The EU’s recent failure to rise to the unprecedented challenge presented by the climate emergency should not lead us down the path to cynicism but must prod us to redouble our efforts to bring about meaningful change,
Carbon removals will become a vital tool for reducing carbon concentrations in the atmosphere but only massive cuts in emissions will give humanity a fighting chance of keeping global heating to 1.5°C or below, says the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The latest IPCC report, which was released in April, outlines various pathways …
Read more “Carbon removals are no substitute for deep emissions reductions, warns IPCC”
Carbon Market Watch response to Verra’s public consultation on creating a long-term reversal monitoring system for detecting reversals in VCS projects during the post-crediting period.
The European Parliament’s draft report by MEP Peter Liese on revising the EU’s Emissions Trading System fails to strengthen the scheme’s climate targets while opening up multiple routes to hand out more free emission allowances and offer offsets, enabling heavy industries to profit from their pollution. German Christian Democrat MEP Peter Liese has released his …
Read more “European Parliament’s proposed carbon market revamp a licence for industry to pollute”
Despite some good elements, the European Commission’s proposed carbon removal strategy leaves the door wide open to offsetting after 2030, which will undermine its ability to reduce emissions, writes Wijnand Stoefs. On 15 December 2021, the European Commission published its Sustainable Carbon Cycles Communication, which showcases its vision for carbon farming, industrial carbon capture and …
Read more “A sustainable carbons cycle or a vicious emissions cycle?”
Executive summary We need technologies and processes to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. However, removals accounting and targets must remain separate from those for GHG emissions; and only real removals should be taken into account. Emission reduction and carbon dioxide removal accounting and targets need to be kept strictly separate to ensure removals can …
Read more “Respecting the laws of physics: Principles for carbon dioxide removal accounting”
Carbon capture and utilisation (CCU), which is almost always only a temporary store of greenhouse gases, should not absolve corporations of their obligations to pay for their pollution, writes Wijnand Stoefs.
Carbon dioxide removal, or carbon removal for short, is a controversial and widely misunderstood topic. Harnessed properly, it can help cool our planet and combat global heating. Misused, it can be reduced to an exercise in greenwashing and creative climate bookkeeping that enables polluters to continue polluting with impunity. Wijnand Stoefs explains. Carbon removal means …
‘Carbon removals’ must be approached with caution Carbon removals are becoming a hot topic and are also rising up on the EU’s policy-making agenda. There is no denying that we will need to suck CO2 pollution from the atmosphere over the course of this century to avert the worst impacts of the climate crisis. But …
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