News & Press
By Miriam Vicente Marcos on 25 Feb 2021
Taking aim at the economic and climate crises – but do member states’ recovery plans really hit the target?
Italy, Spain, Hungary, and Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plans (NRRPs) may well be off-target (and Poland hasn’t published one yet). By not covering in sufficient detail all aspects of the green transition in their plans, these member states could be missing out on the chance to use EU recovery funds to tackle the economic…
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By Kaisa Amaral, Sam Van den plas on 25 Feb 2021
Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger [1]
Two key elements to get right in the EU carbon market review The upcoming revision of the EU carbon market rules is an opportunity to ensure that industries covered by it cut their pollution in line with the EU Green Deal objectives and the Paris Climate Agreement. Agreeing on a faster pace at which emissions…
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By Gilles Dufrasne on 24 Feb 2021
Alternatives to offsetting are no longer fringe
Carbon market stakeholders are slowly moving beyond the zero-sum game of offsetting towards alternative ways of financing climate action. This positive development will make the existing market more robust, helping to shield it from reputational risks and environmental integrity scandals. Offsetting – paying someone else to reduce emissions instead of reducing one’s own – has…
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By Sabine Frank on 28 Jan 2021
The lengthened and stony road to Glasgow
A reminder of the tricky issues of agreement on global carbon market rules in the context of ratcheting up climate ambition Raising ambition is the primordial task for governments ahead of and at the next UN climate conference. But it will also be essential to finally agree on the rules that will govern global carbon…
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By Kaisa Amaral, Gilles Dufrasne on 28 Jan 2021
Companies can do better than offsetting
Relying on paying someone else to reduce emissions is risky and unsustainable. Therefore, private companies should stop “offsetting” and instead financially help poorer countries reach their climate targets and foster sustainable development. Voluntary carbon markets are booming as businesses across the world make climate-neutrality pledges. These plans often rely on the purchase of credits from…
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By Kaisa Amaral on 27 Jan 2021
Private sector carbon market report evokes more concern than hope
Carbon Market Watch’s reaction to the publication of the report by the task force on scaling up voluntary carbon markets BRUSSELS 27 January 2021 The report of the “Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets” proposes the creation of updated quality criteria for carbon offsets and standardised reporting requirements but also leaves the door open for…
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By Kaisa Amaral on 20 Jan 2021
Carbon Market Watch agenda – Spring-Summer 2021
Carbon Market Watch agenda outlines our priorities and key political milestones for the next months. Download here
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Watch This! - Civil Society Newsletter
By Andrew Coiley on 15 Dec 2020
Swiss/Peru offset link forged in Paris Agreement – Have we seen this all before?
It’s been dubbed a first of its kind – a new offset deal between Switzerland and Peru under the Paris Agreement. But how ground-breaking is this deal? And has there been any real change from the old offset efforts under the Kyoto Protocol of the past? Because of the postponement of COP26 in Glasgow, rules…
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Watch This! - Civil Society Newsletter
By Andrew Coiley on 15 Dec 2020
Watch This 4th Edition 2020
Dear members, friends & colleagues, Welcome to the 4th quarter 2020 edition of the Watch This, a civil society newsletter by Carbon Market Watch. In this edition we look at the damage caused to forest offset projects in California by the recent wildfires and question the validity of these carbon sinks that have quite literally gone up…
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By Kaisa Amaral on 11 Dec 2020
EU leaders’ 2030 target deal ignores Europe’s climate responsibility
BRUSSELS 11 December 2020. EU leaders have agreed a net 55% emissions reduction goal for 2030. While this replaces the outdated 40% goal, the target is not in line with the Paris Agreement[1] and Europe’s historic responsibility to cut emissions. Relying on forests and land to reach the target also means that in reality, EU…
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