Climate 411

At COP29, Article 6 must deliver on urgent finance for forests and Indigenous communities

By Pedro Martins Barata and sagarcia / Published: November 13, 2024

This blog was authored by Pedro Martins Barata, Associate Vice President, Carbon Markets and Private Sector Decarbonization and Santiago García Lloré, Senior Manager, IPLC & Conservation Partnerships, Forests

UN Climate Change, Kamran-Guliyev/ Flickr

At the start of COP29, negotiators in Baku secured a major breakthrough by agreeing on new standards for a UN-led global carbon market under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, potentially unlocking billions in funding for climate projects.

But the terms of the standards are still flexible, meaning there’s a real chance to shape them to make sure the money goes where it’s needed most – like Indigenous Peoples and local communities who are fighting to conserve the planet’s last intact forests, known as high forest, low deforestation (HFLD) regions.

The stakes are higher now than ever, especially after the recent US election, which casts doubt on future public climate funding from one of the world’s biggest economies. In this uncertain landscape, carbon markets must step up to fund critical climate solutions, especially nature-based projects like forest conservation.

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Breaking Barriers: Empowering Indigenous Voices in Global Climate and Biodiversity Decisions

By Guest Author / Published: September 20, 2024

Sonia Guajarara, Minister of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil, leads a march at COP28 in Dubai, UAE.
Photo: Estevam Rafael / Audiovisual / PR / Palácio do Planalto via Flickr

Léalo en español

This post is written by Santiago García Lloré, Senior Manager of IPLC and Conservation Partnerships at EDF.

In the coming days, major international events like New York Climate Week, the COP for the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Cali, and the UN Climate Change Conference (COP) in Baku will gather world leaders to discuss solutions to the climate and biodiversity crises. Once again, there will be calls to include Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) in these discussions. This recognition is not just about their crucial role as stewards of forests and biodiversity; it’s about understanding that real, sustainable solutions won’t be possible without their voices at the table.

Despite all their efforts, it remains extremely difficult for IPLCs to participate meaningfully in these events. Even though Indigenous and local community leaders strive to be present and contribute to global discussions, their journey to these forums is fraught with challenges. At COP27 in Egypt, around 300 Indigenous representatives attended, and approximately a similar number attended at COP28 in Dubai. However, the impact of their presence is often limited because of the many barriers they must overcome. These obstacles make it incredibly hard for Indigenous voices to be fully heard and valued despite their significant efforts to be part of these critical conversations.

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Also posted in Forest protection, Paris Agreement, REDD+, United Nations / Authors: / Comments are closed

We need to close a mercury pollution loophole for lignite coal plants

By Jolie Villegas / Published: April 12, 2024

(This post was co-authored by EDF attorney Richard Yates)

The Environmental Protection Agency is soon expected to update our national protections against mercury and other toxic pollution from coal-fired power plants – pollution that is extremely dangerous to human health and has been linked to brain damage in children.

EPA proposed strengthening the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards and closing a loophole for lignite coal and is expected to issue its final update soon. EDF has found that, even as we have made great progress in reducing mercury pollution overall, the lignite coal loophole leaves parts of the U.S. at especially high risk.

Mapping Big Mercury Polluters

[(i) The owner/operator of the Comanche plant in Colorado has announced its intention to retire unit 2 by 2025 and unit 3 by 2030; unit 1 retired in 2022. (ii) The owner/operator of the Sherburne County plant in Minnesota has announced its intention to retire unit 1 by 2025 and unit 3 by 2034; unit 2 retired in 2023. (iii) The owner/operator of the Cardinal plant in Ohio has announced its intention to retire unit 3 by 2028; units 1 and 2 have no scheduled retirement dates. (Data: EPA’s Clean Air Markets Program Data; EIA’s 2022 Form EIA-860 Data – Schedule 3)] 

Two years ago, EDF published a map of the top 30 mercury-polluting power plants in 2020 across the United States. We have now refreshed this map based on data from 2022, and you can see the results above.

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Also posted in Clean Air Act, Health, News, Policy / Comments are closed

Progress to catalyze jurisdictional REDD+

By Angela Churie Kallhauge / Published: February 2, 2024
Boat on a river in the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest

Ecuadorian Amazon. Photo by Leslie Von Pless, EDF.

