| Recent events or conferences: The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poznań |
Africa calls for "full-range" of bio-carbon as climate solution 2008-12-10
A coalition of 26 African countries is calling for the inclusion of carbon credits generated through afforestation, reforestation, agroforestry, reduced soil tillage, and sustainable agricultural practices in future climate agreements.
The African Climate Solution — a partnership launched at the current climate talks in Poznan, Poland — seeks payments from industrialized nations for efforts by developing countries to sequester carbon through land use practices. The initiative goes beyond the proposed reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) mechanism that is currently under debate at the Poznan conference.
ndigenous people win voice in climate negotiations 2008-12-10
Negotiators at U.N. climate conference have struck a deal to give forest-dependent people a voice in determining the role forest conservation will play future agreements to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reports the Associated Press (AP). The agreement clears a key obstacle that had been blocking progress on reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD), a mechanism that would compensate tropical countries for protecting their forest cover.
More CCB Alliance enhances carbon standard 2008-12-09
The rights of indigenous groups and areas of high biodiversity significance are the focus of updated carbon project verification standards issued by the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA). The group has released a second edition of its carbon offset design standards at the annual UN climate conference in Poznan, superseding the initial version launched in 2005.
The CCB Standard has emerged as one of the leaders among standards aimed at the burgeoning voluntary carbon market, although it does not issue formal carbon credits. Over the past two years, a number of independent verification standards have arisen amid widespread concerns over the integrity of unregulated projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, especially in forestry.
There are now more than a dozen standards on offer to project developers to allow them to prove that their activities produce real and permanent benefits in reducing emissions, but not all these standards will survive. Last month the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS), another leader, issued its final rules for land-use projects.
No Rights, No REDD 2008-12-09
Today, the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand opposed the inclusion of recognition of rights of indigenous peoples and local communities in a decision on REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) drafted by government delegates at the UN Climate Conference.
They want to include REDD (I’ll explain it in a second for those of you not in UN acronym land) in the future climate agreement, but they oppose protecting the rights of the indigenous and forest peoples that will be DIRECTLY affected by REDD measures. This is unjust and unacceptable. As a US citizen I am disgusted and outraged by my country’s position on REDD. They do not speak for me or millions of other US citizens who believe in human rights and decency.
More We need to turn carbon into gold 2008-12-09
Progress at the UN climate summit in Poznan, Poland, appears to have ground to a halt. As the global gathering enters it second and final week, there has been a dismal lack of progress to date. One of the key stumbling blocks is how all the things that we need to tackle the climate change problem will be financed.Here are some of the key topics being debated:
More EU policy firms on forests and biofuels 2008-12-08
The EU has firmed up its policies on key areas of climate policy - funding the preservation of tropical rainforests and boosting the production of biofuels.
EU decisions on a number of climate and energy-related policies come to a head in these first two weeks of December as it seeks to lead the rest of the world toward a new international climate agreement. More than 190 nations are meeting in Poznan, Poland to advance negotiations towards a successor to the Kyoto Protocol agreement from 2013 onwards - and progress is slow.
Late last week, EU ministers approved a proposal by the European Commission in Brussels to recognise carbon offset credits generated by paying poor countries to reduce deforestation. The credits could be counted towards future binding targets on EU nations to cut greenhouse emissions, goals that are currently being negotiated as part of the new global treaty.
Preserving tropical forests also cuts emissions 2008-12-08
Can the world's remaining tropical forests in Indonesia and elsewhere be protected and brought into the battle against climate change? Working out ways of halting or slowing the cutting of forests for valuable timber and agriculture is now being discussed at U.N. climate change negotiations taking place in Poznan, Poland, through Friday.
Trees soak up and store carbon dioxide when they grow and release it when they rot or are burned. Carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas blamed by many scientists for warming the planet. Deforestation contributes about 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions from human activity, and most of it occurs in forest-rich developing nations in Africa, Southeast Asia and South America. So any international deal to preserve forests is of critical interest both to these regions and the wider world.
More CLIMATE CHANGE: Forests Debate Dominates Talks 2008-12-08
Forests were left out of the carbon trading system adopted in 1997 under the Kyoto Protocol, due to the difficulties of accurately measuring or controlling the emissions from deforestation. But by the time the Bali Action Plan was agreed in December 2007, it included an action point to strengthen conservation of forests in developing countries.
Broadly, the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation initiative -- known as REDD -- propose to extend existing carbon trading mechanisms, in which polluters in the developed world buy credits to offset their carbon emissions, to include forests in the developing world, rewarding conservation and sustainable use.
In Poznan, France pushes initiative to save rainforests 2008-12-08
As talks for incorporating forest conservation into an international climate treaty stall in Poznan, Poland due to technical debates, France has proposed an aggressive effort to address deforestation and forest degradation through the establishment of a Global Forest Carbon Mechanism (GFCM) and potential inclusion of forestry projects in the E.U.'s emissions trading scheme (ETS) beginning in 2013.
REDD hot forests 2008-12-08
The U.S. Secret Service and the press are on higher alert with the arrival of U.S. congressional delegations at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Poznan as the second week of the conference gets underway. While the official Bush delegation is remaining low-profile -- even evading questions at today's press conference -- most Democratic congressional teams are pitching better times just around the corner on Capitol Hill.
One of the hottest topics of the conference is Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation -- REDD. Getting policy discussions underway in the coming year is a top priority for environmentalists heading toward the Copenhagen conference in December 2009. REDD has had a rocky time the last few days here, however, with major U.S. environmental groups petitioning the convention to free it from the shackles of a technical panel. If it is released, the good news is that the approaches of the UNFCCC and the U.S. seem to be converging on some issues (despite U.S. delegation chief Harlan Watson's admission in today's press conference that he didn't know the details of the U.S. position on REDD).
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