A key tool for your toolkit: International law can advance women’s land tenure rights in REDD+

How can REDD+ be implemented without intensifying existing inequalities for women? Given that REDD+ is an international climate initiative with required social, environmental safeguards, how can advocates and community members use international law to advance women’s tenure rights in REDD+? Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) was designed to use forests to address … Read More.

Shareholder-Powered Climate Action

Climate Change threatens to destroy the ecological balance of our world… and our pocketbooks?  For those who have invested money in fossil fuels, it’s time to be concerned. By Blanche Helbling Communications Intern Two of the largest fossil fuel companies in the world, BP and Shell, each recently received shareholder resolutions asking them to divulge … Read More.

Mexico as a Model? The Value of International Guidance on REDD+

Mexico is on a roll in demonstrating its commitment to address climate change. This week, it was the first developing country to submit its official contribution to the United Nations to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions as part of a new international climate agreement. This contribution pledge is also the first and only one to … Read More.

Environmental Journalists Discuss the “Super Bowl of Climate Change”

According to some of the most active and experienced environmental journalists in the United States, 2015 stands to bring a series of environmental face-offs, which will culminate in what one speaker timingly nicknamed the ‘Super Bowl of Climate Change’ in Paris this upcoming November. The Woodrow Wilson Center hosted its third annual “Year Ahead in … Read More.

Global Divestment Day: Why and how to divest from fossil fuels

Last month, 295 Stanford professors asked that the university divest from coal. They wrote that to limit global warming to 2°C (the currently-agreed international goal), the global community: “must cap carbon dioxide emissions at 565 gigatons. Because companies currently own fossil-fuel holdings sufficient to produce 2795 gigatons of carbon dioxides, the risk is clear: 2795 … Read More.

Kudos to Norway for divesting from 20+ fossil fuel companies

Under pressure from the global community (including CIEL), Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global has divested from some companies in the fossil fuel industry and is considering divesting from more. The Fund announced this week that during 2014 it divested from more than 20 companies with operations in coal mining, oil sands, and coal-fired power production. … Read More.

Green Climate Fund Dos and Don’ts: The Case of REDD+

Last month, the Board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) met in Barbados for its 8th session.  What’s the GCF? It’s a financial institution that is expected to channel billions of dollars to developing countries to help them in their efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change. (Check out some of our blogs for … Read More.

Dear Tri-Caucus: Introducing the Tri-Caucus (Part II)

Dearest Friends, Colleagues, It is hard to believe that a year has passed since we formed the Tri-Caucus to improve coordination between those who focus specifically on rights related to REDD+. As we finalize last-minute logistics for the upcoming UN climate negotiations – the Conference of the Parties (COP 20) in Lima, Peru – I … Read More.

Introducing the Tri-Caucus: “It takes a village”

In the world of UN climate negotiations, in which 194 official parties, as well as hundreds of observers and representatives from civil society and indigenous groups, have different and complex agendas and priorities, meaningful progress to reduce emissions is a challenging feat. Ensuring that progress respects human rights and environmental integrity is even more so. … Read More.

Years of Living Dangerously

For twenty five years, CIEL has used the power of law to protect the environment, promote human rights, and ensure a just and sustainable society.  One of the most critical issues we work on is climate change.  Day in and day out, we work on designing and strengthening the laws and policies to combat climate … Read More.

#Spring4HumanRights – The 2014 Spring Meetings of the World Bank

Each Spring, thousands of government finance ministers, economists, civil society representatives, and community members from around the world convene in Washington, DC, for the World Bank and International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings. It is often a hectic week of seminars, press conferences, civil society events, and side-line meetings. This year, the Spring Meetings and civil … Read More.

Going back to Bali, to Bali, to Bali…

We’re reporting back  from Bali, Indonesia, where the February meeting of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) Board took place, and excited to share an update on the progress we made and the challenges we face ahead! The GCF was created by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change  in 2010 to serve as the primary … Read More.

GREEN CLIMATE FUND: Show me the money (and safeguards!)

Today, the Green Climate Fund (GCF) meets for its 5th board meeting in Paris, France. Established by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2010, the GCF promised to be the main vehicle for channeling billions of dollars pledged by developed counties to support climate mitigation and adaptation activities in developing countries. … Read More.

