Carbon Market Watch recommendations for COP23 – CORSIA for aviation needs better transparency and clarity

Date added: 10 November, 2017

“Carbon Market Watch” has made recommendations for COP23 (the UN global climate talks in Bonn). They say on aviation: “Don’t let aviation undermine the Paris Agreement. In writing the Paris rulebook, it is essential to address the role of aviation and shipping, two sectors projected to take up to 40% of the carbon budget by 2050. This includes assessing both sectors’ ambition towards Paris goals in the Facilitative Dialogue and Global Stocktake and compatibility with the Paris Agreement on the Transparency Framework and accounting rules. The CORSIA is clearly not along term solution for aviation emissions in a world where all sectors must quickly reduce their own emissions. Without transparent, compatible rules, the CORSIA could end up increasing the overall emissions in the Paris Agreement by an equivalent of those from 817 coal fired power plants in a year.” And they say aviation and shipping should be integrated into the preparation and review of mitigation action of states. There should be formalised cooperation between ICAO and the UNFCCC on avoiding double counting, and information on offsets going to CORSIA participants in reports and updates under the Transparency Framework. Information on ICAO and IMO activities should be included in the global stocktake.
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Carbon Market Watch recommendations for COP23

…. just extracts relating to aviation copied here …

3.11.2017 (Carbon Market Watch website)

Dear Respected Colleague,

Carbon Market Watch is pleased to share our SBSTA, SBI, and APA recommendations as well as an overview of our upcoming events and recent publications (below).

Phase out Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
To reach the objectives of the Paris Agreement, it is essential to learn from past experience avoid the mistakes made with Kyoto mechanisms. Importantly, Parties need to plan for an orderly phaseout of the CDM at the end of the second Kyoto Commitment period. The vast majority of CDM credits lack environmental integrity and most of them are double counted under international commitments including the Cancun Pledges and NDCs. If used towards NDCs and other commitments, these credits would lead to an increase of overall emissions and seriously undermine post 2020 ambition taking us further away from the Paris climate objectives. The comparatively small number of vulnerable projects will, however, need international climate finance for a continued climate benefit. For the sake of the environmental integrity of the Paris Agreement, the vast oversupply of Kyoto hot air, including CDM credits should not undermine ambition after 2020.

Establish strong rules for Article 6 to avoid opening Pandora’s box
Article 6 must enhance – not undermine – ambition. That means strong international rules and oversight to prevent a free-for-all race to the bottom in global markets as well as making cooperative approaches and the SDM equally robust. Carbon markets need a new approach to additionality and to avoiding perverse incentives for present and future climate policy. Further, the social and environmental impacts of mitigation measures cannot again be allowed to be an afterthought and rather must be built into the core of the way any market works. Article 6 must further operate in a world of evolving Clarity, Transparency and Understanding of NDCs – creating a dynamic challenge changing the goalposts and baseline every five years at least.

Don’t let aviation undermine the Paris Agreement
In writing the Paris rulebook, it is essential to address the role of aviation and shipping, two sectors projected to take up to 40% of the carbon budget by 2050. This includes assessing both sectors’ ambition towards Paris goals in the Facilitative Dialogue and Global Stocktake and compatibility with the Paris Agreement on the Transparency Framework and accounting rules. The Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) is clearly not along term solution for aviation emissions in a world where all sectors must quickly reduce their own emissions. Without transparent, compatible rules, the CORSIA could end up increasing the overall emissions in the Paris Agreement by an equivalent of those from 817 coal fired power plants in a year.

For the COP 23, Carbon Market Watch makes the following recommendations:

…..

APA agenda items 3, 5 and 6 (as they relate to shipping and aviation targets outside the scope of NDCs)

Integrate progress on shipping and aviation into preparation and review of mitigation action of states
Establish formalized cooperation between ICAO and the UNFCCC on avoiding double counting
Provide information on offsets going to CORSIA participants in reports and updates under the Transparency Framework
Introduce information on ICAO and IMO activities into the global stocktake

And there is much more at https://carbonmarketwatch.org/publications/carbon-market-watch-recommendations-cop23-email-negotiators/