As the CDM Executive Board is meeting in Bangkok from 11-15 April 2011 for their second meeting this year, we are taking the opportunity to bring another perspective into the discussions: the views of civil society on specific CDM projects and wider policy developments.
This edition of the CDM Watch Newsletter contains three eye witness reports. All three of them reveal shocking shortcomings of the CDM which need to be addressed on the very project level but also on a much more generic policy level in order to avoid that any of the problems replicate in the future.
The first project we are looking at is a biogas project in Honduras that is linked to serious human rights violations. If registered under the CDM, EDF trading would receive carbon credits with the authorization of the UK government for emission reductions obtained despite killings related to land disputes over the project site and closely linked to the project developers.
The second project we are examining is a large hydro power project in Western Panama. The validation has recommended registration despite massive local resistance against the project. A dedicated Panamanian human rights activist gives a firsthand account of his experience with how the application of the Barro Blanco is handled in reality.
Thirdly, we look again at a biogas project, the first registered project in Tanzania. So far, CDM biogas projects have been praised as the most sustainable projects implemented under the CDM. But both the Aguan as well as the Mtoni project tell a different story.
On the basis of the input we receive from our CDM Watch Network from the ground, we have formulated input to international policy developments. In this newsletter you will also find a brief summary of our submissions responding to the following calls for public input 1) means for direct communication between the CDM Executive Board and relevant stakeholder groups; 2) CDM appeals procedure; 3) the issue of materiality in the CDM; and 4) the inclusion of reforestation of lands with forest in exhaustion as A/R CDM project activities.
Finally we are giving some insight into lessons learnt in two fruitful workshops which we organized in Mesoamerica in February 2011 to empower local communities.
Happy reading!
Table of contents
1. Human Rights Violations in Honduras linked to Aguan Biogas Project continue
2. Massive Protests against Barro Blanco Hydropower Project in Panama
3. Mtoni Dumpside CDM Project in Tanzania putting livelihoods of farmers and wastepickers at risk
4. CDM Watch UNFCCC submissions
5. Civil society’s view on the CDM in Mesoamerica
6. CDM Watch is recruiting
