and-trade scheme. The EU-ETS aims at driving …

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