The voluntary carbon market (VCM) is often championed as a key tool for combating climate change and funding climate mitigation projects, especially in economically disadvantaged regions like Africa. Despite Africa’s minimal contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions, the continent is heavily impacted by climate change. Recently, the number of VCM projects on the continent has increased …
Read more “Due south: Geographic disparity of project actors in the voluntary carbon market”
Whilst REDD+ credits have been the subject of intense media and civil society scrutiny, the same cannot be said of renewable energy projects, which are plagued by similar issues when used for offsetting, yet manage to hide in plain sight. Serious concerns exist regarding the use of renewable energy projects to generate carbon credits. Those …
Read more “Hidden in plain sight: Flawed renewable energy projects in the voluntary carbon market”
As this year’s edition of the CCRM reveals, the median absolute emissions reduction commitments by 2030 for the 51 companies assessed was as little as 30% (and 33% at the most optimistic), whereas the world needs a 43% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and 48% in carbon emissions below 2019 levels to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5°C.
This analysis assesses the public availability of project documentation across the four main voluntary carbon market registries: Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), Gold Standard (GS), American Carbon Registry (ACR), and the Climate Action Reserve (CAR). These standards were selected as they collectively issue the majority of the world’s (voluntary market) carbon credits.
In 2016, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) adopted the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), a global scheme with the objective of achieving “carbon-neutral growth” after 2020, relying on the use of carbon offsets and sustainable aviation fuel. In this information note to the Parties of the Aarhus Convention, the International …
Read more “Letter to the Parties to the Aarhus Convention on public participation and access to information at the International Civil Aviation Organization”
European countries who are members of the UN civil aviation body are keeping their work on climate policies for the aviation sector secret from their citizens, in breach of an international treaty on public access to environmental information. The Aarhus Convention covers three principles: access to environmental information, public participation in environmental decision-making and access …
Read more “EU countries under scrutiny for their role in opaque aviation agency “
