Open Letter to Mrs. Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, COP 17 Presidency
6 December 2011
Durban 05 December, 2011 – COP17
To Her Excellency
Mrs. Maite Nkoana-Mashabane
COP 17/CMP 7 President
Open Letter: CDM Coal Power Projects Undermine Efforts of UNFCCC Process
Excellency,
Recognising the urgency of the climate crisis, the signatories to this letter wish to express their deep concern regarding coal power projects in the clean development mechanism. These projects receive millions of Euros of scarce climate finance while locking-in billions of tons of CO2 and causing severe human health and ecosystems damage. Moreover, analysis shows that CDM coal power projects are non-additional and therefore generate millions of artificial carbon credits that increase global emissions and undermine the UNFCCC process. We therefore call on you to ensure that these projects will be excluded from the CDM at COP-17.
Last week, the UN’s CDM Executive Board suspended the crediting rules for coal power projects after an investigation found that the flawed rules could lead to over-issuance of millions of carbon credits that do not reflect real and additional emission reductions. These findings were confirmed and expanded upon by an independent study[1] which found that the flaws in the methodology leading to the over-crediting are inherent to this project type. The reports conclusion stated that it is unlikely that a revised methodology could ensure that offset credits from CDM coal power projects are real and measurable.
In order to avoid hundreds of millions of carbon credits from unsustainable projects that deliver neither emission reductions, nor sustainable development benefits, Parties here in Durban should decide to exclude coal power projects from the CDM.
On behalf of the organisations listed above and civil society around the world, we call on your Excellency to work with Parties to ensure a CMP decision is taken during COP-17 that excludes coal projects from the CDM.
Such a decision is the only means of ensuring that these projects do not undermine developed countries’ mitigation commitments under the Kyoto Protocol or divert significant levels of scarce climate finance away from sustainable clean energy projects.
Yours sincerely,
International:
Africa Europe Faith & Justice Network (AEFJN)
Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)
Earthjustice
Ecoterra International
Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA)
Green Cross International
Greenpeace International
HELIO International
International Earthpeoples
International Rivers
Society for Threatened Peoples
Tibetan Women’s Association
Africa:
Ghana: Green Cross Ghana
Kenya: Kenya Young Greens
Uganda: Ecological Christian Organisation (ECO)
Americas:
Argentina: Movimiento social Misiones-Argentina
Bolivia: Plataforma Boliviana Frente al Cambio Climático
Brazil: (IVAH) Instituto de Valorização Ambiental e Humana
Canada: Association québécoise de lutte contre la pollution atmosphérique (AQLPA)
Colombia: Movimiento Colombiano en Defensa de los Territorios y Afectados por Represas “Ríos Vivos”
Honduras: Fundación Popol Nah Tun
Organizacion Fraternal Negra Hondureña (OFRANEH)
Mexico: En Defensa del Ambiente
Entornons Educativos A.C.
Genero y flor de Maíz A.C.
Instituto Mexicano Para el Desarrollo Comunitario, A.C. (IMDEC)
Jubileo Sur México
Maderas del Pueblo del Sureste, AC
Marea Creciente México
Revuelta Verde
Panama: Alianza para la Conservación y el Desarrollo (ACD)
Asociacion Ambientalista de Chiriqui (ASAMCHI)
Paraguay: SOBREVIVENCIA (FOE Paraguay)
Peru: Red Regional Agua y Desarrollo Piura
USA: Center for Biological Diversity
Friends of the Earth – US
Professor Michael K. Dorsey (in personal capacity)
Sierra Club
Asia:
Bangladesh: Angikar Bangladesh Foundation Participatory Research & Action Network (PRAN)
Shelter NGO
India: Centre for Education & Documentation
Centre for Environment and Development – CEAD
Context India
Matu Jansangthan
Paryavaran Mitra
Samata – Assertion for People
Smt. Nandini Satpathy Memorial Trust (SNSMT)
Water Initiative Orisha
Indonesia: CAPPA-Ecological Justice
Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR)
Lebanon: IndyACT – The League of Independent Activists
Philippines: Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM)
CSC- PCSD.
Asian Peasant Coalition (APC)
Europe:
CEE Bankwatch Network
CAN-Europe
Austria: Global 2000
Belgium: CDM Watch
CNCD – 11.11.11.
Denmark: INFORSE-Europe
WWF Denmark
Finland: Friends of the Earth Finland
Germany: BUND
Climate Concept Foundation
Forum Ökologisch-Soziale Marktwirtschaft e.V.
Forum Umwelt und Entwicklung
Germanwatch
klima-allianz deutschland
Klimaverhalten
Lernen – Helfen – Leben e.V. (LHL)
Norway: Future in our hands
Portugal: Quercus – ANCN
Republic of Kosovo: Institute for Policy Development
Russia: Ecodefense
Friends of the Siberian Forests
Sarajevo: SEE Change Net
Spain: Amigos de la Tierra España (FOE Spain)
Ecologistas en Acción
Fundacion IPADE
Sweden: FOE Sweden
UK: FOE Scotland
The Climate and Health Council
WWF UK
Ukraine: NGO Ecoclub
Oceania:
Australia: Australian Religious Response to Climate Change
Climate Action Moreland
Climate Action Network Australia
Climate Change Balmain-Rozelle