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Accounting Our Way Out Of Trouble?
5 Jun 2015
With INDCs rolling in, it’s clear that many Parties intend to use international market-based mechanisms to achieve their mitigation commitments. ECO’s main message to delegates—put in place rules to avoid double-counting mitigation efforts. Without good accounting, market mechanisms could undermine mitigation targets. The climate cannot afford the risk of both host and purchasing countries counting […]
The talk of the town
5 Jun 2015
Renewable energy—the darling of the mitigation community—came, saw and conquered at the Technical Expert Meeting (TEM) on Tuesday. And we are hungry for more. So, let’s roll out the red carpet for the under-appreciated ugly duckling of the emissions cutting measures—energy efficiency. It might get less attention, but let’s not forget it has turned into […]
The Curious Case of the Long-Term Finance Workshop That Didn’t Discuss Long-Term Finance
5 Jun 2015
The helpful elves of ECO were disappointed to report yesterday that the workshop on Long-Term Finance (LTF) failed to meet our expectations in that it didn’t actually discuss the key elements within the framework of LTF. Here is a reminder to our friendly delegates what the aims of the LTF process are; hopefully this will […]
Carbon Climate Resilience Is In This Season
5 Jun 2015
2015 is an important year for our planet’s future. Countries are coming together to agree on outcomes in parallel, but interlinked, processes: the United Nations process on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). There are clear synergies. It is hard to achieve sustainable development without developing a climate-resilient and low-carbon process, and […]
Vulnerable Nations Shine a Light on Ambition
5 Jun 2015
ECO is humbled and thankful for the courageous leadership shown by the Climate Vulnerables Forum. This represents 20 of the most vulnerable countries in the world fighting for their only means of survival—a global goal of 1.5°C. The Philippines, Costa Rica and Bangladesh (current and former chairs of the group) are known for their commitment […]
Three strikes and you’re out!
5 Jun 2015
Fossil of the Day is presented daily by the Climate Action Network to the countries that perform the worst at the UN Climate Talks. And Japan must have tried their best to get this process so very wrong! Strike One! First place in the Fossil awards goes to Japan for their extremely weak INDC, which […]
The Energy That Must Not Be Mentioned
4 Jun 2015
Yesterday, ECO enjoyed a full day of presentations and discussions on renewable energy (RE) during the Technical Expert Meetings. RE is now creating more jobs than the oil and gas sector: the success is truly inspiring. RE’s development potential, and current and future importance, is so noteworthy that it’s now referenced in the SDGs zero-draft […]
SDGs: our last chance to save the planet?
4 Jun 2015
Yesterday the UN released its zero-draft text for the Post-2015 development agenda, which includes the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). There’s a rather weak climate change goal but no reference to the 1.5˚C target or to the huge effort that is needed across all the SDGs to put us on that pathway. Nor is there comment […]
RED ALERT: Defend your future
4 Jun 2015
It’s time for a reality-check: mitigation is not a negotiation tactic, it’s a mission for protecting people and the world’s environments. The mounting tension surrounding the outcomes of the Structured Expert Dialogue (SED) shows that the journey from science to policy is a tricky path. (Saudi Arabia — we’re not impressed; this is not a […]