News & Press
By Kaisa Amaral on 25 Nov 2020
What should a carbon border measure look like?
A carbon border adjustment measure can support a clean industrial transition globally if it’s designed properly and fairly. It must replace all current EU pollution handouts and its revenues must be used wisely to drive innovation and to provide climate finance to countries that most need it. The EU Commission is preparing the law to…
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Carbon Market Watch Newsletter – October 2020
Green Commitment Or Greenwashing? Since last year, Shell has been offering European motorists “carbon neutral” driving and recently Total announced that it is now selling “carbon neutral” liquified natural gas. Are the fossil fuel giants going green? No, we are not talking about electric car charging stations or renewable fuels. Both Shell and Total are…
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By Wijnand Stoefs on 29 Oct 2020
EU Commission waters down carbon market state aid rules to please large polluters
The final EU carbon market state aid rules will ensure massive handouts of taxpayer money to large polluting industries such as oil refineries and plastic producers over the next decade. The EU ETS state aid guidelines for 2021-2030 set the framework for EU countries to compensate their electricity-intensive industries deemed at risk of ‘carbon leakage’…
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By Ilaria Buttu, Gilles Dufrasne on 29 Oct 2020
Airlines continue to push against climate policies as EU Commission proposes new rules
Airlines have been hit hard by the pandemic induced economic slowdown and travel restrictions, but are also using the situation as an excuse to lobby even harder against climate regulations. As the EU works on its aviation climate package, it must ensure that – like other transport modes – the sector pays for its pollution…
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“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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Watch This! - Civil Society Newsletter
By Andrew Coiley on 21 Oct 2020
Watch This! Civil Society Newsletter Q3
Ambitious EU/China climate news muted amid COVID chaos Dear members, friends & colleagues, Welcome to this quarter’s edition of the Watch This, a civil society newsletter by Carbon Market Watch. In this edition we look at some big climate announcements that have struggled to get the recognition they deserve during these increasingly troubling times. In an interview with my…
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Watch This! - Civil Society Newsletter
By Andrew Coiley / Anysee Kenfack Ngnintedem/ Florencia Ortúzar & Astrid Milena Bernal / Falguni Joshi & Mahesh Pandya on 20 Oct 2020
Capacity download: Summer webinar series
Over the summer Carbon Market Watch along with our members and new working partner NGOs in Latin America, Africa and India hosted a series of online webinars to discuss the current state of carbon markets around the world and their specific impacts on various regions. The online events were designed to substitute for physical workshop…
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Watch This! - Civil Society Newsletter
By Charles Komanoff on 20 Oct 2020
If the Democrats run the table in November
This is a guest contribution for Watch This! by Charles Komanoff, the director and co-founder of the US based NGO Carbon Tax Centre. We take a deep dive into the US climate politics on the eve of the US presidential elections. This article was first written in July 2020. As in 2016, Democrats appear poised…
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Watch This! - Civil Society Newsletter
By Andrew Coiley / Agnese Ruggiero on 20 Oct 2020
Europe’s new climate pledge: more than a glossy magazine cover?
Interview with Agnese Ruggiero In a ‘normal’ year last month’s big climate announcements by Europe and China would have been a major international talking point, sadly this year is nothing but normal! First, the EU Commission during the State of the Union speech set out a plan to raise the block’s 2030 GHG reduction target…
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