Marrakech, 9 November — IETA and the Climate Markets and Investors Association (CMIA) today released a joint statement supporting the inclusion of emissions offsets from Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) projects in the new market mechanism being developed by the International Civil Aviation Association (ICAO).

IETA and CMIA are pleased that ICAO’s Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) seems likely to make REDD+ projects eligible for airlines to use in meeting their obligations under the mechanism.

However, the two organisations are concerned that there is no clarity yet on the scale or manner in which REDD+ credits may be used.

IETA and CMIA call on ICAO to allow REDD+ projects into its market system as soon as possible, to allow the development of REDD+ projects on a wider scale. At present only a very few countries have implemented REDD+ to generate credits on a national scale.

Please click here to read IETA and CMIA’s position, and makes the case for early inclusion of REDD+.

IETA is pleased to announce the publication of its annual Greenhouse Gas Market Report for the year 2016-2017.

This year’s report takes as its theme “Bridging the Ambition Gap: The Rise, Reach and Power of Carbon Markets.” It celebrates the growing popularity of emissions trading systems by looking at the elements that will build the institutions of the Paris Agreement and new national markets.

“This year’s report reflects on the importance of cooperation and collaboration. It focuses on how to prompt the next wave of market investments in support of the Paris Agreement by following through on the operational elements,” says Dirk Forrister, CEO of IETA. “This vital work of establishing institutions and rules gets underway next week in Marrakech.”

“There is a wealth of knowledge and experience built up in existing market mechanisms around the world, and we hope governments will look to these lessons as they start crafting the implementation details of the Paris Agreement.”

The report is introduced by Dirk Forrister, and contains keynote articles written by Jos Delbeke, the Director-General of the European Commission’s Climate Directorate and Vikram Widge, manager of the World Bank-IFC Climate and Carbon Finance Unit.

There are contributions from Swedish and Brazilian climate diplomats, considering the importance of the key Article 6 of the Paris Agreement to both emerging and developed economies.

This year’s report also contains articles that consider the role that accounting, offsets and forestry will play in the new system. There are also papers looking at key principles of emissions trading that should be considered when creating new cap-and-trade systems around the world.

The report looks at developments in key jurisdictions, including the US, where President Obama’s Clean Power Plan is held up by legal challenges, the EU, where lawmakers are considering reform of the bloc’s carbon market, and Africa, where potential is seen for the emergence of carbon pricing.

IETA’s Greenhouse Gas Market Report is available on the IETA website at www.ieta.org/ghgmarkets2016.

Melbourne/London, 24 October - A new report by the Carbon Market Institute and the International Emissions Trading Association has encouraged the Australian Government to use its 2017 climate policy review to align climate policy implementation with the development of international carbon markets.

The recently released Optimising Australia’s Position in International Carbon Markets report, recommends that the Australian Government’s policy review should consider the opportunities presented by use of international emissions units, by linking to other markets and open up the prospect of export of  Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs).

“The Paris Agreement has set the stage for action on climate change into the second half of the century, and there now exists for Australia an opportunity to optimise its position in international carbon markets as they rapidly evolve”, says Dirk Forrister, President & CEO of the International Emissions Trading Association.

“Of the 189 nations signatory to the Paris Agreement more than 90 have highlighted that their level of commitment is conditional upon having access to international carbon markets”, notes Forrister 

“Australia has already expressed its support for the use of market mechanisms to combat climate change. At the COP22 meeting in Paris in December 2015, Australia supported the Ministerial Declaration on Carbon Markets that was endorsed by 17 other countries”, says Peter Castellas, CEO of the Carbon Market Institute.

The report examines the provisions of the Paris Agreement, key policies enacted by other major emitters and the implications of these measures for Australian trade, including the impact of trade competitiveness and the prospects for the development of an export market for Australian carbon credits. 

‘There are many international and domestic factors influencing the development and design of global carbon markets, and these will have increasing impacts on the Australian economy in coming years”, says Castellas.

