CDM Board to discuss human rights safeguards

Following numerous incidents of human rights violations related to CDM projects, the CDM Board will, for the first time, discuss options to address these concerns at its next meeting starting on 12 October. It will also discuss recommendations to overhaul the CDM’s local stakeholder consultation rules, including a requirement that projects must repeat consultations if they have not been carried out in line with national laws.

UN offers new marketplace for stranded carbon offsets

Brussels, 22 September 2015. Today, at the climate week in New York, the UN launched the “Climate Credit Store”- a new online platform to purchase carbon offsets generated by its Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The initiative attempts to boost demand for CDM credits on the voluntary carbon market and for the aviation sector but fails to dodge the sale of bogus carbon offsets.

New policy brief compares accountability mechanisms of the UNFCCC’s climate instruments

As countries are streamlining the negotiating text that is to be adopted in Paris later this year, one key issue is how to ensure that the climate treaty sufficiently incorporates human rights.. A new policy brief released by Carbon Market Watch compares the social and environmental accountability of existing climate finance instruments and underlines the need for strong human rights language in the Paris agreement.

Policy Brief: Social and environmental accountability of climate finance instruments

Climate change is a global injustice to present and future generations, and one of the greatest human rights challenges of our time. For one, climate change has a significant effect on several human rights, such as the right to safe and adequate water and food, the right to health and adequate housing, and the right to life. On the other hand, certain actions to address climate change can directly result in adverse impacts on human rights.

Briefing Paper: The need for 5 year Commitment Periods in the Paris Protocol – Why a “review” is inadequate

Introduction The Paris climate conference hopes to reach a new global agreement that will help to address anthropogenic climatic change. It has already been decided that this anticipated agreement will enter into effect in 2020. One of the most important issues for Paris will be the periodicity of Parties’ mitigation commitments, ie the length of …

New study adds pressure on UN climate talks to address hot air carbon credits

Brussels, 24 August. A new study by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) finds that bogus carbon offsets issued under the Kyoto Protocols’ Joint Implementation (JI) offsetting mechanism to date have increased global emissions by 600 million tonnes CO2 to date. The study come timely as countries gear up for the next round of UN talks next week in Germany; they will need to work to ensure the new Paris climate treaty is not undermined, as Kyoto was, by hot air carbon credits.

Request to support due implementation of CDM rules re #3237: Barro Blanco Hydroelectric Project

Dear Mr Schneider, Dear Mr Buendia,
We, the April 10 Movement for the Defense of the Tabasara River (M-10), Alianza para la Conservacion y el Desarrollo (ACD) and Asociacion Ambientalista de Chiriqui (ASAMCHI), are writing to inform you about the decision of the Panamanian government to temporarily suspend the project Barro Blanco Hydroelectric Power Plant, in the Tabasara River, Panama (project number 3237). 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.
In light of the recent decision that the CDM local stakeholder consultations are to be conducted “in accordance with applicable national regulations, if any.”1, we hereby ask the CDM Board to take action, including to coordinate with ongoing investigations, react to the suspension decision of the Panamanian government, and suspend the project upon finding non-compliance with the current CDM rules and procedures.

WEBINAR REPORT: ”What are NAMAs and how can civil society organisations benefit from them?” – 8 July 2015

As a part of capacity building work on NAMAs, Carbon Market Watch organized a webinar on NAMAs and how civil society can contribute to and benefit from the process. The aim of the webinar was to build understanding among the civil society organisations (CSOs) on the functioning of NAMAs and the significance of public participation for accountability of NAMA actions. The speakers included representatives of civil society and United Nations Development Program (UNDP), who are developing and implementing NAMAs on the ground. During the webinar two case studies were presented – from Mexican and Georgian NAMAs – which highlighted the opportunities for and challenges from civil society engagement on the ground.

NEWS: Human Rights in the Climate Negotiations: 3 questions asked but much left unanswered – #SB42

During the first half of June, climate negotiators converged in Bonn for two intense weeks of negotiations. With only 6 months left before the Paris COP-21 Conference, negotiations towards the 2015 climate agreement constituted the most important work on-going during this session. But many other key aspects of international climate policy were also on the agenda in Bonn. Throughout these two weeks, negotiators unfortunately made little progress on three main questions to address in relation to the integration of human rights in climate policies.