The IETA Secretariat developed a submission on non-Party stakeholders engagement in the UNFCCC process, as invited by the SBI (FCCC/SBI/2017/7, paragraph 120). The submission was sent to the UNFCCC Secretariat earlier today. 

You can access the submission here.

This new submission builds on and reiterates the messages outlined in last year's submission on opportunities to enhance engagement of non-Party stakeholders in the UNFCCC process, which can be found here.

Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions.

Kind regards,

Stefano De Clara

IETA has been drafting a paper on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement jointly with the Climate Finance NGO group - the same group already developed a paper earlier this year. Please see the first joint paper, released in April 2017, here.

The new joint paper has now been released, please find it here. 

The paper, co-signed by Climate Advisers, Conservation International, EDF, Forest Trends, IETA and The Nature Conservancy, has already been included in the IETA Article 6 Submissions Portal: http://www.ieta.org/Article-6-Submissions-Portal 

IETA developed a submission on "Opportunities to enhance engagement of non-Party stakeholders in the UNFCCC process", as invited by the SBI (FCCC/SBI/2016/8, paragraph 164). 

You can access the submission here.

This is an April 2017 paper outlining the implementation of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement published jointly by IETA, the Environmental Defense Fund, Nature Conservancy, Conservation International and Forest Trends. 

The paper describes how the rules for Article 6 could lead to more ambitious emission reduction policies by governments while ensuring that no double counting of emission reduction units takes place and units uphold environmental integrity principles.

Click here to download the submission.

Executive Summary

● Article 6 of the Paris Agreement offers the opportunity to build a global carbon market to assist in accelerating the energy transition and in delivering a net zero emissions outcome at lowest cost to society. Early analysis by the World Bank Group shows that financial savings by countries working collectively through Article 6 can be 30% lower than countries working on their own to meet their respective mitigation targets. This is consistent with prior economic studies, all of which suggest that market cooperation can deliver a significant savings...

Click here to read full Submission

Joint Submission by Conservation International, Environmental Defense Fund, Forest Trends, IETA and The Nature Conservancy regarding views on the guidance referred to in Article 6, paragraph 2, of the Paris Agreement

The Paris Agreement was a major step forward for international cooperation on tackling climate change; not only did Parties agree to the ambitious mitigation goal of limiting average global temperature increase to well below 2°C, but they also agreed to a wide array of processes and tools aimed at achieving this goal. Cooperative approaches to meet and help surpass climate targets were featured prominently in the Agreement, as Parties devoted Article 6 to voluntary cooperation in implementing NDCs.

International cooperation using market-based approaches can play a powerful role in helping countries meet their near-term commitments as efficiently as possible, and can deliver sustained, increasing ambition over time by:

• creating political buy-in for cost-effective climate policy;
• spurring early action;
• incentivizing improvements in domestic measurement, reporting, verification and accounting procedures;
• promoting sustainable development and environmental integrity; and
• delivering increased funding to mitigation efforts as part of a comprehensive strategy for increasing climate finance.

However, if Parties are to fulfill the potential mitigation opportunities these tools present, they should quickly agree on the necessary accounting guidance outlined above to prevent double counting and protect environmental integrity, while considering what additional work may be needed—inside and outside of the UNFCCC process—to ensure the long-term success of cooperative approaches.

Download the submission.

Background: ECOSYSTEM MARKETPLACE: A global source for news, data and analytics around environmental markets and payments for ecosystem services. 

To view the EM Buyers Report presentation  please click here.

Background: As 2015 progresses, Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are busy preparing “Intended Nationally Determined Contributions” (INDCs). These must be available for review prior to the Conference of the Parties in Paris in December. As of March 31st, 34 countries had released INDCs. They offer a range of target levels, dates and focus areas.

To read more please click here

For the French version please click here

Overview: On 30 January, IETA submitted comments in response to the UNFCCC's Standing Committee on Finance (SCF) call for input on financing for forests. IETA's final submission is available here. To learn more about IETA's SCF engagement in 2015, contact me or Sophy Greenhalgh (greenhalgh@ieta.org).

Context: At SCF's 8th Meeting on 1-3 October 2014, the Committee considered a revised background paper on forestry finance and chose to expand the background paper into a working paper - a piece that would inform SCF’s forestry finance work in 2015+ and the design of SCF's Forum on "Financing for Forests" in 2015. As such, SCF agreed to invite its members and interested observers to provide relevant information/case studies to inform the working paper on coherence and coordination for financing for forests. IETA's 30 January submission attempts to shed light, from a private sector/REDD+ perspective, on: a) experiences with use of resources/the transfer of payments for results-based approaches; and b) experiences with the provision of financial resources for alternative approaches.

IETA has submitted its responses to the UNFCCC on:

• the development of the Framework for Various Approaches (FVA), please find it here, and
  
• the New Market Mechanism (NMM), please find it here.
  

Both submissions are based on IETA's ongoing joint research with the Harvard Project on Climate Agreements and the development of our Straw Proposal for market provisions in the 2015 Agreement (released during the NYC Summit and available here). 

These responses build upon IETA's previous submissions in 2011, 2012, and 2013 respectively but have been substantially updated to include the following:

• Inclusion of a 'transfer system' in the FVA that facilitates the international transfer of emission reduction units amongst countries with a fixed carbon budget via an international transfer mechanism (FVA submission)

• An FVA governance system that oversees linked carbon markets, market registries and protocols, as well as performs sytem checks (FVA submission)

• A unified transfer mechanism for Parties interested in linking their national carbon market/pricing system (NMM submission)

• A unified project-based mechanism that unifies the previous NMM and CDM reform agendas to produce a common project-based emission reduction that recognises achievements made against standardized sectoral benchmarks (NMM submission)
• Market infrastructure tools made available at the UNFCCC for countries to develop registries, offset protocols, and other market tools that are in harmonisation with systems already in place (FVA submission)