 “The 2017 policy review is an opportunity for the Australian Government to consider how the fungibility of ACCUs into other jurisdictions could realise a strong source of foreign demand for domestic abatement”, says Castellas.

The report highlights how  the use of carbon credit instruments from other jurisdictions might support meeting Australia’s domestic targets under a tightening of domestic policies. 

“The use of international units in Australia, under the safeguard mechanism, could bring a number of benefits in meeting compliance obligations,” says Castellas.

 “As the world shifts towards low-carbon development, Australia’s energy-intensive, export oriented economy will become increasing exposed to markets where there is an explicit carbon price; a changing fossil fuel energy mix; and competition from countries whose policies may not be in alignment”, says Forrester.

“The Paris Agreement surprised many with the strength of its commitment to market mechanisms as a tool to combat climate change. In this next phase, the global community will need to work together to maximise the potential for markets, and ensure that this process is carried out in a timely manner to guarantee as much predictability as possibility”, says Forrester.

“The task remains for individual Parties to decide how to build and link markets, and how to ensure they achieve the greatest ambition at lowest cost. Australia can play a pivotal role in this discussion and in the carbon market economy that will evolve”, says Castellas.

London, 6 October - IETA welcomes the adoption by the International Civil Aviation Organisation of a global market-based mechanism (GMBM) at its triennial General Assembly in Montreal. After formal plenary approval tomorrow, ICAO’s decision will mean that the airline industry will be the first sector to adopt a global sectoral market.

ICAO intends for the global aviation industry to achieve carbon neutral growth from 2020 by requiring participating aviation operators to offset any additional emissions above a 2020 baseline. The system will be voluntary from 2021 and mandatory from 2027.

“IETA has always supported the development of market mechanisms as the lowest-cost way to achieve significant reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions, and we are pleased that the global aviation industry has come to the same conclusion,” Dirk Forrister, CEO of IETA said. “We applaud the leadership of the countries and airlines that have indicated their intent to participate in early market development, which will both help the global environment and bolster public confidence in the program.”

IETA notes that ICAO has plenty of work to do in developing its system for monitoring, reporting and verification of emissions, as well as establishing the criteria to select which offsets will be eligible for use.

“We hope that ICAO will take the opportunity to learn from the great amount of work that’s been done by the existing carbon market programs in developing accurate and efficient MRV systems, as well as from the high-quality offset standards that have been developed by the UNFCCC and other verified compliance protocols,” Forrister said. “Once the decisions on these technical issues are made, this market has tremendous potential to deliver the ICAO goals at low cost.”

London, 5 October - IETA welcomes the news that with the ratification of the Paris Agreement by the European Union this week, the global climate treaty will enter into legal force in time for the start of the UNFCCC’s 22nd Conference of the Parties in Marrakech, Morocco.

The entry into force within a year of its agreement is almost unprecedented and underlines the commitment of nations to move quickly to develop the structures that will support the Paris Agreement when it takes effect in 2020.

“The rapid action by key nations to ensure Paris is legally binding shows they take seriously the challenge of keeping temperature increases to below 2 degrees Celsius,” said Dirk Forrister, chief executive officer of IETA. “It also underlines that importance of developing rules and implementation details in a timely manner.”

“Hopefully this will inspire nations to ramp up the ambition of their Nationally Determined Contributions and take the world closer to its goal.”

The ratification of the Paris Agreement is also critical for the future of international market mechanisms to help countries join together and cut greenhouse-gas emissions at lowest cost. 

“Climate change is one of those challenges that is best met together,” Forrister said. “Linked markets help reduce costs for participating industries – and their national economies.”

The Paris Agreement will come into force 30 days after 55 countries accounting for 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions have ratified it. Currently, 63 countries accounting for more than 52% of global emissions have ratified it.

