ECOSYSTEM MARKETPLACE: The dirt on soil carbon
Late last year, on the eve of global climate talks in Bonn, Germany, the National Academies of the Sciences published a paper called “Natural Climate Solutions”, which showed how we could simultaneously feed more people while slashing greenhouse-gas emissions just by improving the way we manage our forests, farms, and fields.
Read MoreECOSYSTEM MARKETPLACE: Twenty percent of US climate emissions come from fossil fuel exploration on public land
Forty two percent of all coal mined in the United States in 2015 came from public lands, as did 22 percent of all crude oil and 15 percent of all natural gas. Now, a new report from The Wilderness Society shows that fossil fuel exploration on public lands generates roughly 20 percent of all US greenhouse gas emissions, and that activity shows no signs of abating.
Read MoreDIALOGUE: What future for the voluntary carbon market in a world full of emission targets?
The voluntary carbon market is maintaining demand from corporate buyers but seeing average carbon credit prices fall under a looming global climate regime that could potentially squeeze them out. (Carbon Pulse Dialogues are discussions about carbon markets and climate policy by a selection of leading experts)
Read MoreECOSYSTEM MARKETPLACE: In Bonn, progress on markets hampered by gridlock on everything else
The Americas aren’t named for Christopher Columbus, but for his map-maker, Amerigo Vespucci, who first figured out that Brazil is a pretty big part of the New World – something to keep in mind as climate negotiators sketch out the map for implementing the Paris Agreement.
Read MoreECOSYSTEM MARKETPLACE: As REDD talks progress in Bonn, question arises: who can use the term “REDD+”?
Towards the end of summer, climate negotiators learned of three trademark applications that were filed in May of this year. One was for the logo “REDDPLUSX”, which is described as a carbon credit brokerage. Another was for the logo “RRU”, which are proposed carbon credits generated by saving or supporting forests under the Paris Agreement. But it was the third, for the logo REDD+, that raised eyebrows across the climate community.
Read MoreECOSYSTEM MARKETPLACE: Forest carbon projects can narrow emissions gap, but not all are created equal
Before year-end climate talks began in Bonn, Germany last Monday, the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) published its 2017 Emissions Gap Report, which warned that existing climate action plans – called “Nationally Determined Reductions” (NDRs) – won’t keep global temperatures from rising 2oC.
Read MoreECOSYSTEM MARKETPLACE: Despite Trump, the Paris Agreement continues to evolve at Bonn/Fiji climate talks
It has been almost two years since countries adopted the historic Paris Agreement at the COP21 in France. In the next two weeks, this work will continue – perhaps less excitingly so – at the 23rd Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, known informally as COP23 in Bonn.
Read MoreECOSYSTEM MARKETPLACE: Forests can absorb 1 trillion tonnes of carbon by 2100
Forests can play a larger and more important role in reducing climate change emissions than previously thought, according to a suite of research released today.
Read MoreECOSYSTEM MARKETPLACE: Climate Trust sees $5 bln in new demand for North American offsets through 2030
With California’s cap and trade system in place through 2030 and explicit demand for offsets in the legislation, The Climate Trust (The Trust) forecasts that North American carbon markets will demand a cumulative $4.86 billion of offsets from 2017 through 2030.
Read MoreECOSYSTEM MARKETPLACE: New research continues to debunk old myths on carbon offsetting
Every few years, New York University’s Institute for Policy Integrity surveys economists who have expertise on climate change, and it always finds overwhelming support for putting a price on carbon to drive down emissions — support that ideologues on the right routinely dismiss, usually on unfounded “economic” grounds.
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