Climatico

A new year, a new carbon price

Dean Rizzetti — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 04:13:25 +0000

After an extremely bumpy ride, 2012 will finally see Australia implement a carbon price. The Clean Energy Future legislation, which passed in October 2011, will put a price of $23 AUD per tonne on emissions from July 1 and will apply to approximately 500 companies. It is hoped the initiative will cut emissions by 159 [...]

The future of international emissions credits in the EU ETS

Sabina Manea — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:47:46 +0000

In the aftermath of the Durban conference analysts have been turning their attention to the continued role of Kyoto Protocol emissions credits in the EU ETS. To date this trading mechanism has provided the biggest market for Kyoto credits, but the position is set to change drastically from 2013 onwards due to significant restrictions on [...]

Adaptation to Climate Change – Any Real Progress?

Durban Team — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 22:09:04 +0000

The last COP in Durban ended in a success for the UNFCCC process, but has more nebulous implications for the climate itself, with Kyoto put on artificial respirator and a more comprehensive agreement being pushed back to a later date. [...]

A step closer to saving the emissions market at Durban: encouraging outcomes on the AAU surplus and linkage

Durban Team — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 16:56:29 +0000

The outcome of the UN conference in Durban has been more positive than initially indicated by the complexity of the negotiations. It is particularly laudable that a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol has been secured. This result translates into a continued existence of the international emissions trading mechanism. [...]

Mixed messages from REDD+

Durban Team — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 22:37:41 +0000

Durban finished with the now commonplace but contradictory sense of achievement and disappointment. Achievement that something has been agreed, disappointment that because expectations are so low, any agreement seems like an achievement. REDD+, however, has finished COP17 with a less pessimistic sentiment [...]

A Surprise Ending for Durban (Almost)

Durban Team — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 18:28:11 +0000

The Durban conference on climate change ended on a much better note than many expected, but continued to delay the toughest questions for at least three years. The final outcome of the conference, COP-17, is a two-page, breakthrough document called the “Durban Platform for Enhanced Action” [...]

Wholesome CDM Progress Clouded by Long-term Commitments

Durban Team — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 02:33:51 +0000

The world’s largest carbon offset instrument made wholesome, if not stunning or substantive, progress at Durban’s 17th Conference of the Parties. While Canada still faces considerable backlash from the hype surrounding its potential exit from 1997’s Kyoto Protocol [...]

The End of Durban May Mean the End of Kyoto

Durban Team — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 17:23:46 +0000

The end of the Durban conference is approaching, and in all likelihood, the end of the Kyoto Protocol along with it. Developments in the last few days indicate the outcome is more likely to confirm a global disagreement, rather than agreement, over the idea of a second Kyoto commitment period, or “Kyoto II,” for all countries, both developed and developing. [...]

Funding Adaptation – Will the Ship Sail?

Durban Team — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 17:06:58 +0000

Much work has been – and is currently being – put into agreeing on the format of the much anticipated Green Climate Fund (GCF), a facility that would funnel public and private money to tackle both climate change mitigation and adaptation in developing countries. [...]

Caught between hope, despair and occupation

Durban Team — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:49:36 +0000

Protests at Durban have delivered neither the cacophony of Copenhagen nor the resort-inspired civility of Cancun. Instead, they have been a mix of anger and despair, with talk of occupation and the slightest glimmer of hope. [...]