Executive Summary On October 6th, Member States of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) agreed on an offsetting scheme to compensate for emissions growth from 2020 levels. The new scheme, called the Carbon Offset and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), falls short of achieving the goal of carbon neutral growth in 2020 (CNG2020), let…
Executive Summary Countries’ obligations under international human rights law are well established. These include the obligations to respect, protect, and fulfill human rights, which are applicable in the context of climate change. Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) recognize that they must respect human rights—including procedural rights—in all climate-related actions….
Carbon Market Watch welcomes the opportunity to provide input to the discussions on matters relating to Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.
Summary Aviation accounts for approximately 4.9% of all global warming1 and is projected to grow by up to 300% by 2050 if left unaddressed. In order to limit the global average temperature rise to 1.5°C above preindustrial levels, international aviation must contribute to the global effort to reduce emissions. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the international body responsible…
From 30 November to 12 December 2015, Parties to the UNFCCC met in Paris to negotiate a new global climate treaty.
The Paris Agreement was a remarkable outcome, especially after the failures of Copenhagen. Almost all involved, including Carbon Market Watch, seemed surprised at how positive the outcome was. However, expectations had been carefully managed in the preceding years, so that aspirations of environmentalists to have a treaty that reflected the scientific reality by dividing up the remaining global carbon budget, had been downplayed into unreality.
Last December in Paris, a global climate deal was adopted in which all countries have agreed to take action on climate change. Ahead of the climate summit, almost 190 countries representing over 90% of global greenhouse gas emissions registered their climate commitments. Europe, which long thought of itself as the lone wolf in tackling climate change, is therefore no longer going it alone.
Executive Summary This is a crucial moment in Paris. As global negotiations on a climate change agreement shape the future of our planet, Parties can decide on an approach that will protect people and the planet in the near and long term. Countries’ obligations under international human rights law are well established. These include the…
Agriculture supports the livelihoods of around a half of the world’s population, but is at the same time a notable source of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) driving climate change. As of one the options to tackle emissions in the sector, governments have been discussing to include additional agricultural activities into the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) under the United Nations Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC) since 2011. Whether agricultural activities should be eligible for carbon offsetting programmes is not only topical within discussions in the UNFCCC but also within certain regional cap-and-trade schemes and discussions to establish a market based mechanism for international aviation emissions, expected to be adopted in October 2016 under the auspices of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
Summary Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) are a promising vehicle for developing countries to pursue their mitigation and development objectives. Although this dual objective also characterizes other mechanisms under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), such as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), NAMAs are particular in the sense that they are a voluntary, country driven…
The new global Sustainable Development Agenda (Agenda 2030), officially adopted on 25 September 2015 by all United Nations (UN) Member States, has for the first time produced a stand-alone and universal climate goal. This explicitly recognises that the solutions to climate change and sustainable development are inherently interconnected and calls for coordinated efforts to address both simultaneously. From ending poverty and hunger, to addressing health, water and energy insecurity, to protecting oceans, forests and other ecosystems and preventing conflict, addressing climate change is critical to our collective ability to deliver on the SDGs.
Carbon pricing 
International transport 
Climate governance 
Fair climate action