Nov 21, 09
How Carbon Markets Work in Europe
by Eric de Place In spite of what you may have heard, Europe's carbon market is working beautifully. The EU's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) has been operational since 2005 and we're now getting a good look at how it functions. It turns out, it's a remarkable success story, both environmentally and economically. Let's briefly review the major pieces of evidence. 1. European Environment Agency. A November 2009 report finds that the continent is well on its way to meeting its...
With Copenhagen Pact Stalled, Leaders Look for Climate Treaty in 2010
With the announcement by President Obama and other world leaders this weekend that no binding climate agreement will be reached in Copenhagen next month, numerous officials expressed hopes that a treaty to limit greenhouse gas emissions could be signed by mid- to late-2010. Meeting in Singapore, Obama and other leaders agreed that lack of accord on setting precise emissions reductions targets would prevent the signing of a binding climate treaty in Copenhagen. But in a process that Danish...
World Leaders say Copenhagen to be a Steppingstone to Final Climate Deal
Some very good news on the international front, as the UK Guardian reports today: During a hastily convened breakfast meeting in Singapore, the US president supported a Danish plan to salvage something from the moribund negotiations by aiming for a broad political agreement and postponing contentious decisions on emissions targets, financing and technology transfer…. The deferral plan was outlined to 19 leaders, including Obama and Chinese president Hu Jintao, who were in Singapore...
Pervasive Plastics: Why the U.S. Needs New and Tighter Controls
by John Wargo Long a ubiquitous part of modern life, plastics are now in everything from diapers to water bottles to cell phones. But given the proven health threats of some plastics — as well as the enormous environmental costs — the time has come for the U.S. to pass a comprehensive plastics control law. Since 1950, plastics have quickly and quietly entered the lives and bodies of most people and ecosystems on the planet. In the United States alone, more than 100 billion pounds of...
North American Governments Agree to Protect Wilderness
The United States, Canada, and Mexico agreed this week to work together to protect wilderness areas across North America. The cooperation agreement establishes an intergovernmental committee to exchange research and approaches that address challenges such as climate change, fire control, and invasive species in land, marine, and coastal protected areas throughout the continent. "This agreement will allow for the exchange of successful experiences, monitoring, and training of human...
How Carbon Markets Work in the Northeastern US
With all the hand-wringing over the alleged risk of market manipulation in cap and trade, you'd almost forget that the United States already has a carbon cap and trade program up and running. But it does. RGGI, a regional program among 10 Northeast states, has been auctioning permits, allowing trading on a secondary market, and even, in a way, encouraging trading in derivatives. And guess what's happened so far? ...we find no evidence of anticompetitive conduct....
Brazil Pledges Deep Emission Cuts in 'Political Gesture' to Rich Nations
by Tom Phillips Brazil will take proposals for voluntary reductions of 38-42% by 2020 to the Copenhagen climate change conference next month, chief of staff says The Brazilian government is preparing to pledge a big curb in its greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 as a "political gesture" aimed at pressing rich nations into agreeing to large cuts in carbon. The country's chief of staff, Dilma Rousseff, said Brazil would take proposals for voluntary reductions of 38-42% by 2020 to the...
Lifting the Lid on Climate Change Talks
by John Vidal Rich countries bullying poorer ones, mud-slinging and back-stabbing - environmental summits can be vicious. At 8am on Wednesday 7 October, a smartly dressed fiftysomething Filipino woman took the escalator to the first floor of the UN building in Bangkok and merged into a throng of diplomats, civil servants and environmentalists arriving for the eighth day of the ninth session of the global climate talks. She was met with a few respectful nods. Bernarditas de Castro Muller...
Interview with Rajendra Pachauri: Amid Mounting Pessimism A Voice of Hope for Copenhagen
With skepticism growing about the chances of reaching a climate agreement next month in Copenhagen, Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, says he is “cautiously optimistic” that a treaty can still be signed. But in an interview with Yale Environment 360, Pachauri says the global community may have to move ahead without any commitment from the United States. Few people have as much stake in the outcome of the upcoming climate talks in Copenhagen...
CFCM Show and Tell: Making Change
Ryan Toole is designing a platform called Red Ink, a tool designed to enable secure, collective financial action. He points out that there are existing tools – wesabe, mint.com, yodlee – which unify your online financial information. The bleeding edge in this field is financial tools for collective action – carrotmob, groupon, merry miser, buy it like you mean it. Red Ink fits into this latter category. It’s a “social financial platform” designed to let...
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