Carbon Market Watch News

Parties continue work on scaling down the volume of negotiating text at the ADP2.10 session in Bonn, but can political ambition be scaled up in the process?

The Co-Chair’s text in Bonn currently reads too long, but core elements that protect the environmental integrity of the future agreement, specifically regarding carbon markets remains dangerously unclear. Negotiators must learn from past experiences and ensure that the new Paris climate treaty is not undermined, as Kyoto was, by hot air carbon credits.

Negotiators will also have to tackle the issues of reducing commitment periods to 5 years, the design features of an international accounting framework, details to ensure environmental integrity and eligibility criteria for countries that want to use carbon markets.

While attention is often focused on the scale of emission reductions the talks yield, the social and environmental accountability of climate actions and climate finance instruments must also be properly acknowledged and agreed by all Parties ahead of COP21 (see policy brief). Current mechanisms must be open to grievance and redress to learn for future generations. More importantly, climate actions under a new deal can no longer be designed in such a way that negatively impact the lives of the very communities they set out to protect.

Carbon Market Watch

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. The study came timely ahead of the ongoing round of climate talks in Bonn, concluding tomorrow, where countries need to work ensure that the new Paris climate treaty is not undermined, as Kyoto was, by hot air carbon credits.

With merely four weeks of negotiating time left before the conclusion of the Paris meeting to agree a new global climate agreement, the ongoing climate talks in Bonn that will conclude tomorrow, could either be a step forward or help bring about a needed step change in progress.

(Including INDC Contributions Overview)

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.

Just when everyone started leaving for their summer holidays, the Commission published a legislative proposal to revise Europe’s carbon market to make it fit for the post-2020 period. The proposal was heavily criticized for failing to tackle the fundamental flaws of the EU ETS and increasing pollution subsidies to €160 billion to the EU’s biggest carbon polluters. However, there is still a chance for the European Parliament and Member States to turn the EU ETS into an effective tool to tackle climate change.

On the first of September tensions in Panama heightened when heavy machinery moved very close to the Ngöbe-Bugle Comarca to complete the highly contested Barro Blanco hydro dam, which is registered under the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism. This was preceded by the forceful eviction of indigenous people camping next to the construction area by the national police. In response to a letter sent by Panamanian civil society groups, the CDM Board has now reminded Panama about its right to withdraw approval for the project, “if it deems appropriate”.

EU Environment Council Meeting: 18 Sept
CDM Board 86th Meeting: 12-16 Oct
ADP2.11 Bonn: 19-23 Oct

Publications:

Policy Brief: Social and environmental accountability of climate finance instruments
Briefing Paper: Avoiding hot air in the 2015 Paris agreement
Briefing Paper: The need for 5 year Commitment Periods in the Paris Protocol – Why a “review” is inadequate
Webinar Report: ”What are NAMAs and how can civil society organisations benefit from them?”

Articles

Editorial

03 Sept 2015

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

03 Sept 2015

Bonn Climate Talks: Environmental integrity must withstand new round of text consolidation

03 Sept 2015

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

03 Sept 2015

EU ETS review proposal earmarks €160 billion for Europe’s largest polluters

03 Sept 2015

Uncertainty over Barro Blanco’s CDM approval

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