Vienna +20 Action Week

In June 2013, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) around the world gathered at Vienna for the 20th anniversary of the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights and its Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action. The CSOs held a two-day conference to precede the Vienna+20 Advancing the Protection of Human Rights Conference on June 25th organized by … Read More.

[Human Rights] In the CDM

Alyssa Johl (CIEL), Abby Rubinson (Earthjustice) and Weni Bagama (Ngabe activist from Kiad community in Panama) co-authored the following post for Climate Action Network’s ECO publication. After this weekend’s CDM reform workshop, ECO has new hope for the CDM’s ability to address human rights. For the first time in the history of the CDM, Parties … Read More.

After Doha: “We will not be silenced!”

Now that the dust from Doha has settled and 2013 is off and running, we’ve had a chance to reflect on how the UN climate talks have, once again, left us asking… What have we achieved? How have we advanced the debate? Where do we go from here? Like many other civil society groups, our … Read More.

Rio+20 Outcome: The Anthropocene Challenge

By Marcos Orellana, Rio de Janeiro, 22 June 2012. On June 20, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) officially started in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  The Conference opened with a documentary, Welcome to the Anthropocene, which was introduced by the UN’s Secretary-General.  The documentary visually portrays the alteration in Earth’s natural cycles induced … Read More.

Rio+20 and sustainable development

By Amanda Rude, former CIEL legal intern As several CIEL attorneys and alumni head south to participate in the much-anticipated Rio+20 Conference, I wanted to share some of my insights as the “greenest” (i.e. youngest) member of the CIEL delegation…

Great Rainforest or the Greatest Rainforest?

On Thursday, January 12th, 2012 CIEL scientist Matt Finer presented as part of Amazon Watch’s GreenBag Lunch series with this auspicious title, riffing off Stephen Colbert’s rhetorical question he poses to anyone that might not agree with his hyperbolic categorization. However, even Colbert would find few, if any, who would call the region of Loreto, … Read More.

It’s time to admit there is no future in fossils

Following the UN climate talks in Durban can be a tedious business. Even for a conference junkie like me.  There are times when the discussions get so mired in petty political bargaining that it’s hard to keep the bigger picture in mind.  People seem to forget why they’re actually there: to find a solution to … Read More.

What’s at stake at Durban? We are.

By Kristen Hite Director, Climate Change Program In recent years we’ve seen global predictions on climate change becoming increasingly dire.  In recent weeks it’s gone from bad to worse:  The International Energy Association, often criticized for how its future projections of energy production rely too heavily on fossil fuels and nuclear energy just issued a … Read More.

Multilateralism works! An insider’s analysis of Basel COP10

My very first COP experience, the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention in Cartagena, Colombia, was hailed by delegates, observers, and the UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner as the most successful Basel COP in the history of the Basel Convention.  I was fortunate to have joined CIEL’s delegation that participated in such … Read More.

Message to President Obama: FREE AMERICA from the tyranny of oil

After six days and 322 arrests (and counting), the Tar Sands Action is in full effect.  This two-week long protest is being staged on the sidewalk in front of the White House in Washington, DC, plainly visible to government employees, diplomats and tourists alike.  Concerned citizens have travelled from all 50 states and Canada to … Read More.

The “New Normal”: Food in the 21st Century

The global food system is broken.  Worldwide, 925 million are undernourished.  The Asia-Pacific region ranks highest in terms of number of people that are hungry and sub-Saharan Africa leads on a percentage basis.  In Niger, for example, one in two children suffers from malnutrition and one in six dies before the age of five.  In … Read More.

UN Security Council Misses Critical Opportunity to Take Action on Climate Change

By Alyssa Johl and Hana Heineken At the end of Wednesday’s Security Council open debate on the security implications of climate change, Council members reached consensus on a Presidential Statement recognizing the link between security and climate change  (see our July 19 blog for background on this issue).  While this statement fails to call for … Read More.

UN Security Council Debates the Security Implications of Climate Change

Tomorrow, the UN Security Council will host an open debate on the international peace and security implications of climate change. CIEL’s Hana Heineken will be attending and tweeting live from the debate (follow Hana’s updates @ciel_tweets). While most people think of global warming as an environmental issue, the climate crisis is expected to have far-reaching … Read More.

Multilateral Environmental Agreements and You

BASEL, CITES, CBD, CMS? Remembering the acronyms of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) is challenging enough, much less trying to recall their technical details. Thankfully, the MEA Information and Knowledge Management Initiative, facilitated by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), just launched a user-friendly information portal called InforMEA to help navigate the complex landscape of international environmental … Read More.

