Tag: Carbon Trading

#27: Ricardo Navarro

The 300-350 Show on July 9, 2009 | Make a Comment

We get a majority world perspective on the climate emergency from Goldman Prize winner Ricardo Navarro. Navarro won the Goldman prize for sustainable development back in 1995 for his work as founder and director of the El Salvador Centre for Appropriate Technology and he is a former director of Friends of the Earth International.

Here he talks about how a new regional Movement of Climate Change Affected Peoples is responding to the pressures of climate change with awareness raising, permaculture techniques and low-level technologies as well as putting up resistance to inappropriate development. He also gives us his wider perspective on the United Nations climate talks which he has been attending since 1992. More…

#22: From Washington to Copenhagen

The 300-350 Show on May 28, 2009 | Make a Comment

With a new President in the White House there’s a fresh approach to climate change and energy policy in the US. But the Energy bill currently going through Congress is based on the widely-criticised “Cap & Trade” system and has been weakened further by a massive corporate lobbying campaign. How does this feed into the UN talks in Bonn in June which prepare the way for the critical meeting in Copenhagen in December? We get an informed critique of the Bill from Oscar Reyes of Carbon Trade Watch and ask him what to look out for in Bonn.

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#18: UN Climate Talks – Poznan

Most Popular, The 300-350 Show on December 18, 2008 | Make a Comment

The UN Climate Talks are at crisis point. Nothing on the table matches the scale of the challenge and corporate interests are rife. As the talks in Poznan come to an end, we take stock with three key protaganists: Kevin Smith (CarbonTradeWatch), Oliver Tickell (Kyoto2) and Tom Athanasiou (Greenhouse Development Rights).

Developments include:

• UNFCCC tenders a report on alternative frameworks
• 350 ppm CO2 target endorsed by Al Gore, AOSIS & the LDC country blocks
• Potsdam Institute shows how we can achieve the 350 ppm target
• Climate Justice Now! coalition grows in size from 20 to 160 organisations
• Carbon trading advances despite a crisis of credibility
• 142 organisations sign a statement against the World Bank’s involvement with climate funds
• The China+G77 block support climate funds being managed by UN
• Rich nations still failing to fulfill their commitments 16 years on
• Plans develop for a mass mobilisation in Copenhagen December 2009
• Could extending the scope of the Montreal Protocol and controling black soot be two effective ways forward outside the UNFCCC process?

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#17: Forests and Agrofuels

Most Popular, The 300-350 Show on December 11, 2008 | Make a Comment

We continue our coverage of the UN Climate Talks in Poznan, Poland where the big issue on the table is “how to reduce emissions from deforestation”? The big push from investors is to incorporate forests into the carbon markets, but this approach is riddled with problems. Friends of the Earth International has warned that this would “create the climate regime’s biggest ever loophole.” We speak to Miguel Lovera, chair of the Global Forest Coalition about his concerns and his proposals for an alternative way forward.

Meanwhile in Brussels, European country delegates have been agreeing new targets for agrofuel for road transport. This will increase deforestation and emissions from other changes in land use. We speak to Robert Bailey of Oxfam International and ask why this disaster has been allowed to happen.

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Kyoto2 – Special Supplement

The 300-350 Show on November 24, 2008 | Make a Comment

In a special supplement to our usual weekly programme we give you an opportunity to hear another 40 minutes of our interview with Kyoto2 architect, Oliver Tickell.

We look at the Kyoto2 scheme in more detail and explore:

• What its effect on coal use would be
• Whether the scheme could work alongside national carbon rationing schemes (eg TEQs)
• Whether the scheme could emerge out of a combination of a reformed EU Emissions Trading Scheme and Barack Obama’s Cap and Trade System
• Whether it would create a market in carbon and if so how would that work
• What its effect on the economy would be
• How it would be policed

“Kyoto2 – How to Manage the Global Greenhouse”

#13: Climate Change Bill

The 300-350 Show on November 13, 2008 | Make a Comment

As a result of a massive civil society campaign, the UK will soon pass historic legislation which will bind the government to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050. However a major loophole remains which threatens the credibility of the Bill – there is no limit on the amount of international credits the UK can buy up in order to meet this target. Will this loophole be closed before the law is given Royal Assent?

Featuring:

• Eliot Whittington (Christian Aid)
• Martyn Williams (Friends of the Earth)
• Steve Webb MP (Liberal Democrats)
• Dr Alice Bows (Tyndall Centre)

It is clear that we need to display greater commitment to tackling climate domestically if we are to have a credible voice in international negotiations. The leadership demonstrated in the commissioning of the Stern Review and bringing forward the Climate Change Bill is in danger of being undermined by policies such as airport expansion plans or an over-reliance on international credits in meeting domestic emission reduction commitments – Environment Audit Committee, July 2008

We urge caution about the use of international carbon credits. The argument that a tonne of carbon reduced abroad is the same as a tonne of carbon reduced at home is an over-simplification of a complex issue. Permitting the use of too many international carbon credits will drive down the cost of carbon, but this will also make renewables and air pollution targets more expensive to reach and potentially slow down the long term shift to a low-carbon economy in the UK – Environment Audit Committee, July 2008

It looks like between one and two thirds of all the total CDM offsets do not represent actual emission cuts – David Victor, Stanford University

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