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Voices from the Front Lines: Loss and Damage: the Price of Carbon in the Philippines!
7 Dec 2019
On 2 December, category 4 typhoon Kammuri made landfall in the Bicol region of the Philippines. Several hours prior, Paula Guevara, a resident in the region, recalls a literal calm before the storm. Then she heard a whistling sound she had only previously heard during typhoon Haiyan in 2013. Her household then lost power. And […]
Australia Needs to Start its NDC at the Starting Line, Not Half-way Through the Race
7 Dec 2019
Imagine if in the Olympics you could get away with starting the race half way down the track. That is what Australia plans to do with its NDC €” to carryover a controversial “overachievement” from its modest Kyoto Protocol commitments to extinguish half the effort required to meet its very deficient 2030 target. Australia has […]
The Conversation Continues… OMGE! Convincing a Skeptic on “Automatic Cancellation”
7 Dec 2019
Welcome back! ECO’s conversation with an OMGE automatic cancellation skeptic was just too [lengthy][complex][exciting] for one day. Mandatory partial cancellation ensures that Article 6 goes beyond zero-sum offsetting (a principle and requirement under Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement. Mandatory partial cancellation is a process where buyers (like a country or an airline for compliance […]
Multilateral Assessment – We’ve Got Questions for You
7 Dec 2019
ECO is excited to see so many Annex I Parties participating in the multilateral assessment of their biennial reports. ECO congratulates Parties for participating and thinks the multilateral assessment can be a great place to share experiences and lessons learned with other Parties in a constructive environment. We look forward to hearing your presentations and […]
The Just and Equitable Transition: Where is my Home?
7 Dec 2019
Meeting the 1.5°C target means all Parties must transition away from dirty fossil fuels to clean and renewable energy as fast as possible, in line with the IPCC science and deadlines. This shift from dirty to clean power isn’t the whole story though: the necessary energy transition must also be centered in justice and equity, […]
Too Late for “Later” on Timeframes!
7 Dec 2019
ECO has a difficult life making choices sometimes. We grapple with choosing which sandwich to eat for lunch or which pavilion has the best coffee. So we sympathise with Parties who have spent a lot of time struggling to decide on their preference for common NDC time frames, debating between 5 years, 10 years, or […]
Half a Million March in Madrid to Bring Climate Strikes to the COP
7 Dec 2019
With fists up, banners high, and hearts ablaze with conviction, over 500,000 people took to the streets of Madrid last night to strike for climate action. ECO was on the Paseo del Prado to join the marchers €” led by the Fridays For Future youth movement €” and judging by the emptiness of IFEMA yesterday […]
Today’s winners of Fossil of the Day? Guess who!
6 Dec 2019
Who else but the United States (US) and Russia! The US and Russia Looks like the US and Russia share more than the ability to bully other countries, rig elections, and lead in climate-wrecking oil and gas production! They want to make loss and damage weak again The US gets the fossil for opposing […]
When your negotiator says ˜Why do we need Loss & Damage Finance’? Who you gonna call? ˜ECO!’
6 Dec 2019
When your negotiator says “Why do we need Loss & Damage Finance”? Who you gonna call? “ECO!” ECO welcomes the new direction from Parties to hone in on the nuts and bolts of the discussion on finance to address Loss & Damage (L&D). What’s clear is that vulnerable, developing countries need assistance to address L&D, […]
“C’mon!!! Do we really need 5 years to decide on 5 year common time frames?
6 Dec 2019
“C”mon!!! Do we really need 5 ye ECO was becoming increasingly impatient sitting at the common time frames session on Wednesday. For the past years, countries have been contemplating different time frame options. These discussions have demonstrated the clear benefits of a five year common time frame. During the open informal consultation on Wednesday, nearly […]