News & Press
Watch This! - Civil Society Newsletter
By Andrew Coiley / Agnese Ruggiero on 20 Oct 2020
Europe’s new climate pledge: more than a glossy magazine cover?
Interview with Agnese Ruggiero In a ‘normal’ year last month’s big climate announcements by Europe and China would have been a major international talking point, sadly this year is nothing but normal! First, the EU Commission during the State of the Union speech set out a plan to raise the block’s 2030 GHG reduction target…
Read more →
By Wijnand Stoefs on 27 May 2020
What “negative emissions”?
To limit global heating to 1.5 degrees, it will no longer be enough to just cut our pollution; some emissions will likely have to be removed from the atmosphere and permanently stored. Together with partners, Carbon Market Watch launches a new project with the aim to provide decision-makers with concrete policy recommendations to ensure responsible…
Read more →
By Agnese Ruggiero - Policy Officer on 30 Nov 2018
Making Horizon Europe a tool to truly achieve the Paris Agreement goals – OpEd
The EU’s Horizon Europe for research and innovation provides an opportunity to unleash the potential of low-carbon technologies that will help Europe in the transition to a carbon neutral economy. This, however, is contingent on its design, writes Agnese Ruggiero. Published in Euractiv.com Agnese Ruggiero is a Policy Officer at Carbon Market Watch, an NGO…
Read more →
By Agnese Ruggiero on 25 Oct 2018
National Energy and Climate Plans: a strong tool to implement the Paris Agreement but only if participative and ambitious
Engaging in a dialogue with all stakeholders is imperative for effective policy making, to ensure that the measures put forward can count on public support, and guarantee proper implementation. In the coming months, a particularly important opportunity for the active engagement of multi-level stakeholders will be the development and implementation of National Energy and Climate…
Read more →
By Guest: Soumya Dutta on 12 Jun 2018
Sham consultations, ruthless exploitation: CDM project experience in India
Guest article by Soumya Dutta, Beyond Copenhagen collective, India India hosts a big share of climate mitigation projects under the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Many of these projects have blatantly violated the rights of affected communities and stakeholder consultations are carried out rarely if ever, writes Soumya Dutta. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) was…
Read more →
By Gilles Dufrasne on 24 May 2018
Learning from Barro Blanco: how to improve public participation in climate projects
As negotiations on the Paris Agreement rules approach the finish line, it will be important to ensure that future climate mitigation projects respect human rights and the environment. Ever since flood waters started to rise at the Barro Blanco hydro dam site on the Tabasará river in Panama, destroying agricultural lands, cultural sites, and numerous…
Read more →
By Gilles Dufrasne, Eva Filzmoser on 16 May 2018
The road ahead for UN carbon markets
Another round of UN climate talks closed on May 10th in Bonn, where negotiators discussed the “Paris Agreement rulebook”, a set of rules to regulate how commitments put forward in Paris can be implemented starting in 2020. The rulebook is to be finalised by the UN climate change conference (COP24) in December this year in…
Read more →
By Eva Filzmoser | Pierre-Jean Brasier on 30 Nov 2017
Closing a (violent) chapter: Santa Rita hydro dam project officially cancelled
In October, the private sector lending arm of the World Bank Group (International Finance Corporation, IFC) confirmed the cancellation of a controversial Santa Rita hydroelectric project in Guatemala, approved under the UN’s carbon offsetting scheme Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The announcement follows a report by the IFC Ombudsman which found serious failings in the project…
Read more →
WATCH THIS! NGO Voices on Climate Finance & Carbon Markets #19 July 2017
18 Jul 2017 Editorial Dear partners, dear friends, It is my pleasure to bring you the latest edition of the Watch This newsletter! This issue will give you the latest on the international climate negotiations. Our first article comes back on the latest UNFCCC intersession, which took place last May in Bonn, focusing specifically…
Read more →
By Juliane Voigt on 27 Apr 2017
Fostering sustainable development through climate action – what should the future UN mechanism look like?
In May, climate negotiators will again gather to flesh out the rules to implement the landmark Paris climate agreement. One of the topics on the agenda is the Sustainable Development Mechanism. To be effective, the successor to the Clean Development Mechanism must guarantee real, measurable and long-term benefits both in terms of emission reductions and…
Read more →