Watch This! NGO Voices on Carbon Markets #6

Welcome to the summer edition of our NGO newsletter “Watch This! NGO Voices on Carbon Markets”!

It is no secret that the compliance carbon market is not doing well. The current carbon price is not even enough for projects to cover their administration costs, let alone ensuring the running of the project on the basis of the carbon revenue. This means that the only CDM projects that are still running are very likely non-additional because otherwise they couldn’t afford to run. Other “zombie-projects” have stopped operation. That explains the miracle why the 7000th project was recently registered. Even so, and despite the absence of international climate commitments, new regional compliance schemes with offsetting components are being developed around the world and the voluntary market is booming. Flaws need to be addressed before they have impacts beyond repairing. Public scrutiny will therefore be more important than ever.

In this edition read about the EU’s need to step up real action on climate change and why tighter regulation is needed to stop investments in cheap offset credits. We talk about China’s carbon markets and glance at the on-going CDM reform. Guest articles from our network members then take you to Panama and India to look at troubling CDM projects, the impacts of coal in India and the lack of contribution to sustainable development through the CDM. Finally we’ll learn why we need to start watching soil carbon markets and ecosystem offsetting.

Watch This! NGO voices on Carbon Markets’ appears quarterly in English and Hindi with campaign updates and opinion pieces from around the world. If you would like to contribute to the next edition or have any comments please get in touch with [email protected].

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