Carbon Market Watch Newsletter – November 2019

Global Carbon Markets Could Make Or Break Climate Action

Dear friends,

Just five weeks before the UN climate summit (COP25) was due to start in Santiago, the Chilean government pulled the plug on the event amid ongoing violent protests against deep inequalities in one of the wealthiest Latin American countries.

While the talks found a new home in Madrid – a relief for the climate community -, the optics of organising yet another round of global climate talks in Europe are not great. The negotiations risk appearing a Global North affair and disconnected from the realities faced by people in the Global South. The last-minute change of venue with associated rebooking and cancellation fees limits the participation, especially of civil society representatives. It will be crucial to ensure that their voices are heard in Madrid.

Five years since the UN climate summit last took place in Latin America, COP25 was expected to put the spotlight on local communities and indigenous peoples who are fighting to protect their rights and their environment as they deal with threats made worse by the climate crisis. Paradoxically, they also have to fight for their rights in the face of projects that are supposed to mitigate climate change.

For over ten years, Carbon Market Watch has exposed human rights violations and environmental destruction resulting from policy loopholes in the global carbon markets, the most prominent one being the UN Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) set up under the Kyoto Protocol. The Paris Agreement’s Article 6 is meant to regulate the international carbon markets as the global deal enters into force in 2021. As governments arrive in Madrid next week, we call for transparent and robust carbon market rules that lead to projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promote human rights and benefit local communities.

Happy reading,
on behalf of the Carbon Market Watch team,

Kaisa Amaral
Communications Director

For more on our priorities for COP25, see here or listen to a recording of a webinar that we organised earlier this week. To stay informed on Article 6 talks and our activities in Madrid, visit our COP25 blog.