3 October - The International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) applauds the announcement by Canada’s Prime Minister that individual provinces will be able to decide how best to meet established national targets to reduce carbon emissions, whether that is achieved through a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade regime. The course the federal government has chosen is clear recognition of the hard work that has been undertaken to date in those provinces with carbon pricing.

For Canada to reach the emissions reduction goals it has committed to under the international Paris Agreement, clear and consistent political direction is vital. The provinces of Ontario and Quebec have provided that political resolve by legislating a cap on emissions and implementing a market-based system designed to achieve emissions reductions in the most cost-effective manner possible. Today’s proposed decision assures continuity in these important markets, and it offers other provinces freedom to choose an approach that meets their unique circumstances.

The key metric in judging the effectiveness of any emissions reduction program is how well it delivers the environmental goals. Individual jurisdictions choosing the best path forward for their own circumstances makes good environmental sense.

The phase in of the pricing to start in 2018 allows those jurisdictions without carbon pricing to weigh the merits of adopting either a tax or a cap-and-trade system, and to make an informed choice. IETA looks forward to working with the provinces that have adopted a cap-and-trade system, and with all jurisdictions that have not yet determine how they will proceed.

“Cap and trade is favored by the majority of countries as a means of putting a price on carbon,” said Katie Sullivan, IETA’s Director of The Americas and Climate Finance.  “We have seen time and again the effectiveness of cap and trade in delivering real reductions at prices that both drive innovation and ensure that all cost effective measures are implemented by those industries covered by the system.”

Download the press release.

Panama, September 26  - The Latin American and Caribbean Carbon Forum (LACCF, 28 to 30 September) is set to kick off on Wednesday this week, bringing together for the tenth consecutive year key players from the private and public sectors to discuss ways to speed up the Nationally Determined Contributions, and reach out to cooperation agencies, potential investors and service providers.

The meeting follows last year’s historic Paris Agreement on Climate Change that embodies the commitment of countries around the world to move forward together to address climate change, and is taking place around six weeks ahead of the next major UN Climate Change in Marrakech in November.

Governments, businesses, civil society institutions and other stakeholders are focused on turning targets and plans into climate action, also with the help of key regional meetings.

The event in Panama will provide a platform for discussions and experience sharing on challenges and opportunities in line with the Paris Agreement such as:

• Implementing Nationally Determined Contributions
  
• Leveraging public and private finance for climate action
  
• Carbon pricing mechanisms and carbon markets
  
• Sustainable development and transformational change
  
• Public-private partnerships
  
• Innovative business models to fight climate change
  

The Forum will also feature the latest advances and resources on:

• Sustainable cities
  
• Agroindustry
  
• Energy
  
• Extractive industries
  
• Forests
  
• Transport
  

LACCF’s comprehensive and substantive program consists of plenaries, parallel thematic discussions and training sessions. The LACCF exhibition space is ideal to identify business opportunities and connect with supporting organizations, cooperation agencies, potential investors and service providers.

For the first time this year, the LACCF and the annual workshop of the Low Emission Development Strategies-LAC platform will be held back-to-back, becoming the largest climate event of the region: the 2016 Latin America and Caribbean Climate Week.

An opening press conference will take place at the forum at Wednesday September 28th between 10 and 10.45 a.m.

This annual Conference and Exhibition is jointly organised by the World Bank Group, the Latin American Energy Organisation (OLADE), the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA), the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the UNEP DTU Partnership, the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and CAF, the Development Bank of Latin America.

The Forum will take place at Hotel Sortis in Panama City, Calle 56 Este, Panamá. For more information, see http://www.latincarbon.com/

Media contact:
Alessandro Vitelli
IETA communications
press@ieta.org
+44 7710 402060

Geneva, 15 September - ICROA, in cooperation with Imperial College London and the UNFCCC, has launched a global survey to investigate the drivers behind corporate engagement in voluntary carbon offsetting and climate change mitigation strategies. 

The survey aims to understand why corporate offsetters select particular kinds of carbon offsets, and which sectors of business and industry are most interested in offsetting to achieve their corporate social responsibility goals.