This blog post is authored by Angela Churie Kallhauge, Executive Vice President, Impact at Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), with contribution from Katie Goslee, Director of Nature-Based Solutions, Winrock International; Stephanie Wang, Associate Director, Wildlife Conservation Society; Jason Funk, REDD+ Strategy Director at Conservation International; and Daniela Rey Christen, Director, Climate Law and Policy

In the fight against the climate crisis, high-integrity jurisdictional REDD+ is intended to be transformational, giving forest communities and governments the ability to tap into the voluntary carbon market to access climate finance needed to ensure that large areas of tropical forests remain intact.

Jurisdictional REDD+ can deliver results, to the benefit of people, nature, and climate. Research shows that larger scale programs to pay for emission reductions from forest conservation – the scale of a whole forest region, state, or nation – are better able to ensure additionality and prevent leakage than are smaller-scale carbon programs. And larger scale programs do so for a longer period of time.

Ensuring high-integrity jurisdictional REDD+ programs are fully functioning has therefore become a key priority for many actors working to reduce deforestation and forest degradation, including businesses, governments, and Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

One problem is that forest nations looking to establish jurisdictional REDD+ programs may not currently have the technical capacity needed to deliver high-integrity carbon credits. This is holding back their access to carbon markets, even as demand for high-integrity jurisdictional tropical forest credits seems poised to accelerate.

The task at hand is to support these jurisdictions in fully unlocking the promise and potential of high-integrity carbon markets at the rapid pace and large scale needed to address the climate crisis. We don’t have much time. If we don’t end and reverse tropical deforestation and degradation by 2030 – only six years from now – the effects could be irreversible.

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Also posted in Carbon Markets, Forest protection, International, REDD+, United Nations / Comments are closed

Now is the time for companies to help conserve nature. By investing in jurisdictional REDD+, they can do just that

By Breanna Lujan / Published: January 16, 2024
Tropical rainforest. Leslie Von Pless / EDF

Tropical rainforest. Leslie Von Pless / EDF

By Breanna Lujan, Senior Manager, Natural Climate Solutions 

The clock is ticking to halt and reverse deforestation so that we avoid the worst impacts of climate change. The good news is that companies can provide the finance needed to keep the world’s forests standing by purchasing high-quality emissions reductions credits from large-scale tropical forest conservation programs, otherwise known as jurisdictional REDD+ (JREDD+).  

In a jurisdictional scale approach to REDD+, a country, state, province or Indigenous territory has the authority to issue credits for forest carbon emissions reductions and removals. Due to the large scale at which they operate, JREDD+ programs have distinct and intrinsic features that enable them to meet key tenets of environmental and social integrity. JREDD+ programs can:  

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Also posted in Carbon Markets, Forest protection, News, REDD+ / Comments are closed

Nature is more important than ever to realizing climate goals at COP28

By Breanna Lujan / Published: November 29, 2023
Aerial view: Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica

Natural climate solutions include conserving tropical forest and ocean ecosystems. Photo: Eisenlohr, iStock

This blog was co-authored by Britta Johnston, Senior Policy Analyst for Natural Climate Solutions at EDF.

Heading into COP28, nature as a climate solution has been making headlines, and rightfully so. Sustainably conserving, restoring, and managing the world’s ecosystems is one of the most powerful tools we have to meet global climate goals.

A recent study finds that restoring global forests where they occur naturally could potentially capture 226 gigatons of carbon, and 61 percent of the carbon storage could come from protecting existing forests.

We are beginning to realize the promise of protecting forests. Another report finds that deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has dropped by 22.3 percent as a result of active intervention to curb forest loss – the lowest it has been since 2018.

Moreover, advancements in policies and practices to build resilience in boreal and temperate forest ecosystems, along with strategies for mitigating catastrophic wildfire, can ensure these ecosystems remain net greenhouse gas sinks.

Oceans also have climate mitigation potential. New evidence suggests that organisms in the mesopelagic zone, a region of ocean between 200 and 1,000 meters deep containing 95 percent of ocean biomass, may trap millions of tons of carbon each year by feeding in surface waters at night and diving back down in the day.

We have better science than ever before about nature’s role as a climate solution, and signs of progress on very important fronts. That’s why nature must be at the heart of conversation and action at COP28, both inside and outside the negotiation rooms.

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Also posted in Carbon Markets, Forest protection, International, Paris Agreement, REDD+, United Nations / Read 1 Response