On

CMP 11 agenda item 4

Issues relating to the clean development mechanism

9 December 2015

Guidance relating to the CDM for the Executive Board of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM EB);

…

11. Requests the Executive Board to analyse the need for measures to ensure the continued participation of designated operational entities in the clean development mechanism, in particular in the regions underrepresented in the clean development mechanism, taking into account paragraph 28 below

12. Decides to allow the submission of a request for the revision of a baseline and monitoring methodology without a draft project or programme design document in cases where the Executive Board considers that the assessment of such a request can be conducted without the project-specific information;

13. Requests the Executive Board to implement paragraph 12 above by revising the relevant regulations;

…

20. Requests the Executive Board to consider developing a standardized registration template using objective criteria for activities that qualify as automatically additional; see full documentCDM_CMP_11

(why  paragraphs get deformed,evolve or  deleted )

This dialog below concerns paragraph 11 and 12, but it happend throughout the document, 12 paragraphs were either deleted or changed reducing a 40 paragraphed document to 28 .

-Moses Duguru

The post Negotiating(Evolving) CDM-practices – PART 2… appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

Some of have spent two weeks here, officially observing, and pushing towards a climate agreement that will ensure action. Yet we all leave now, unsure about the actual outcome of all of the hard work that has gone into every part of this conference. Has the entire purpose of this colossal conference been met?

Just as the icebergs in front of the Panthéon in Paris have yet to melt, so to have the climate talks yet to reach their final agreement. Here is to hope for tomorrow, hope for a climate agreement that will fulfill demands of all parties and include the aspects of loss and damage, sound finance, the 1.5 degree target, human rights, the role and rights of women and the young and future generations and so much more in as short a text as possible.

-Daniela Kretz

The post Closing Day at #COP21: Unfinished? appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

– Alexandra Bell

The post Short update – day 12 appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

A project collecting and fostering creative ideas for changing our economic model.

– Alexandra Bell

The post Some inspiration & motivation for innovation appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

DRAFT TEXT

On

CMP 11 agenda item 4

Issues relating to the clean development mechanism

Version 2 of 5 December 2015 at 18:00

……

11. [Requests the Executive Board to explore synergies between CDM and other market mechanisms and carbon pricing instruments to ensure the cost-efficient use of resources, coherence of market instruments and the avoidance of double counting, in particular regarding infrastructure and technical arrangements, tools, governance structures and processes;]

12.  [Requests the Executive Board to prepare an analysis of the role of the CDM as mitigation tool beyond 2020, links and interactions with other tools and to forward recommendations for consideration by the SBI at its forty-forth session;]

13.  [Requests the Executive Board to explore synergies between CDM and international climate finance institutions [to foster the use of the CDM.] [by using CDM or part of its methodological standards, including MRV];]

13. [(alternative to 11-13) Requests the EB to expedite efforts to encourage interested stakeholders to nurture the demand of the CDM and CERs.]

…..

20. [Encourages the Executive Board to [move ahead] [continue] with the development of a [methodological digitization tool for automatic generation of project and programme design document] [digitized methodology-specific design document forms][web-based system for supporting CDM project activities];

…….

And tomorrow you will see how the negotiations went on this tiny little text

– Alexandra Bell, Moses Duguru and Stephanie Schmid

The post Negotiating CDM-practices – PART 1…. appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

When we arrived to Paris at the beginning of this week, negotiating texts had been prepared for ministers and all options are on the table. Out of these options, two very different deals can be highlighted. First, the so-called no-regrets deal, which aims to keep warming to 1.5°C and second, the ‘minimalist deal’ or more accurately called the 3-degrees deal. The latter one e.g. includes that no negotiations about future ambitions or assessments of progress would take place until 2024 and thus accepting the INDCs as the most which can be achieved at the very point and only consider future efforts in 2030, and ultimately giving-up the 1.5 or 2 °C target.

Furthermore, a lot of side events focus on the adaptation finance, which is expected to need 150 billion USD per annum by 2025 (even on 2°C track) (CAN). However the starting point for climate finance in 2020 is only 100 billion USD. One option to increase the adaption fund is to delete fossil fuel subsidies, which amount to almost 500,000 billion USD a year. It is also a contradiction that countries are putting up INDCs, which are based on improving energy efficiency and increasing share of renewable energies, and at the same time substituting fossil fuels. Therefore phasing out fossil fuel subsidies will be not only good for the environment, but also for public finance (making money available for renewables, for education, etc.). However, if fossil fuels stay cheap, consumers and investors will make the wrong decisions.

