The Mandate to Protect Human Rights in the CDM (Newsletter #17)

Over the past months, allegations about CDM projects related to human rights violations have increased pressure on international policy makers to address this issue at the upcoming UNFCCC conference in Durban. CDM Watch believes that the United Nations, including the CDM Executive Board, as well as the European Union and other buyers have a mandate …

Panama: peaceful protests against CDM hydropower project stopped by police force (Newsletter #14)

CDM Watch reported in its last Newsletter from April 2011 about the heavily contested Barro Blanco CDM project in Panama. A month on, protests continue, as outlined in the eye-witness report below. The Barro Blanco project is a 28.84 MW hydroelectric power plant in the district of Tolé, in the province of Chiriquí, Panama. The …

Addressing Human Rights Violations in the CDM (Newsletter #14)

Three months on from our first report[1] about the Aguan biogas project[2] in Honduras, the difficult question of how to address human rights violations linked to CDM projects remains unresolved. However, encouraging precedents have been set by various players in the CDM. It is now up to policy makers at all levels, especially at UNFCCC …

Press Release: United Nations under Pressure to denounce Human Rights Abuses in Carbon Offsetting Scheme

Brussels.The United Nation’s Clean Development Mechanism Executive Board has so far failed to respond to human rights abuses linked to a carbon offsetting project in Honduras that is currently pending registration. Environmental and Human Rights Groups are now demanding that the project be rejected from receiving funding under the offsetting scheme.

Human Rights Violations in Honduras linked to Aguan Biogas Project continue (Newsletter #13)

Two months on from our first report[1] about the Aguan biogas project[2] in Honduras which is currently seeking registration under the CDM, human rights violations continue. See a video documentary (9.45 minutes) of March 2011 giving a good but shocking overview about how the current situation in Honduras is linked to the protests in the …

New Appeals Procedure against DOEs – Open to Civil Society (Newsletter #12)

The CDM offers a couple of opportunities for public participation in the CDM. The most important one is the possibility to submit comments during the 30-day public commenting period which starts as soon as a new CDM project is submitted to the UNFCCC as part of the validation process. However, in the past there was …

Barro Blanco Hydropower Project in Panama violates CDM Rules (Newsletter #12)

Guest article by Osvaldo Jordan, Alianza para la Conservacion y el Desarrollo (ACD) Oscar Sogandares, Asociacion Ambientalista de Chiriqui (ASAMCHI) Miguel Arjona, April 10 Movement for the Defense of the Tabasará River (M-10) The Barro Blanco project (3237) is a 28.84 MW hydroelectric power plant in the district of Tolé, within the province of Chiriquí, …

Aguan Biogas Project linked to serious Human Rights Violations in Honduras (Newsletter #12)

One of the CDM projects currently seeking registration is the “Aguan biogas recovery from Palm Oil Mill Effluent ponds and biogas utilisation” (Project 3197).  The company behind the project, Grupo Dinant subsidiary Exportadora del Atlantico, is implicated in assassinations and other serious human rights abuses in Honduras and there are grave concerns that additional funding …

Priorities for the Board in 2011-2012 (Newsletter #12)

One of the most important agenda items at this week´s Board meeting is the CDM business and management plan that should lay out priorities for the years 2011-2012. The impact of the priorities that will be agreed here will be enormous because they will define the work of the Board over the next 2 years. …

GEO discloses ugly truth of CDM hydro project (Newsletter #11)

A new report in the German magazine GEO points once more at the problems of CDM hydro dam projects. Hydro Dam Power Projects have long been criticized because of their impacts on local inhabitants who might be forced or coerced to relocate and because of their environmental impacts: flooding of valuable agricultural lands, destruction of …