UN registered Barro Blanco Hydroelectric Dam temporarily suspended over non-compliance with Environmental Impact Assessment

by CMW2050 climate strategies, Global markets, Human rights in climate action, Sustainable developmentPosted on Comments are Disabled

PANAMA CITY, Panama and GENEVA, Switzerland In a landmark decision, Panama’s National Environmental Authority (ANAM) temporarily suspended the construction of the Barro Blanco hydroelectric dam yesterday over non-compliance with its Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The dam was approved by the UN Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) despite risks of flooding to the territory of the indigenous Ngäbe Bugle communities.

UN approved hydroelectric dam Barro Blanco suspended over community rights violations

by CMW2050 climate strategies, Global markets, Human rights in climate action, Sustainable developmentPosted on Comments are Disabled

Following community protests by the indigenous Ngobe communities, Panama’s environment agency ANAM supended the Barro Blanco hydroelectric yesterday. The decision was taken because of breaches of the national environmental impact assessment requirements, including shortcomings in the agreement with the locally affected indigenous communities.

Human rights council’s premises expected to deliver future climate treaty text

by CMWGlobal markets, Human rights in climate actionPosted on Comments are Disabled

In less than one year, the world’s countries are expected to flesh out an agreement to address climate change and advert dangerous global warming. UN negotiators will meet for the first time in 2015 in Geneva with the goal to deliver a final negotiating text to form the basis for such a deal. This first session will also be significant because it will take place in the premises of the UN’s human rights council where UN delegates will have to find a solution to protect the world’s most vulnerable citizens from climate change while insuring their human rights.

Press Advisory: Carbon Offsetting Benefit Tracker launched to showcase local reality of CDM projects

by CMWGlobal markets, Human rights in climate action, Sustainable developmentPosted on Comments are Disabled

Brussels/Lima 8 December 2014, today the ‘CDM Benefit Tracker India’ will be launched in Lima, Peru. The Tracker compares eye witness accounts of local communities with sustainability objectives of CDM projects and finds severe discrepancies between claims and local realities. Local groups are now calling on countries in Lima to establish monitoring and verification provisions …

Read more “Press Advisory: Carbon Offsetting Benefit Tracker launched to showcase local reality of CDM projects”

International human rights day adds pressure to implement safeguards in carbon markets

by CMWGlobal markets, Human rights in climate action, Sustainable developmentPosted on Comments are Disabled

At the occasion of the international human rights day on 10 December 2014, the need to protect human rights in all climate actions will be high up on the agenda in Lima. The clock is ticking for delegates to put in place a robust institutional safeguards system for existing and new carbon markets to protect the people most vulnerable to climate change.

Campaign focus: Santa Rita’s oppression does not silence communities

by CMWGlobal markets, Human rights in climate action, Sustainable developmentPosted on Comments are Disabled

Local oppression of indigenous communities in the vicinities of the Santa Rita hydroelectric dam in Guatemala has not seen remedy of the situation after the project was registered by Clean Development Mechanism in June 2014. Despite the continued struggle the indigenous Q’eqchi´ and Poqomchí communities face, the project is becoming a showcase of the power of civil society.

Courting the “rights” path for a changing climate: Developments in UNHCR and UNFCCC

by CMWGlobal markets, Human rights in climate actionPosted on Comments are Disabled

With the adoption of human rights language in Decision 1/CP. 16 of the UNFCCC COP held in Cancun in 2010, the initial resistance which trailed the conception of climate change as a human rights issue may have been defeated, but critical issues remain unresolved. The upcoming COP20 in Lima will provide a crucial opportunity to address these issues and advance the operationalization of the important Cancun decision.

Press Release: Civil society groups call on UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to investigate UN offset project

by CMWGlobal markets, Human rights in climate action, Sustainable developmentPosted on Comments are Disabled

28 October 2014, Brussels, Guatemala City. This month, Guatemalan and international civil society organisations have asked UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to support indigenous communities threatened with imminent and serious harm by the Santa Rita hydroelectric dam in Guatemala which was registered under the UN’s carbon offsetting scheme in June 2014. …

Read more “Press Release: Civil society groups call on UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to investigate UN offset project”