Today we attended a meeting, where Al Gore gave a talk. During his talk he was raising three major questions. First he questioned whether we have to change. Not only scientists, but also nature has answered this question positively. Second, he asked whether we can change. Today we have the option to focus on renewable energies, sustainable agriculture and fisheries and so on, so the answer is yes. Finally he questioned whether we will change, and according to him, we will have the answer at the end of this week. Moreover, he highlighted that economy and environment go together and that the answer to the climate crisis is the answer to stimulating the economy. Last but not least he also emphasised the need for strong future leaders, pushing climate change on the political and global agenda.

Philippe Weyrich

The post COP21-The second week appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

The first venue for everyone to attend is the Climate Generations Area, a large exhibition space that offers loads of information and activities. One can stroll through the stands, pedal on a bike for some fruit juice, watch documentaries, listen to “solar sun music” and get involved in discussions about the many presentations and dialogues. There is information about different aspects of climate change, such as its impact on the clown fish and the oceans in general, on indigenous people, women and youth and on what the Paris Agreement should contain to recognise, ensure and foster their rights. Also, there is information on how communities and trade associations can play an essential role in mitigating and adapting to climate change. You can playfully learn about renewable energies and the technology behind them, eat organic French galette or just enjoy the lively atmosphere in this area.

A second venue is the so-called Gallery, for which a preliminary registration is required. Here, enterprises and research institutions showcase their technological innovations that support the transformation to a low carbon or zero emission world. This ranges all the way from enhanced plastic recycling and a circular economy, over electric vehicles and solar energy to possibilities for a sustainably built environment. Unfortunately, here as well as in the actual #COP21 area, the nuclear power lobby promotes their oh-so-low-carbon energy as a solution for a zero emission economy. On a good note, we’ve seen their booths mainly empty and none of the side events focusing on the transformation from fossil to renewable energy mentioned nuclear power as a (bridge) option or even a necessity for energy security.

-Veronika Abraham

The post Connecting #COP21 and the general public appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

We’ve been here for an hour. We’re on paragraph two. We started on paragraph two. After dedicating the first 15 minutes to explaining the procedure for the day, the Co-Chair, Mr. Ahmed Djoghlaf, of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) proceeded, as in the previous meetings, by discussing paragraph two, as the preamble and paragraph one are to be discussed at the end. Perhaps the explanation wasn’t clear, Malaysia indicated to the ADP co-chair “sometimes you give a forest of words and I get lost in that forest”. Of course the Co-Chair doesn’t want to lose his negotiators in Borneo, he wants them to make progress. After 40 minutes, another delegate indicated, “we would like to come back to the preamble.” Apparently he did get lost.

From the get-go things were tense. Venezuela said to the Co-Chair “Chair, I don’t understand why you are so nervous. We are professional diplomats here, trust us!” To which he answered, “Trust me that I am relaxed, that I trust you, but we are under time stress so in that sense…yes I am stressed.”

While some comments made have been serious and received support from the Co-Chair, saying “thank you, Argentina, for the saving half of the line from being bracketed”, the opposite suggestion to introduce more brackets led to the Co-Chair commenting, “I thought that the purpose of this meeting was to delete brackets, but now we are adding them. Ok.” But Brazil captured the essence of this topic and the importance of making progress by saying “I tend to view brackets as carbon molecules, polluting our text.”

But the pressure is on, to make progress and to move on to the next phase. So far the progress on the reading of the draft agreement has been very slow, and we are waiting for the outcomes to be productive and engaging, and not spoiling. The Co-Chair urges, “the last thing we want to do here is unravel all the hard work that has been done here.” So we wish them all the progress that is needed on this document, whilst simultaneously enjoying the (at times unintended) climate-comedy.

And as I come to the end of this update on the reading of this text, we are still on paragraph two.

-Daniela Kretz

The post #ADP First Reading of the Draft Agreement #COP21 appeared first on Global Change Ecology.