News & Press
Carbon Market Watch Newsletter – June 2019
EU governments breach citizens’ right to information on international aviation climate policy Dear friends, As I write this at the UN Climate Change Conference, Bonn, along with the rest of Western Europe, is sweltering in the scorching heat, an uncomfortable foretaste of what an ever-warming climate has in store for us. I can only hope that…
Read more →
Carbon Market Watch Newsletter – May 2019
Voters put climate crisis firmly on EU agenda Dear friends, I am delighted to share with you a revamped Carbon Market Watch News. I hope you enjoy the new look, and easily find content that most interests you. I also look forward to receiving any feedback or suggestions! Last weekend, EU citizens turned up at the…
Read more →
Civil Society Statement on the Reform of European Agricultural Policies: Good Food, Good Farming – Now!
The EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has contributed to this broken food and farming system through the promotion of agro-industrial farming methods and global commodity chains. In order to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and its obligations under the Paris Climate Agreement, the EU must carry out a radical reform of the CAP and…
Read more →
The cost of climate inaction in the agricultural sector
This week key policymakers of the European Parliament discuss the EU’s largest climate instrument. Ahead of the debate, five organizations expose how a loophole in the law could significantly increase the costs of post-2030 climate efforts by delaying the required emission reductions in the agriculture sector. The Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR) covers around 60% of…
Read more →
NEWS: Forestry offsets could turn EU’s 40% climate target into merely 35%
A new report from the Öko-Institut shows that the use of forestry offsets to replace efforts in other sectors would undermine the EU’s 2030 climate target by 5%. The legislative proposal for the land use sector that the European Commission is expected to present early next year should therefore uphold the environmental integrity of the EU’s 2030 climate target by treating the emissions and removals from our forests and soils completely separate from the efforts of other sectors.
Read more →
EU’s plan to link to Swiss carbon market adds pressure to announce an increased climate target
Tomorrow, the EU is expected to announce its climate contributions towards the Paris climate agreement. The expected decision will build on the European Commission’s Road to Paris vision published last week. Hopes are that Ministers take their chances to address a number of critical issues that risk severely undermining the 40% domestic reduction target. They include a clear commitment to increase the 40% target in case of linking the EU’s emissions trading system (EU ETS) with other carbon markets, the way land use emissions are accounted for and the threat the existing surplus of emission allowances pose on the 2030 climate target.
Read more →
European Commission publishes vision on the Paris Protocol to tackle climate change
Today, the European Commission (EC) has published a first glimpse of the mitigation contributions the EU intends to contribute to the Paris Protocol. The Communication launched today entitled “The Paris Protocol – A blueprint for tackling global climate change beyond 2020” includes a proposal for the EU’s proposed Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDCs) prepared in…
Read more →
Keeping the books on emission units
Accounting of emissions will be a cornerstone of a future climate treaty and is hugely important for the integrity of carbon markets as well as keeping us on track to limit global warming below 2°C. Lima will need to lay grounds for a rigorous accounting framework and robust unit quality requirements. It will also need to establish consistency to the ICAO process that is developing a global market based mechanism for aviation emissions.
Read more →
NOT SMART: climate smart agriculture in carbon markets
Proposals to include forests and land use activities in existing and new carbon markets will be discussed in Lima. But sequestration of carbon in land cannot compensate for continued fossil fuel emissions – fossil fuel emissions are permanent, whereas storing carbon in forests and soils is temporary and can be easily reversed by cutting down trees and ploughing fields.
Read more →
What finance for REDD+? (Newsletter #2)
Forests play a vital role in mitigating climate change and are crucial in the struggle for sustainable development. Not only do they have a fundamental role in the preservation of global ecological systems, they are especially important for supporting the lives and livelihoods of an estimated 1.6 billion forest dependent peoples. The ability of forest…
Read more →