BRUSSELS 4 March 2020. The EU national energy and climate plans (NECPs) will become a key tool to monitor countries’ progress towards climate neutrality by 2050. PlanUp urges the Commission to strengthen the process and ensure effective coordination with the Member States to exploit the full potential of the NECPs. Today, the European Commission unveiled…
Following the publication of the European Commission’s recommendations on EU countries’ draft energy and climate plans, LIFE PlanUp has analysed the plans of Finland, Sweden, Portugal, Germany and France. While the plans include ambitious goals, they lack concrete policies and measures to deliver on the promises. On 18 June 2019, the European Commission released its…
BRUSSELS 18 June 2019. Today, the European Commission published its analysis and country-specific recommendations for the EU Member States on their draft National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs). Largely confirming findings by LIFE PlanUp, the Commission urges governments to strengthen their plans in order to bridge the gap between the EU climate targets and what the Member…
BRUSSELS, 8 May 2019. A new analysis of five draft EU energy and climate plans reveals a lack of climate commitment by governments in terms of ambition, concrete sectoral measures and public participation. Tomorrow, EU leaders are meeting in Sibiu, Romania to discuss the Future of Europe, amid youth climate protests across Europe, rising…
31 Jan 2019: As a consortium of 12 civil society, local authority and research partners across Europe, we proudly announce the official launch of the EU LIFE project ‘PlanUp – for strong and inclusive energy and climate plans’. Through a multi-stakeholder engagement platform, the project’s scope examines and promotes effective local, regional and national decarbonisation…
COP24 closed this evening in Katowice, Poland, more than 24 hours later than initially planned. Despite smooth progress at first, negotiations ended in confusion as it proved impossible to find an agreement within the article 6 negotiations, which work to set up two new carbon markets for the post-2020 period. The text presented to all…
BRUSSELS 3 November 2017. The next round of UN climate talks takes place in Bonn from 6 to 17 November, under the Fijian Presidency, on how to implement the Paris climate deal. One open question is the role carbon markets will play in meeting global climate targets. Carbon Market Watch will be in Bonn to follow…
Washington DC, Bonn, Kiad, Panama 24 May 2016 – Today the floodgates were opened on the contentious UN backed Barro Blanco hydro dam in Panama, sparking forced removal by authorities of indigenous Ngäbe communities that are living in protest camps near the dam site. With construction finished, GENISA, the company that owns and operates the…
Brussels, 12 October. Following numerous incidents of human rights violations related to carbon offsetting projects, the UN’s Board of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) will, for the first time, discuss options to address these concerns at its 86th meeting starting today. The Board 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. In an open letter, 96 groups from 35 countries have highlighted their support for these changes.
Kiad, Panama/Amsterdam/Bogota – Last Friday, a long-awaited report by an independent panel found that FMO and DEG, the Dutch and German development banks, violated their own policies by failing to adequately assess the risks to indigenous rights and the environment before approving a US$50 million loan to GENISA, the developer of the Barro Blanco hydroelectric project in Panama. FMO and DEG’s response to the findings, while acknowledging some deficiencies in their assessment, does not commit to any measures to address the outstanding policy violations. Even while the report concludes that “the lenders have not taken the resistance of the affected communities seriously enough,” it appears that FMO and DEG continue to do so.
Kaisa Amaral, Communications Director
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