The United Nations (UN) climate agency released a video this week mocking lifestyle changes, such as reducing meat consumption and flying, to promote the use of highly controversial credits to offset emissions. The video “Keep calm and offset” has since been removed, but inadvertently points to the main problems with offsetting, a concept that creates the illusion …
Read more “Withdrawn UN advert shows why carbon offset scheme should be scrapped”
Guest article by Soumya Dutta, Beyond Copenhagen collective, India India hosts a big share of climate mitigation projects under the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Many of these projects have blatantly violated the rights of affected communities and stakeholder consultations are carried out rarely if ever, writes Soumya Dutta. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) was …
Read more “Sham consultations, ruthless exploitation: CDM project experience in India”
As negotiations on the Paris Agreement rules approach the finish line, it will be important to ensure that future climate mitigation projects respect human rights and the environment. Ever since flood waters started to rise at the Barro Blanco hydro dam site on the Tabasará river in Panama, destroying agricultural lands, cultural sites, and numerous …
Read more “Learning from Barro Blanco: how to improve public participation in climate projects”
Far from the sandy beaches of the South Pacific, the 23rd UN climate talks (COP23) was a mostly dreary endeavour in the grey of November in Bonn. The negotiations on the Paris Agreement’s market provisions, the Article 6, moved the process an itsy bit forward, while still leaving all the critical issues open to further …
Read more “UN carbon markets: Have we exchanged enough views already?”
BRUSSELS 3 November 2017. The next round of UN climate talks takes place in Bonn from 6 to 17 November, under the Fijian Presidency, on how to implement the Paris climate deal. One open question is the role carbon markets will play in meeting global climate targets. Carbon Market Watch will be in Bonn to follow …
Read more “Markets must increase climate ambition – Carbon Market Watch priorities at the COP23 in Bonn”
In less than two weeks, Parties will meet again in Bonn at a UN climate conference for another round of negotiations to prepare for the adoption of the rules to implement the Paris climate change agreement. What role will markets have in how the world works to limit global warming to 1.5C? Although observers …
Read more “On Kyoto, Paris, and carbon markets”
A recent study by Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) looking at credits issued under the UN offsetting measure, the Clean Development Mechanism, warns governments against using them to meet their pledges under the Paris Agreement. In the past, when judging the quality of an offsetting project, most people looked at questions such as: is the methodology used to …
Read more “CDM credits not fit to meet Paris goals – study”
Despite the political uncertainties around US’ participation in the Paris Agreement, technical negotiations on how to implement the landmark climate deal, including through carbon markets, continued at the UN Climate Conference earlier this month. While delegations underlined continued commitment to the Paris Agreement goals, little progress was made on the Article 6. Disagreements over the …
Read more “Markets negotiations make little progress in Bonn”
The Paris Agreement marks a new era for international climate action in general, and specifically for international carbon markets. Though the agreement does not mention markets per se, Article 6 paragraph 4 establishes what has become to be known as the Sustainable Development Mechanism (SDM) which builds on and shares some features of the Kyoto flexible mechanisms namely the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation (JI).
Prepared for Subsidiary Body for Implementation, 46th Session, 8-18 May 2017 Carbon Market Watch welcomes the opportunity to provide input to the discussions on the review of the modalities and procedures for the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) – SBI agenda item 7. While the Clean Development Mechanism plays no role in the Paris Agreement, the ongoing …
Read more “Recommendations for the review of the modalities and procedures for the Clean Development Mechanism”
