Human rights and the clean development mechanism

The 2010 UN climate conference in Cancún emphasized that "Parties should, in all climate change related actions, fully respect human rights". However, so far there is no further guidance. This article discusses the relevant legal human rights norms and two case studies from the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The first case (Bajo Aguán, Honduras) shows that the current absence of any international safeguards can lead to registration of highly problematic projects. The second case (Olkaria, Kenya) suggests that safeguards, introduced here as a side effect of World Bank involvement, can have a positive impact, but that it is necessary to have them based on human rights. It therefore seems recommendable that the UN climate regime develop mandatory human rights safeguards. In addition or alternatively, individual buyer countries or groups of countries, such as the European Union, could introduce their own additional requirements for CDM projects

Achieving overall mitigation of global emissions under the Paris article 6.4 mechanism : discussion paper

Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement establishes a new mechanism for Parties to cooperate in achieving their nationally determined contributions (NDCs). One key innovation of the Article 6.4 mechanism is its objective to "deliver an overall mitigation in global emissions" (Art. 6.4(d)). This report develops recommendations on how to implement this objective. A key difficulty lies in the fact that even basics of how the mechanism is supposed to function have so far not been clarified by the Parties. The report therefore first sketches out what has so far been agreed and discussed on the mechanism’s activity cycle. Second, as the concept of overall mitigation has so far also not been clearly defined by Parties, the report derives a working definition from the language that was agreed in the Paris Agreement. In the next step, the report provides a survey of the options to achieve overall mitigation that have so far been discussed in the relevant literature and in the Article 6 negotiations. Many of these options were developed in the context of the Kyoto mechanisms. The report therefore discusses to what extent the options are also applicable under the Paris Agreement or whether adjustments need to be made. In the following, the options that are applicable under the Agreement are assessed on the basis of a number of criteria. The report concludes with a summary of the main findings and recommendations

Transformative mitigation actions as an out-come of the Global Stocktake

TRANSFORMATIVE MITIGATION ACTIONS AS AN OUT-COME OF THE GLOBAL STOCKTAKE Transformative mitigation actions as an out-come of the Global Stocktake / Moosmann, Lorenz (Rights reserved) ( -

Moving transport to net zero : what it takes to decarbonise the global transport sector

What is necessary to reach net zero emissions in the transport sector on a global level? To keep limiting global warming to 1.5° C within reach, the world has to decarbonise by mid-century, with every sector contributing as much as possible as soon as possible. This paper identifies what has to be done in road transport, aviation, and shipping to achieve net zero emission in the transport sector. For this purpose, it first sets the scene by providing an overview of the origins and impacts of the concept of net zero emissions in international climate policy as well as of the current state and future prospects of global transport emissions using currently available scenarios for low-emission and net zero transport. While for staying below 1.5° C, the basic approach to reducing transport emissions remains unchanged from what has been suggested in the past, the set, intensity and pace of actions as to shift fundamentally. Without first drastically reducing traffic volume and shifting transport demand to low-emission modes, reaching net zero transport will not be feasible: the amount of additional electricity required to fully electrify the sector with renewable energy is otherwise just too huge. After portraying key instruments for achieving net zero emissions in land transport, aviation, and shipping, this paper identifies key barriers for net zero transport. Based on this analysis, the authors recommend the following to be able to move transport to net zero: 1. Adapt Decarbonisation Strategies to Different Transport Sub-sectors 2. Prioritise and Significantly Increase Investment in Zero-/low-carbon Infrastructure 3. Massively Invest in the Development and Roll out of Zero-/low-emission Technologies 4. Focus on a Just Transition to Overcome Social and Political Barriers 5. Increase International Support and Cooperatio

Strengthening International Climate Governance: The Case for a Sectoral Approach. EL-CSID Policy Brief Issue 2017/04 • October 2017

Significant potential exists to accelerate the climate transition by advancing sectoral approaches and institutions in international climate governance. To achieve the Paris Agreement objectives and quicken the urgently needed decarbonisation of our societies and economies, the simultaneous transformation of a wide range of interdependent sectoral systems is required. Each of these systems faces very specific transformation challenges and potentials for international governance. This calls for advancing tailor-made sectoral approaches to reinforce global climate governance, in the context of the further development of both the Paris Agreement and the system of intergovernmental institutions and transnational arrangements, including the increasing number of multistakeholder initiatives. More encompassing sectoral governance can enable a much-needed strengthening of countries’ “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs) on the way to a speedy decarbonisation

Was bedeutet die Wahl von Donald Trump für die internationale Klimapolitik?

Die internationale Klimapolitik tritt in ein neues Zeitalter unter teils widersprüchlichen Vorzeichen ein: Während das US-Wahlergebnis auf erschwerte Rahmenbedingungen für die Bekämpfung des Klimawandels hindeutet, konnten auf der UN-Ebene bei der COP22 in Marrakech einige Fortschritte erzielt werden. Die Autoren zeigen die verschiedenen Szenarien auf, die sich damit für eine ambitionierte internationale Klimapolitik ergeben

Human rights and the clean development mechanism

The 2010 UN climate conference in Cancún emphasized that "Parties should, in all climate change related actions, fully respect human rights". However, so far there is no further guidance. This article discusses the relevant legal human rights norms and two case studies from the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The first case (Bajo Aguán, Honduras) shows that the current absence of any international safeguards can lead to registration of highly problematic projects. The second case (Olkaria, Kenya) suggests that safeguards, introduced here as a side effect of World Bank involvement, can have a positive impact, but that it is necessary to have them based on human rights. It therefore seems recommendable that the UN climate regime develop mandatory human rights safeguards. In addition or alternatively, individual buyer countries or groups of countries, such as the European Union, could introduce their own additional requirements for CDM projects

Klimapolitik trotz(t) Trump: globaler Klimaschutz nach dem Rückzug der USA

US-Präsident Donald Trump verkündete am Nachmittag des 1. Juni 2017 im Rosengarten des Weißen Hauses, dass er das Pariser Klimaabkommen aus dem Jahr 2015 kündigen wolle. Was bedeutet dieser Schritt der USA für den globalen Klimaschutz? Dieser in brief zeigt, in welcher Weise die an Klimaschutz interessierten Staaten sich am besten organisieren, um das Pariser Klimaabkommen und die globale Klimapolitik erfolgreich weiterzuführen

Grounding Social Foundations for Integrated Assessment Models of Climate Change

Integrated assessment models (IAMs) are commonly used by decision makers in order to deriveclimate policies. IAMs are currently based on climate-economics interactions, whereas the role of socialsystem has been highlighted to be of prime importance on the implementation of climate policies. Beyondexisting IAMs, we argue that it is therefore urgent to increase efforts in the integration of social processeswithin IAMs. For achieving such a challenge, we present some promising avenues of research based on thesocial branches of economics. We finally present the potential implications yielded by such social IAMs.This work was supported by a grant from the French National Research Agency (project VIRGO, ANR-16-CE03-0003-01 Grant) and the anonymous reviewer for the constructive comments and suggestions