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Holiday Plans Until 2023/24?
10 Dec 2015
ECO was excited to see emerging convergence among Parties on five-year cycles in the new text. But ECO has one simple, but very important, question: when does it start? We are not on track to stay below even 2°C. We also know that without increasing the ambition of INDCs before implementation in 2020, the 1.5°C […]
Shuffling Deck Chairs on Iceberg-free Waters
9 Dec 2015
ECO is concerned to see that the L.6 adopted ADP text leaves open the option of continuing to generate and trade offset credits. To keep global average temperature increase to 1.5ºC or less—and ECO is excited to see support from new quarters on this imperative—we should phase out all fossil fuel emissions no later than […]
Rising Ambition Must Lift All Boats!
9 Dec 2015
And planes, too! ECO is thrilled that Parties are coming around to a target of 1.5°C. But how would we all feel if we got back home and realized—oops!—we left out two huge emitters? International aviation and shipping emissions are equivalent to the carbon emissions of the UK and Germany, are not included in national […]
New Zealand’s Shell Game
9 Dec 2015
New Zealand will devote NZ$20 million to research methods for reducing its agricultural emissions over the next four years. Prime Minister John Key announced this news last Monday at COP21. Agriculture accounts for half of the country’s total emissions. What the Prime Minister failed to mention was that, earlier this year, AgResearch cut a net […]
Norway’s Human Rights Record: Not a Fjordgone Conclusion
9 Dec 2015
As the president of the Sami parliament of Norway, Aili Keskitalo, spoke at the High Level Segment of COP, ECO was dismayed to learn that the Norwegian Environmental Agency just doomed a world famous fjord by approving the annual dumping of two million tons of waste from a planned copper mine in the Repparfjord. This […]
Heal the Adaptation Text
8 Dec 2015
Prevention is better than cure when it comes to illness. So, it is crucial to scale up on climate change adaptation to reduce its harm. As negotiations gain speed, ECO is not at the operating table, but would like to share some thoughts on key remaining topics. ECO is happy to see that some brackets […]
Show Love for the Adaptation Fund!
8 Dec 2015
The Adaptation Fund (AF) is a UNFCCC success story: more than 50 adaptation projects are currently underway in Latin America, Africa and Asia, providing support to vulnerable people. However, the AF operates under a high level of uncertainty. While more and more countries put forward project ideas—the last board meeting has seen an unprecedented amount […]
The US, Its Silent Allies and the Compensation Phantom
8 Dec 2015
ECO thinks there is quite enough to be dealing with at the moment without adding in non-things. So, we are getting tired of increasingly hearing that the US is pushing for specific language excluding liability and compensation behind the scenes, making it easy for other countries that want the same to play the silent partner. […]
ECO’s Idea on Funding for Loss and Damage
8 Dec 2015
ECO understands that the rich, polluting countries are not keen to put money on the table to help vulnerable, developing countries affected by climate change. ECO heard of a very attractive mechanism that could lower their bill–let the industry most responsible for climate change pay for the damage their product is causing. Fossil fuels are […]
The Lovely, Lovely Land
8 Dec 2015
You won’t solve climate change without forests. But, amid all the potential to address climate change from the land, we need to watch our step. Land is not only about forests and mitigation. It’s where food is grown, homes are built, cultures are rooted, water cycles are nurtured, and where biodiversity works its magic. ECO […]