News & Press
“Offsetting must not be a license to continue polluting”
We joined the World Press Clubs Alliance for Climate launch event on Friday 23 October. Watch the interview with Sabine Frank here. Companies and governments are announcing “climate-neutrality” targets, and consumers are being offered ways to offset their carbon footprint. What does this mean in practice? How can we distinguish between real climate action and…
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By Gilles Dufrasne on 22 Oct 2020
Up in smoke – California fires once again highlight dangers of forest offsets
Companies are increasingly adopting “climate-neutrality” targets, which often include relying on forests to compensate for pollution. After yet another such offset project was swallowed by flames in California, unresolved questions about forest and land offsets resurface. It’s a simple tagline for green marketing campaigns: “Enjoy our product, it’s climate neutral”. While the tagline is simple,…
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By Wijnand Stoefs on 28 May 2020
The EU to improve its carbon market rules despite corona – survey
The annual carbon market survey by the financial market data analyst Refinitiv shows high confidence in the European Green Deal in strengthening the EU carbon market. First, the 80 respondents that answered to the questions about EU policies, see the EU emissions trading system (EU ETS) as the most important tool for reducing greenhouse gas…
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By Gilles Dufrasne on 1 Apr 2020
ICAO’s carbon market report offers valuable lessons for Article 6 talks
This opinion article was first published in Carbon Pulse on March 30, 2020 As part of the work to establish an international carbon market for aviation, CORSIA, a group of experts recently recommended restrictions for the types of carbon offsets that can and cannot be used by airlines. These restrictions were adopted by the UN aviation…
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By Gilles Dufrasne on 20 Jan 2020
International carbon markets at the frontier to the wild west
The failure to agree on rules for international carbon markets at COP 25 has been a victory for some and a disaster for others. Looking at it pragmatically, it was very much a “disaster averted” outcome since the rules on the table would have legitimised the use of markets riddled with loopholes. Far from ideal,…
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By Kaisa Amaral on 16 Dec 2019
OMGE (?!) – or how carbon markets must reduce emissions instead of shifting pollution around
The article was first published in Carbon Markets at COP25 blog on 13th December 2019 Offsetting means that you compensate for your carbon footprint by financing a climate project that supposedly reduces the same amount of pollution that you produce. At first glance, that doesn’t sound so bad. But we are in the middle of…
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By Kaisa Amaral on 15 Dec 2019
COP25: No deal on UN carbon markets as a number of countries reject loopholes
MADRID 15 DECEMBER 2019 Governments at the UN climate talks (COP 25) postponed decisions on future carbon market rules after no agreement was reached on the most contentious issues such as the fate of old credits and measures to avoid double-counting. Carbon Market Watch commends countries who defended strong carbon market rules and calls on…
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By Kaisa Amaral on 13 Dec 2019
Do you want to solve the climate crisis – or do you want to cheat?
The article was first published on Carbon Markets at COP25 blog on 12th December 2019 There is a lot at stake in the UN climate conference in Madrid. If countries agree on bad rules for the future global carbon markets, the world will lock in a system that does nothing to reduce emissions – in…
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By Kaisa Amaral on 11 Dec 2019
Dodgy carbon market rules risk undermining the Paris Agreement
MADRID 10th December 2019. The UN carbon market talks are at a crossroads in Madrid as ministers take over today. Carbon Market Watch calls on governments to only accept a deal that bans old Kyoto credits, includes rules to avoid double-counting, and to ensure that markets reduce emissions, and include strong environmental and social safeguards….
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By Kaisa Amaral on 9 Dec 2019
Carbon markets must benefit people and the planet – anything less is unacceptable
The article was first published on Carbon Markets at COP25 blog on 8th December 2019 50 km southeast of Santiago, in the Cajon del Maipo region, the Alto Maipo Hydropower Project has become one of the biggest environmental struggles in Chile’s history. The project – due to be completed by 2020 – threatens the water…
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