Glacial Progress at June Climate Talks in Bonn: Public Frozen Out

By the CIEL Climate Team Despite growing evidence that the effects of climate change are occurring earlier and more dramatically than foreseen just a few years ago, the UNFCCC negotiations continue to demonstrate how difficult it is to reach agreement on a broad-based binding framework for collective international action on climate change.  The two weeks … Read More.

What’s hot in climate change

By the CIEL Climate Team Climate negotiations resume in Bonn, Germany this week with a full agenda and against a backdrop of reports that last year’s global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were at record levels despite the global economic downturn.  While the meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) in Cancun, Mexico last December … Read More.

The Real Cost of Coal

Last time I blogged, I wrote about how coal-based power projects are not as cheap as they seem.  This is because coal projects have a number of hidden social and environmental costs or externalities that are either under-valued or excluded from the typical economic costs calculus.   Today, I’d like to highlight a recent case that … Read More.

Marching on hot coals

On March 1, 2011, activists will hold rallies in cities around the world to mark a Day of Action, calling on the World Bank to phase out lending for fossil fuel generated power. For those who can’t attend in person, there will be virtual actions on the same day, which is very exciting! Most often, … Read More.

Hidden Stories and the Power of Law

It is beautiful. Ten days ago, a NASA satellite took this image, a reminder that we are blessed to live on a planet rich with water and green with abundant life.  Seen from 440 miles above the Arctic Circle, the earth seems peaceful, perfect and unchanging. Yet, there are other, hidden stories in this image—important … Read More.

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS): grants, prizes, and concerns

On Tuesday, the US Dept. of Energy announced it was distributing $575 million USD in grants to 22 projects in 15 states, in an effort to deploy Carbon Capture and Storage / Sequestration (CCS) technology within the next 10 years.  The money was allocated under the Economic Stimulus package (ARRA 2009). The Washington Post reports … Read More.

Energy Ministers Endorse Clean-Tech Measures, Back CCS Group

Government energy ministers gathering in Washington, D.C., today launched 11 energy-efficiency and renewable energy initiatives around the world, which they claim will avoid the need to build 500 midsize power plants during the next 20 years. via www.nytimes.com  Of particular note is that “the United States and a dozen other nations will create what is … Read More.

US Clears Test of Genetically Modified Trees in Southern US

The test is meant to see if the trees, eucalyptuses with a foreign gene meant to help them withstand cold weather, can become a new source of wood for pulp and paper, and for biofuels, in the Southern timber belt. Eucalyptus trees generally cannot now be grown north of Florida because of occasional freezing spells. … Read More.

Technology Mechanism for Climate Change: Still in the Lab

The first set of 2010 climate change negotiations under the UNFCCC concluded in Bonn, Germany (April 9-11th) with no progress apparent on the Technology Mechanism referenced in Paragraph 11 of the 2009 Copenhagen Accord. In fact, the only real outcome of the meeting appears to be an agreement to hold two additional meetings for both … Read More.

Leading the Way towards Carbon Reductions

Heard of the Yes Men?  They are the incredibly straight-faced and gutsy duo that dare to go on the BBC TV and Radio, claiming to be from Dow Chemicals and announcing that Dow will compensate the victims of the Bhopal, India catastrophe with $12 billion from selling all assets related to Union Carbide Corp.  Dow … Read More.

Renewable Energy Technologies for Rural Development

With the debate around patents and climate change-related technologies at Copenhagen last December, it became easy to forget that there are many low-cost and clean renewable energy technologies available in the public domain. A recent UN meeting highlighted how these technologies can revolutionize the way of life for rural communities Over 90% of rural Africa … Read More.

World Bank discusses Trade and Climate Change

The World Bank, along with two other NGOs, held a panel discussion today on the trade implications of the ongoing climate negotiations. The final presentation, on Technology Transfer and Climate Change was the most substantive, as detailed below. The presentations did not address either labeling schemes, standards, border carbon adjustments, or subsidies. For an in … Read More.

Generally Accepted Accounting Principles…for Carbon

The October 23rd issue of Science has an interesting study, “Fixing a Critical Climate Accounting Error,” in which the authors contend that across-the-board exemption of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from bioenergy — the use of plant materials known as biomass for the production of renewable fuels — is improper in greenhouse gas regulations, if emissions … Read More.