“A survey like this hasn’t been done for while,” said Niclas Svenningsen, Manager for Strategy & Relationship unit, UNFCCC. “It’s asking questions we all want to know the answers to. It should be of great value to anybody interested in understanding how voluntary offset use can benefit both the climate agenda and the sustainable development goals adopted last year”.

The partners also hope to understand what additional benefits offsetting provides, and whether demand is also driven by risk management concerns, such as the expectation that more widespread emissions reductions may be mandated at some time in the future.

Responses to the survey will be anonymous and will only be accessed by Imperial College London. 

Aggregated results will be incorporated in a final report which will be issued jointly by ICROA, the UNFCCC and Imperial College London. Publication is expected in Q1 2017.

Jeju Island, Republic of Korea, 7 September - Experience gained using markets in the Asia-Pacific region to combat climate change can help ensure success of the global climate change agreement adopted in Paris last December. This was the consensus of the 300 participants, from 60 countries, at this year’s Asia-Pacific Carbon Forum after three days of panel discussions, meetings and presentations.

• China has more than 10 years of experience with carbon markets, starting with emission reduction and development projects under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), establishment of voluntary emissions trading, seven emissions trading system (ETS) pilots and plans for a national ETS in 2017.
• The Republic of Korea has had an ETS since 2015, becoming the second country in Asia to introduce a nationwide cap-and-trade system, which now covers about 530 businesses.
• Japan is pursuing a number of market-based approaches to combat climate change, including a Joint Crediting Mechanism similar to the CDM, a system that awards offset credits to domestic entities that reduce emissions, a voluntary ETS and an ETS in the city of Tokyo.
• New Zealand has had an emissions trading system since 2008, designed to assist the country in meeting its international climate change obligations and reduce domestic emissions below business as usual. The system is currently being reviewed.
• Australia, after a few years of uncertainty and policy reversals, stabilised its climate policy suite around its Emission Reduction Fund and Safeguard Mechanism.

The Paris Climate Change Agreement provides for (1) transferring mitigation outcomes, essentially emissions trading; (2) a new Sustainable Development Mechanism; and (3) a framework for non-market approaches. All three of these economic instruments are described in Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

“The Forum drew together a wealth of experience in using market incentives to cut carbon emissions, whether in innovative climate finance or carbon trading,” said Dirk Forrister, President and Chief Executive Officer, International Emissions Trading Association. “It is encouraging to learn how the new markets in Korea, China and the global aviation industry are shaping a future vision of international cooperation in protecting the climate.”

“It was extremely encouraging to see the commitment of APCF participants to harness the carbon markets in achieving development outcomes, and as a climate and development practitioner I join in the effort,” said Rakshya Thapa, Regional Technical Specialist, United Nations Development Programme. “I believe the carbon market is one of the most important instruments that can further the objectives of the Paris Agreement while simultaneously and coherently achieving Sustainable Development Goals.”

“The forum brought together the emission trading community – governments, financial institutions, investors, donors and businesses – discussing a range of topics, including carbon markets, national mitigation actions, aviation, domestic carbon pricing systems, such as those in operation in the Republic of Korea and in China, and in development in Thailand and other jurisdictions,” said Niclas Svenningsen, Manager, Stakeholder and Relationship Management Unit, Sustainable Development Mechanisms programme, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change secretariat. “The event was useful to shape up collaboration in the region in linking markets and to achieve our long-term climate and sustainability goals through market instruments, including UNFCCC instruments such as the clean development mechanism.”

APCF 2016 was organised by the Asian Development Bank, IETA, UNFCCC secretariat and the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, in collaboration with Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI). The organisers would like to express their appreciation to GGGI for their great partnership in helping deliver APCF 2016.

For more information on carbon markets in Asia-Pacific and elsewhere visit <https://ieta.wildapricot.org/The-Worlds-Carbon-Markets>.