Brussels 19 April 2017. The European Commission has released a new study showing major flaws in carbon offsets from the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). As countries flesh out the rules to implement the Paris Agreement, Carbon Market Watch calls for an end to the scheme, and a shift away from offsetting as a climate policy…
The European Parliament’s environment committee has nominated Julie Girling from conservative group ECR to lead talks on aviation’s role in the EU’s Emissions Trading System. Discussing the European Commission’s most recent proposal to continue the exclusion of international flights from the EU ETS, Ms Girling urged colleagues not to let Europe slip back on gains already made to curb the sector’s growing climate impact.
The 2015 diplomatic success of the Paris Agreement now seems far away. Today we are faced with a very different geopolitical reality both in general, and especially when it comes to climate policy. Germany is a country Europe both looks to for stability, it also now finds itself in the global limelight in 2017 as it holds the G20 Presidency and will host the COP 23 in Bonn.
BRUSSELS 3 February 2017. The European Commission has proposed to continue to exempt all flights to and from Europe from paying for their pollution under the EU’s carbon market rules, following an international agreement on aviation emissions. An uncertain global agreement should not be allowed to undermine EU’s climate efforts. The proposal comes after the…
On September 17, Ngäbe people rejected an agreement between top representatives and the government, signed only a month before. In the meantime, the test filling of the reservoir resumed which has flooded affected communities. Carbon Market Watch along with 80 other local and international NGOs, have called on the Panamanian authorities to withdraw the Barro…
Washington DC, Bonn, Kiad, Panama 24 May 2016 – Today the floodgates were opened on the contentious UN backed Barro Blanco hydro dam in Panama, sparking forced removal by authorities of indigenous Ngäbe communities that are living in protest camps near the dam site. With construction finished, GENISA, the company that owns and operates the…
Brussels 22 April 2016. Today at least 160 countries – and the EU – gather in New York to sign a landmark climate deal with an ambitious target to limit global warming to 1.5°C above preindustrial levels. On this occasion, 23 organisations urge EU leaders to ensure that Europe’s largest climate instrument will be made coherent with the Paris agreement. Other key areas where the EU needs to deliver are the EU Emissions Trading System, and emissions from aviation.
During the Paris negotiations in December publication of Carbon Market Watch’s policy brief revealed that long-term success of Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) depends on having clear guidelines on stakeholder consultations, oversight of sustainable development impacts and sector-specific environmental criteria. The strategic plan for the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the NAMA Facility revision process are crucial opportunities to acknowledge these success factors.
Paris did not come up with a decision to mobilise trillions needed to put the world on a 1.5 C pathway. Developed countries will continue to take the lead in mobilizing climate finance. However, the financial provisions are weak, with most relevant points shoved into decisions.
Despite seemingly genuine fears amongst some negotiators that the role of carbon markets might not be mentioned in the final agreement, the Paris treaty created two different frameworks for market approaches that will be developed in detail over the next years.
Kaisa Amaral, Communications Director
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