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Articles

New loopholes disguised as flexibilities threaten reduction efforts in non-ETS sectors
China and others announces INDCs, more Parties must follow suit
Forestry offsets could turn EU’s 40% climate target into merely 35%

Editorial

Following on from Pope Francis’ important moral call for climate action, public enthusiasm and interest in a -2o C global climate deal has surged. Talks continue ahead of the COP21 negotiations in Paris later this year, but will Parties also be moved by the same passion?

In recent days international attention has turned from the latest round of slow negotiations in Bonn to new INDC climate pledges from major emitters. However with less than 6 months to go there is genuine concern that ambition levels will need
seriously ratcheted up if the global warming target is to be met.  

In EU Member States commitment to climate action is under close scrutiny as the European Commission has called for public input on the next Effort Sharing Decision, post 2020. One key issue will be how to design new options to reduce the costs of tackling sixty percent of EU’s greenhouse gas emissions, covered by the Effort Sharing Decision (ESD). A
new report finds that a wrong design could significantly undermine reduction efforts in the transport, agriculture, buildings and waste sectors until 2030 by up to 28%. For example, loopholes from forestry offsets alone could undermine the EU’s 2030 overall climate target by 5%. Early action on the other hand can lead to an extra one billion tonnes of CO2 reduction in the 2021-2030 period.

Non-market instruments under the UNFCCC, such as NAMAs continue to build interest from civil society organisations and academia due to the large sustainability benefits they can carry. We invite all those interested to find out more at our upcoming
webinar on the topic later this month.

Happy reading,
Carbon Market Watch       

01 July 2015

New loopholes disguised as flexibilities threaten reduction efforts in non-ETS sectors


In June, Carbon Market Watch presented new analysis on how (not) to reduce the costs of tackling sixty percent of EU’s greenhouse gas emissions, covered by the Effort Sharing Decision (ESD). The report finds that a wrong design could significantly undermine reduction efforts in the transport, agriculture, buildings and waste sectors until 2030 by up to 28%. Early action on the other hand can lead to an extra one billion tonnes of CO2 reduction in the 2021-2030 period.
 
Read here

01 July 2015

China and others announces INDCs, more Parties must follow suit


China has announced its Intended Nationally-Determined Contribution (INDC) to the global climate effort, meaning that the three largest emitters - the US, EU and China - have now put their opening bids on the table in advance of the Paris climate talks in December. While it is good that more countries have submitted INDCs, the total official submissions to the UNFCCC numbers only 16, out of a total of 192 signatories to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. It’s not like INDCs have come as a surprise, and developed countries in particular need to make their submissions expeditiously. 
Read here

01 July 2015

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.
Read here

01 July 2015

NAMIGMA! – Unraveling the secrets of NAMAs (Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions)


For many stakeholders working on climate mitigation, the emerging concept of NAMA (Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions) remains an enigma. Carbon Market Watch’s upcoming webinar “What are NAMAs and how can civil society organisations benefit from them?” aims to open the door to the many unanswered questions on how NAMAs work and what is the role of public participation in order to empower civil society to contribute and gain from the process.
Read here

24 June 2015

Forestry offsets could turn EU’s 40% climate target into merely 35%


A new report from the Öko-Institut shows that the use of forestry offsets to replace efforts in other sectors would undermine the EU’s 2030 climate target by 5%. The legislative proposal for the land use sector that the European Commission is expected to present early next year should therefore uphold the environmental integrity of the EU’s 2030 climate target by treating the emissions and removals from our forests and soils completely separate from the efforts of other sectors. 
Read here

19 June 2015

The Century of Survival


Pope Francis cautions against “carbon credits” as a quick and easy solution to avoid radical change and maintain excessive consumption of some countries and sectors. He is right, in that carbon offsetting and trading will not do the trick to keep us from using up the remaining global carbon budget. Ambition and global willingness to reduce our carbon impact remain the absolute priorities in this century of survival.
Read here


Calendar:

 
 

Publications:

  • Policy Brief: Flexibilities in the EU’s 2030 Effort Sharing Decision 
  • Report: Enhanced flexibilities for the EU’s 2030 Effort Sharing Decision 
 

Links:

Carbon Market Watch News will return in September as we build towards Paris.

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