UN agrees to carbon market safeguards to tackle green land grabs

Carbon credit developers will be prevented from grabbing land and water resources of people under the new global carbon market norms  being set up under the Paris Agreement. Climate Home News reported that at the recent meeting in Bonn, countries and experts from around the world approved an appeals and grievance procedure for the UN’s proposed Article 6.4 carbon crediting mechanism.

Climate campaigners see this agreement on policies to challenge carbon credit projects before and after they are implemented as a historic moment. The outlet reported that the previous UN carbon market—called the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)—did not have any such procedures. It, and other carbon markets, have been plagued by allegations they have harmed local people and their livelihoods, as well as often not delivering the emissions reductions claimed.

Govt plans IBC revision to tackle climate change-related bankruptcies

The Centre is planning to revise the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) to incorporate environmental claims and liabilities, considering that frequency of extreme weather events disrupting businesses is increasing. Currently, while the IBC recognises various categories of claims and creditors, including those related to environmental liabilities, it does not offer any special treatment for these liabilities, reported Policy Circle. 

Globally, governments are acknowledging that climate-related disruptions are an immediate concern, not just a future possibility. A 12-member working group comprising members from the World Bank, INSOL International, and the International Insolvency Institute is spearheading discussions to integrate climate action into insolvency processes, driven by an increase in environmental claims.

Sectors particularly at risk include energy, transport, agriculture, and forestry, as well as businesses reliant on natural resources, which may suffer from scarcity or degradation impacting production.

US, Europe fear of China’s dominance threatens climate fight, says Xi’s envoy

Top US climate change diplomat John Podesta and his Chinese counterpart Liu Zhenmin held their first formal bilateral meetings on May 8 and 9 in Washington, where they discussed how to work together ahead of the COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan. The US and China discussed Chinese overcapacity in solar and battery manufacturing, steel production and coal power. In a speech in April, Liu had said “US protectionism and unilateralism have further extended the climate change governance gap,” adding that constraints on Chinese solar panels and other technology would increase global costs of the clean energy transition.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Chinese climate envoy Liu said the US and European concerns around China’s dominance in clean-energy technologies “risk stalling the fight against global warming”. The newspaper further quoted Liu saying “we need to maintain low costs, otherwise nobody is going to be able to afford the energy transition.”

Rich and developing countries feud over who should meet climate finance targets

Differences between the rich and the developing countries over who should fund the new climate finance goals are widening, according to the Third World Network, an independent non-profit that is tracking the negotiations at Cartagena in Columbia.

Leaders in November will gather mainly to negotiate a new goal for climate finance, which currently has a floor of a minimum of $100 billion every year after 2025, which is expected to help developing countries transition to a low-carbon future.

The US is reported to have said the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) is “voluntary” for those that “choose to pay”, referring to Article 9.3 of the 2015 Paris climate pact that deals with climate finance.

India, speaking for the like-minded developing countries (LMDCs), said the goal must be in accordance with the principles and provisions of the convention and the Paris Agreement, which is equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and Article 9 of the pact. Article 9 stipulates that wealthy nations shall provide financial resources to assist developing countries to both mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate crisis.

EU countries approve law to cut trucks’ CO2 emissions

EU countries approved rules that will cut carbon dioxide emissions from trucks and require new heavy-duty vehicles emissions to fall 90% by 2040, Reuters reported. The report says the rules will mean manufacturers have to sell “a large share of fully CO2-free trucks—including electric vehicles and those running on hydrogen fuels”. Interim emissions reduction targets for new sales will be 45% by 2030—up from an existing goal of 30% – and 65% by 2035, it says. The newswire added the trucks are responsible for a quarter of road transport emissions in the bloc. It noted: “In Monday’s vote, only Italy, Poland and Slovakia opposed the policy, while the Czech Republic abstained, an EU official told Reuters. To win Germany’s backing, EU countries last month added a preamble to the law which said the European Commission would consider developing rules in future to count trucks running on CO2 neutral fuels towards the targets.” 

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