The United Nations climate conferences bring together governments, academics, civil society, media and many others regularly to discuss climate change in the context of the UN Framework Convention. The next meeting takes place 6-17 November in Bonn. At the same time, behind closed doors without public scrutiny, the UN aviation body meets to decide on…
In its Assembly from 27 September to 7 October, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is expected to agree on an offsetting scheme to address the sector’s ever growing greenhouse gas emissions. Several improvements are needed before the Global Market Based Measure (GMBM) can even be called an acceptable first step to curb emissions from aviation….
Faced with intense national and international pressure, Panamanian authorities suspended the flooding of the Barro Blanco reservoir two weeks after it began. International lenders are being pressured by international NGOs as they have a key role in settling the situation. On May 22nd, Panama’s National Authority for Public Services (ASEP) announced a “test flooding” of…
In a move to bring the contentious Barro Blanco hydro dam project towards its completion, the Panamanian authorities have given the green light to begin flooding the reservoir. Affected indigenous communities still oppose the project, refusing to leave their endangered lands. Carbon Market Watch and other international NGOs have sent a letter to Panama’s President…
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) organized five Global Aviation Dialogues (GLADs) around the world to discuss the latest draft proposal on a market based measure to curb emissions from international aviation. The dialogues came to a close on 8 April, but there are already worrying signs that important elements around ambition, emission unit quality criteria and double counting of these units may not be adequately addressed. If left untreated, these missing elements would lead to a toothless proposal that will do little for the environment.
The Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP) of the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) concluded its meeting to make recommendations on a number of measures to reduce CO2 emissions from international flights on Friday 12th February.
“Thank God men cannot fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the earth.” ― Henry David Thoreau Unfortunately for Thoreau, humans did conquer the skies, and aviation is now a significant contributor to climate change, contributing more CO2 to the atmosphere in 2014 than the combined emissions of the 129 lowest emitting countries[i]….
HR -Protect Human Rights in all climate actionsIn Paris, governments recognized the interconnectivity of climate change and human rights. With a detailed preambular language that specifies that Parties, when taking action to address climate change, have to respect, promote and consider respective human rights obligations, the Paris agreement sets the foundation to make the new sustainable development mechanism accountable to human rights obligations.
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.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is busy developing a new market-based mechanism that will allow it to buy offsets to achieve the goal of limiting emissions to 2020 levels, despite rapid growth in the industry. In parallel, it has standards that aim to increase the fuel efficiency of aircraft. In 2010, ICAO agreed to achieve an annual 2% average fuel efficiency improvement to 2020. However, two new reports (links below) show that this goal is not yet being met, undermining the aviation industry’s need to reduce emissions.
Kaisa Amaral, Communications Director
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