*NEW* MARC(U) MY WORD: Europe’s Climate Law – Locking in the Future?
The EU Climate Law, with its sweeping scope and ambitious objectives, will recalibrate the parameters of economic activity across the continent. In particular, it will dramatically narrow the options available to member states when they decide on how to meet their current and future energy demand.
Read MoreCOMMENT: Five massive drivers of future demand for offsets
Prior to the onslaught of COVID-19, a quick scan of the news each day would reveal that climate change is on the minds of customers and corporates worldwide. Warmer winters with rain where there was once snow, colder weather anomalies due to destabilization of the polar vortex, and summers punctuated by raging fires in both hemispheres make the topic impossible to ignore. And, while new regulatory regimes are cropping up across the globe, voluntary action is on the rise.
Read MoreCOMMENT: Doubling down on climate action in the time of corona
Let this economic crisis not be a brake on the low-carbon transition, but an accelerator. With the Green Deal as a compass, we can marry our emergency spending with structural changes that will prepare us for a greener tomorrow. Because we cannot backtrack on our climate commitments, neither governments nor companies. That is more than crisis management, that is responsible policy, writes Renat Heuberger, CEO, South Pole.
Read MoreCOMMENT: ICAO’s carbon market report offers valuable lessons for Article 6 talks
A report by experts recommending carbon credits for the ICAO’s CORSIA international aviation mechanism provides valuable lessons for the Article 6 negotiations. Even in the absence of an Article 6 agreement at COP26, countries which want to use global carbon markets should heed these lessons.
Read MoreCOMMENT: The gravity-defying wonder of EUAs
The chart below shows how European carbon prices have outperformed the rest of the energy complex so far this year. EUAs are down just 1.7% since January 1, while coal, oil, natural gas and power have all fallen between 7% and 21%.
Read MoreCOMMENT: What critics of a European ‘carbon border tax’ are missing
Opinions abound on a controversial new policy announced by new European Commission President von der Leyen: the ‘carbon border tax’. Yet many commentators limit themselves to repeating decade-old and often irrelevant arguments, overlooking the actual challenges such a measure will face.
Read MoreECOSYSTEM MARKETPLACE – Shades of REDD+: Should forest offsets be eligible for CORSIA?
When operating details of the Kyoto Protocol’s CDM were negotiated from 2001-03, many voiced concerns about forest carbon credits and their high risk of reversals, potential to displace emissions, and the difficulties in accurately quantifying emission reductions. Nearly two decades on, it is worthwhile to reconsider the question of whether or not forest mitigation could be ready for carbon markets. The question is back on the table as ICAO sets up a scheme for reducing emissions from international air travel.
Read MoreECOSYSTEM MARKETPLACE – Shades of REDD+: Nesting – A good or bad piece of Swiss cheese?
There was a time when people thought that forests were the low-hanging fruit of the climate challenge, and that reducing emissions from deforestation was fast, easy, and cheap. No one thinks that anymore.
Read MoreECOSYSTEM MARKETPLACE – Shades of REDD+: Bridging the National vs Project Divide
Efforts to reduce tropical deforestation are divided into two separate worlds: One that believes that governments need to lead any effort on reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD+), and one that sees a role for private carbon projects. We must unify these worlds to increase the chances to curb deforestation.
Read MoreECOSYSTEM MARKETPLACE: Will small forest owners finally be able to tap carbon markets?
The Wong family of Peru amassed a fortune building up a chain of supermarkets, but much of their wealth today is in real estate – including the 220,000-hectare (543,400-acre) Madeacre forestry concession that family’s late patriarch, Erasmo Wong, cobbled together in the province of Tahuamanu.
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