Warsaw, 8 November 2013 

Open letter to Ministers and delegates of UNFCCC Parties

Subject: Stop carbon markets from undermining mitigation commitments at COP-19

Dear Minister, Dear Delegate, 

The IPCC´s new report confirms the daunting challenge we face. Without dramatic action now, we will see severe impacts on the lands and waters we all depend upon for survival. 19 years ago the UN’s climate change convention was adopted with the goal to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations at safe levels. Every additional tonne of CO2 that is emitted will make it increasingly difficult and costly to meet the 2°C goal.

We, [add number] civil society networks, organisations and concerned citizens from [add number] countries call on you to agree to ambitious climate action and stop carbon markets from undermining mitigation commitments at COP-19. To pave the way for a comprehensive, far reaching climate deal that can be agreed in 2015, we call on you to:

Agree  on requirements for clear, equitable and ambitious mitigation commitments to ensure we can stay below 2 degrees warming;

• Reject a pilot phase for trading carbon market units under the Framework for Various Approaches (FVA) to avoid undermining the new post-2020 climate regime; 

• Establish an international accounting framework to avoid double counting and allow for net atmospheric benefits to be achieved; 

• Ensure that access to carbon markets be linked to high ambition to avoid that new hot air is created; 

• Exclude clearly non-additional project types, such as large power projects, from the Kyoto’s flexible mechanisms CDM and JI to avoid undermining developed countries’ climate commitments; 

• Stop subsidising fossil fuels and exclude coal power from the CDM;

• Establish safeguards to protect human rights when climate mitigation projects are implemented under the CDM, the Green Climate Fund, NAMAs or future carbon markets.

Sincerely,

We the undersigned (attached pdf.)