Nov 22, 09
How Carbon Markets Work in Europe
by Eric de Place In spite of what you may have heard, Europe's carbon market is working beautifully. The EU's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) has been operational since 2005 and we're now getting a good look at how it functions. It turns out, it's a remarkable success story, both environmentally and economically. Let's briefly review the major pieces of evidence. 1. European Environment Agency. A November 2009 report finds that the continent is well on its way to meeting its...
Norway to Help Protect Guyana's Forests
For the past year, President Bharrat Jagdeo of Guyana has traveled the world offering to place his nation's forests under international supervision if other countries paid his citizens not to deforest the tropical landscapes. The campaign received major support last week when Norway announced a $30 million commitment on Monday for the small South American nation to implement an "avoided deforestation" plan. If the program demonstrates success, Guyana will receive an additional $250 million...
World Leaders say Copenhagen to be a Steppingstone to Final Climate Deal
Some very good news on the international front, as the UK Guardian reports today: During a hastily convened breakfast meeting in Singapore, the US president supported a Danish plan to salvage something from the moribund negotiations by aiming for a broad political agreement and postponing contentious decisions on emissions targets, financing and technology transfer…. The deferral plan was outlined to 19 leaders, including Obama and Chinese president Hu Jintao, who were in Singapore...
Lifting the Lid on Climate Change Talks
by John Vidal Rich countries bullying poorer ones, mud-slinging and back-stabbing - environmental summits can be vicious. At 8am on Wednesday 7 October, a smartly dressed fiftysomething Filipino woman took the escalator to the first floor of the UN building in Bangkok and merged into a throng of diplomats, civil servants and environmentalists arriving for the eighth day of the ninth session of the global climate talks. She was met with a few respectful nods. Bernarditas de Castro Muller...
Interview with Rajendra Pachauri: Amid Mounting Pessimism A Voice of Hope for Copenhagen
With skepticism growing about the chances of reaching a climate agreement next month in Copenhagen, Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, says he is “cautiously optimistic” that a treaty can still be signed. But in an interview with Yale Environment 360, Pachauri says the global community may have to move ahead without any commitment from the United States. Few people have as much stake in the outcome of the upcoming climate talks in Copenhagen...
Gaming Cap and Trade: Should We Worry?
A look at the evidence - and a path forward. Worries about “gaming” or market manipulation sometimes crop up as an objection to cap and trade, often with reference to recent shenanigans in the financial markets. Some fear that a cap-and-trade system could be manipulated to artificially raise—or lower—permit prices to generate profits for a few at the expense of consumers. While distrust and concerns about scamming a carbon market are understandable, they’re not warranted. To put...
Bill McKibben's wrap up of the more than 4300 demonstrations for 350 ppm around the planet
The great environmental writer and founder of 350.org, Bill McKibben, is the guest blogger. We’re sitting here in our temporary offices in lower Manhattan hunched over laptops drowning in images—15,000 photos and thousands of minutes of video have arrived from what turned out to be 5,200 rallies, protests, and demonstrations in 181 countries around the world. It was, according to any number of journalistic accounts, “the most widespread day of political action in the planet’s...
United States Under Pressure to Protect Tropical Forests
The state of Acre in western Brazil gained notoriety in 1988 when cattle ranchers murdered Chico Mendes, a rubber tapper who campaigned against the destruction of the Amazon forest. Twenty years later, roughly half the state is marked as a protected area. The government continues to integrate conservation efforts into development plans, but total deforestation rates have still risen in recent years. To avoid further forest loss, the state is looking to assistance from outside funders. "We...
Dressing For Copenhagen
By Bill Becker In the Danish fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, an Emperor goes out among his subjects in his underwear. Two swindlers posing as tailors have convinced him he’s wearing a suit made from cloth that’s invisible to anyone who is stupid. Not wanting to accept that he’s stupid, the Emperor parades through his empire believing he’s fully dressed. It now is up to the U.S. Senate to make sure Uncle Sam is not only fully dressed, but dressed for success when he shows up...
Brazil's President: "I Foresee That By 2020 We Will Be Able To Reduce Deforestation By 80 Percent; In Other Words We Will Emit Some 4.8 Billion Fewer Tons Of Carbon Dioxide Gas"
This is really the first year since the launch in 2006 that the blog seems appropriately named! AFP reports: President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Tuesday he will offer to reduce the pace of deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rain forest by 80 percent by 2020 when he attends December’s global climate talks in Copenhagen. Lula said his pledge will come during high-stakes talks in the Danish capital that aim to push 192 nations towards a climate deal to succeed the landmark Kyoto...
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