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Sweden gets serious on climate finance
22 Oct 2014
Is there a new climate hero on the horizon? ECO was excited to read that the new Swedish Government is thinking of pledging SEK$4 billion (US$560 million) to the GCF for the 2015-18 period. That’s not all: the 2015 portion of this pledge will also, at the very least, be in addition to its already […]
EU’s own goal on renewables
22 Oct 2014
Today will see EU leaders begin discussions on their post-2020 climate and energy energy policy framework underpinning their commitment to climate ambition. The proposed EU 2030 renewable energy target, at least 27% of the EU’s energy consumption, will hold the EU back in the renewables race. This proposed target does not include binding national targets […]
Will the INDCs add up to a safe climate? The truth is out there.
22 Oct 2014
Many countries are already working hard to prepare their INDCs. ECO has said repeatedly that INDCs need to be assessed for adequacy (do INDCs sum up to <2°C?) and equity (are countries doing their fair share?). The INDCs must include all the elements, and also set out an assessment phase between March 2015 and Paris. […]
Gimme Shelter: adaptation and loss and damage in the Paris deal
22 Oct 2014
Monday’s ADP session on adaptation and loss and damage covered a lot of ground. LDCs’ call to base all adaptation actions on certain guiding principles, as agreed upon in the Cancun Adaptation Framework, set off the debate on a positive foot. Promoting a gender-sensitive and participatory approach focused on vulnerable people, communities and ecosystems are […]
Workstream 2: Have you done your homework yet?
21 Oct 2014
In yesterday’s contact group on Workstream 2, Co-Chair Runge-Metzger gave all delegates very specific homework: talk to each other and develop proposals on how to improve the draft decision text until this afternoon. Delegates, you might not get a grade, but ECO is expecting you to take that assignment very seriously – as seriously as […]
Getting the big bucks from Lima to Paris: finance in the INDCs
21 Oct 2014
In the UNFCCC circus, ECO rarely favours one Party and its views over another. But this week, ECO is tempted to make an exception on finance. ECO secretly hopes that the AILAC submission on INDCs has been every negotiators’ bed-time reading last night in preparation for this morning’s ADP session on finance and the INDCs. […]
One small step for a Fund, one giant leap for humankind. We hope.
21 Oct 2014
ECO sat through 4 long days and one very long night in Barbados last week, but it was worth it. The Green Climate Fund Board finally agreed upon arrangements to receive contributions this year, and further prepared the governance system to start disbursing funds next year. Not all negotiators will know that the issue of […]
Filthy finance
21 Oct 2014
ECO is confident that delegates will remember President Obama’s famous address to the world just last month: “The climate is changing faster than our efforts to address it. The alarm bells keep ringing. Our citizens keep marching. We cannot pretend we do not hear them.” Despite this appeal to follow the people, industry choose to […]
Can you hear us now?
20 Oct 2014
People’s Climate March: 400,000 marching for Climate Justice in New York City, September 21, 2014 Political and religious leaders, progressive businesses, and most importantly, people from all walks of life have spoken with one voice: calling for immediate and ambitious climate action. The Peoples’ Climate March in New York, and associated events across the world, […]
What’s wrong with you, EU?
20 Oct 2014
At the end of this week, EU leaders will decide on Europe’s climate and energy future. Agreement on the post-2020 Climate and Energy Package make the EU the first to announce an international offer. Other countries will be intently looking at the ambition and quality of the key elements that form the Package: the emissions […]