Climate 411

Global Stocktake report highlights opportunities for ambitious climate action

By Juan Pablo Hoffmaister / Published: September 29, 2023

This blog was co-authored by Juan Pablo Hoffmaister, AVP for Global Climate Cooperation, and Alice Alpert, Senior Climate Scientist at Environmental Defense Fund.

Bird's eye view of nature

Earlier this month, the UN released a report synthesizing the technical assessment process of the first Global Stocktake (GST) of the Paris Agreement. The report found that the world is making some progress on fighting climate change and a path remains to reach the Paris goal of limiting global warming to 2°C. However, it warned that much remains to be done and such action must accelerate. 

A critical takeaway from the report is that clear, actionable opportunities to reach the Paris Agreement goals exist. Some of the best, most impactful solutions include actions on adaptation, mitigation and finance that all countries have within reach.  

The report contains four key messages to inform and drive such action: Read More »

Posted in Science, United Nations / Comments are closed

New analysis shows that, in a decisive decade for climate action, Oregon must aim higher

By Kjellen Belcher / Published: September 15, 2023

Last legislative session, Oregon’s lawmakers had the opportunity to update Oregon’s statutory climate targets. This would have been the first time that Oregon updated its outdated climate targets in 15 years and would have brought Oregon’s climate goals in line with the level of ambition of President Biden’s national climate targets and from other climate leadership states.

But then, Oregon’s legislative session was stalled by a small group of state Senators who fled the Capitol instead of fulfilling their core responsibility as elected officials: to represent their constituents by casting votes in the legislative process. This walkout tactic has been used time and time again and has prevented climate action supported by a majority of Oregonians. This year’s walkouts — the longest in Oregon’s history — prevented Oregon from updating its climate goals.

Without updated climate goals in place, Oregon risks falling short of securing the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions that are needed to avoid the most dangerous, irreversible impacts of climate change. Oregon has made important progress in regulating emissions, as one of the states leading the way on cutting pollution from the power sector, the transportation sector, and natural gas fuels — but new analysis by EDF has found that without additional action, Oregon is projected to fall short of achieving its climate commitments.

Here’s what to know about the analysis and next steps Oregon can take to raise the bar for climate action.

Read More »

Posted in Carbon Markets, Cities and states, Energy, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Health, Policy / Read 1 Response

What a carbon credit buyer wants: New survey from BCG shows higher demand for high quality in the voluntary carbon market

By Alex Hanafi / Published: September 15, 2023

The voluntary carbon market has been in a flurry in the past year to define integrity and quality for carbon credits. Between the recently released Core Carbon Principles from the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market, to the Claims Code of Practice from the Voluntary Carbon Market Initiative, we now have more guidance and insight than ever before to guide carbon crediting programs and project developers toward high quality and integrity.  

But the question remains: are companies willing to spend more for higher-quality carbon credits, as they seek to credibly achieve their climate goals? Little research exists to quantify the preferences of carbon credit buyers themselves—which credit attributes they prefer, how much they are willing to pay for them, and which qualities they consider must-haves. Understanding these preferences – and what shapes them – can help reveal pathways to a higher-quality voluntary carbon market, including by better directing carbon credit suppliers’ investments, as well as guiding interventions by standard setters and civil society organizations to where they are most needed. 

To better understand carbon credit buyer preferences, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), with contributions from EDF, surveyed nearly 500 company leaders in charge of voluntary carbon credit purchases for their companies. The results are now in: the new study found that buyers across market segments are willing to pay significantly more for credits with demonstrably high quality.  Read More »

Posted in Carbon Markets / Comments are closed

Climate Week NYC 2023: A Vital Opportunity to Bolster Climate Action and Improve Lives

By Juan Pablo Hoffmaister / Published: September 13, 2023

September has arrived, and New York City has again become the epicenter of pivotal climate discussions. Climate Week in New York City — happening alongside the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit, and the Climate Ambition Summit — provides vital opportunities to bolster cooperation, ambition, and implementation ahead of COP28.  

These gatherings come on the heels of an exceptionally scorching summer, with July 2023 earning the unfortunate distinction of being the hottest month ever recorded. Recent extreme events have cast a glaring spotlight on what the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned; climate change is leading to irreversible impacts to nature and communities.    Read More »

Posted in Paris Agreement, United Nations / Tagged , , | Read 1 Response

New Mexico is off course for reaching its climate goals, but there’s enormous opportunity for action

By Alex DeGolia / Published: September 11, 2023

New Mexico communities know the stakes for climate change are high — hotter and drier conditions threaten public health, livelihoods, and cultural and recreational resources, as they lead to increased drought, extended and more extreme wildfire seasons, and extreme heat. Those impacts are projected to get much worse in the coming decades, without serious and urgent action to slash climate pollution. It’s why polls underscore that the majority of New Mexico voters support strong action on climate change.

Governor Lujan Grisham has made bold, science-based climate commitments and both the legislature and regulators have adopted a number of important policies, but a new EDF analysis finds that with existing state and federal policies in place, New Mexico is projected to fall well short of achieving its 2025 and 2030 climate goals unless it takes aggressive climate policy action as soon as possible. The analysis also finds that the state’s current course will lead to far more cumulative emissions through the end of the decade — a critical metric that ultimately determines the severity of climate damages that our kids and grandkids may face.

While New Mexico is projected to face a glaring “emissions gap” — the distance between emission reductions the state has committed to and those it is projected to achieve — the opportunity to correct course with bold action has never been greater. With historic federal investments lowering the cost of clean energy, New Mexico can leverage this momentum to put in place strong limits on pollution that secure a safer climate future and grow a prosperous, equitable clean energy economy.

Here’s what you need to know about this analysis:

Read More »

Posted in Carbon Markets, Cities and states, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, News, Policy / Comments are closed

Washington state’s carbon market continues to raise major investments, as state leaders consider linking to California-Quebec market

By Caroline Jones / Published: September 6, 2023

Results were released today for Washington’s third quarterly cap-and-invest auction, which was held on August 30th. The results from this sold-out auction continue to demonstrate strong demand for allowances in this program, which has brought in significant revenue for the state of Washington to reinvest in its communities. These results follow on two previous sold-out quarterly auctions, as well as an auction from the Allowance Price Containment Reserve last month which raised an additional $62,491,660 while functioning as a market stabilizing feature. In total, these auctions have generated $919,564,777 for Washington communities.

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Posted in California, Carbon Markets, Cities and states, Economics, Energy, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Health, Policy / Read 1 Response