Blog
Search blog
Good News Day, Sort Of
12 Nov 2016
Yesterday was a good day in that there was no official Fossil of the Day winner; though some would say Venezuela deserves at least an honourable mention for attempting to throw the baby out with the bathwater. ECO completely gets that fossil fuel companies shouldn’t be influencing negotiations. Organisations making a business out of polling […]
An Achievement Worthy of Vegemite
11 Nov 2016
Australia! We’ve had our differences, but today you made ECO smile. Yesterday, we woke to the happy news that you ratified the Paris Agreement. And let’s face it, we all needed a bit of boost! For those who might be surprised, ECO notes that the move was welcomed by leading Australian businesses, investors, unions, and […]
EU, Step Up
11 Nov 2016
Today’s Fossil of the Day goes to… the European Union for peddling biofuels! The EU has considerable economic and technological clout at its disposal to accelerate the just transition to 100% clean, renewable energy. Unfortunately, the EU is instead promoting biofuels in their SBSTA submission on agriculture. The EU knows that biofuels are a false […]
Unfinished Business
11 Nov 2016
ECO readers know that to keep warming to well below 1.5°C, we need to increase ambition before 2020. The good news is that there are countless opportunities for reducing emissions more quickly. Developed countries in particular have responsibility for increasing their ambition and providing the necessary support so these opportunities can be realised. Marrakech needs […]
Gathering Speed on Pre-2020 Action
11 Nov 2016
In preparation for the high-level part of the Facilitative Dialogue on enhancing ambition and support taking place next Wednesday, ECO would like to raise the profile of the helpful guiding questions proposed by the Presidency. In particular, we would like to ask, what immediate domestic steps should countries take to raise overall ambition? ECO wouldn’t […]
Key to the Success of First Global Stocktake
11 Nov 2016
Given the current lack of collective ambition, the Global Stocktake is a crucial tool to make a serious assessment of the Parties’ progress on meeting the objectives they all signed up to in Paris, and identify what still needs to be done. The Global Stocktake must gather momentum by ensuring broad ownership over its process […]
Let Us In
11 Nov 2016
While Parties negotiate key aspects of the Paris Agreement in the APA informals, only 2 representatives per constituency are allowed to enter each of these sessions. ECO reminds Parties that just 6 months ago, all Parties “reaffirmed the fundamental value of effective participation by observers in the intergovernmental process […] and acknowledged the need to further […]
Streamlined Communication Needed on Adaptation
11 Nov 2016
In closely listening to Parties’ discussion of adaptation communication under the APA, ECO thinks that adaptation communications are a key contributor to understanding and assessing progress—or lack thereof—towards the global goal on adaptation. It would be helpful to develop guidance for streamlined communications to assist developing countries in managing their adaptation planning, monitoring challenges and […]
Equity After Paris
11 Nov 2016
This is an unjust world, but the climate transition cannot not be. If we’re to have a real chance at the Paris temperature targets, we must avoid narrow nationalism and commit to equity. Yet, even after the Paris breakthrough, equity is treated as an irritant or a danger by even by some of our high […]
Watch Your Budget
11 Nov 2016
When it comes to how much our planet is warming, what counts is the cumulative emissions that we’ve pumped into the atmosphere. This is a matter of physics, not politics. In its 5th Assessment Report, the IPCC provided global carbon budgets—or the amount of carbon we could emit—and still hold global warming to certain temperatures. […]