News & Press
By Kaisa Amaral on 29 Jan 2021
Carbon Market Watch Newsletter – January 2021
New Year New Climate Momentum The private-sector task force, led by Mark Carney, has published its roadmap for “scaling up voluntary carbon markets”. More investments in climate action are, of course, more than welcome. But the task force should pay more attention to quality – instead of focusing on quantity. One striking omission in the new…
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Barro Blanco: communities flooded despite rejected agreement – NGOs ask for withdrawal of CDM’s registration
On September 17, Ngäbe people rejected an agreement between top representatives and the government, signed only a month before. In the meantime, the test filling of the reservoir resumed which has flooded affected communities. Carbon Market Watch along with 80 other local and international NGOs, have called on the Panamanian authorities to withdraw the Barro…
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Green Climate Fund urged to reject accreditation applications from HSBC and Crédit Agricole
With the aim to approve first projects before COP21 in Paris, today the Board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) will consider the first 8 funding proposals to receive Fund’s resources. Despite the opposition from the civil society, the Fund is also considering to accredit two high profile fossil fuel funders – HSBC and Crédit Agricole, – that are aiming to channel the Fund’s resources.
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CDM Board to discuss human rights safeguards
Following numerous incidents of human rights violations related to CDM projects, the CDM Board will, for the first time, discuss options to address these concerns at its next meeting starting on 12 October. It will also discuss recommendations to overhaul the CDM’s local stakeholder consultation rules, including a requirement that projects must repeat consultations if they have not been carried out in line with national laws.
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UN body launches tender to buy carbon offsets, excludes substandard projects from eligibility
Last week, the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) closed a tender to buy 350.000 carbon credits from the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). According to the Invitation to Bid (ITB), offset credits must meet high quality requirements to be eligible. Quality criteria exclude coal, HFC-23 and large hydro projects that do not comply with additional quality assessments and favour projects that demonstrate improvements to the health, safety and welfare of people and especially women living near the projects.
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UN launches new platform to offer stranded CDM carbon offsets
As part of the climate week in New York, the UN launched the “Go Climate Neutral Now” initiative- a new online platform to purchase carbon offsets generated by its Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The initiative attempts to boost demand for CDM credits on the voluntary carbon market and for the aviation sector but fails to dodge the sale of bogus carbon offsets.
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WATCH THIS! NGO Newsletter #12: Empowering youth to achieve low emission schools in Mexico
This articles presents efforts led in Mexico to create a youth empowerment platform to mitigate school´s Co2 emissions. The result was the creation of a NAMA for the school sector that was piloted in 4 states in Mexico and the creation of a model that allows this community to transform their environment. How can youth be…
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NEWS: NAMIGMA! – Unraveling the secrets of NAMAs (Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions)
For many stakeholders working on climate mitigation, the emerging concept of NAMA (Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions) remains an enigma. Carbon Market Watch’s upcoming webinar “What are NAMAs and how can civil society organisations benefit from them?” aims to open the door to the many unanswered questions on how NAMAs work and what is the role of public participation in order to empower civil society to contribute and gain from the process.
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NEWS: European lenders put pressure for Barro Blanco to go ahead
Barro Blanco – a CDM approved hydro dam in Panama – has entered in its most critical phase, following back pedaling from the government of Panama and threats by European lenders. Indigenous people set a deadline for the project to be cancelled.
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NEWS: Review of the CDM rules at the Bonn intersessions
Currently, parties to the UNFCCC are meeting in Bonn for a new round of climate negotiations. One of the topics that is on the table is the review of the Modalities and Procedures of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Parties are thereby discussing rather “light” issues and shy away from more conflicting topics. But, when turning a blind eye on the necessity for more controversial themes, such as the establishment of a grievance mechanism, the review of the Modalities and Procedures may fall behind its great potential to improve the CDM for the future.
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