WWF - Position Papers

International transport: turning an emissions problem into a finance opportunity (June 2011)

2011-06-04

Summary:

•Emissions from international aviation and shipping must be controlled to give a good chance of limiting warming to 1.5oC or 2oC.

•Policies to control them could raise $24 billion annually, according to the AGF . In WWF's view the large majority of this should be used for financing climate action in developing countries through the UNFCCC.

•Co-operative global policies can be in line with the UN Climate Convention if designed appropriately, e.g., if they ensure that developing countries incur no incremental costs (have 'no net incidence').

•A promising approach in the shipping sector is a universal mechanism with a rebate for developing countries to neutralize any economic burden.

•In the aviation sector options to be explored include a rebate mechanism and limiting the policy to flights into and/or out of particular countries – e.g., developed countries or those with a significant share of air traffic.

•The overall impacts of these policies on trade and prices would be very small: a potential increase in costs of imported goods of only around 0.2% from a shipping mechanism.

•The COP should take a decision in Durban that encourages swift action from ICAO and IMO to implement policies, and that generates revenue and channels it to climate finance.

WWF Expectations for the UNFCCC Bonn Session June 2011

2011-06-01

WWF has prioritized the following areas for early progress to be made by parties in Bonn:
•Identify ways in which the Gigatonne Gap can be addressed in order to enhance mitigation action
•Laying the basis for ambition to match the science
•Define a robust process to negotiate an agreement on new sources of Finance
•Advance MRV guidelines, modalities and timetables
•Advance work on the content and modalities of Low-Carbon Development Strategies for developed and developing countries.
•Deepen agreements on the Cancun Adaptation Framework and emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+)

IMO - Three WWF Submissions on reducing GHG emissions from shipping

2011-05-19

Towards an optimal rebate key for a global maritime MBM

Submitted to IMO by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)

This document provides detailed information on identifying an
optimal rebate key to ensure that no net incidence on developing
countries arises from the application of a global Market-Based
Measure for GHG emissions from international maritime transport.
A country's share of global imports from non-adjacent countries is
proposed as the basis for the optimal key to be used with the
Rebate Mechanism or any revenue-raising MBM under consideration.
Detailed calculations are provided for over 150 countries.

The IMO, global MBMs that reduce emissions and the question of Principles

Submitted to IMO by Clean Shipping Coalition (CSC) and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)

This document suggests returning to the question of the application
of Market-Based Measures (MBMs) and analyses options for
establishing an MBM that is based on the IMO principle of
non-discrimination (no more favourable treatment) and also
accounts for the UNFCCC principle of common but differentiated
responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR). The document
examines four ways in which differentiated application could be
achieved, and conclude that all have serious drawbacks. The
co-sponsors suggest that the UNFCCC allows for a global shipping
measure, provided that developing countries do not incur net
incremental costs, and that a rebate mechanism could achieve this.
The report of the UN High-level Advisory Group on Climate Change
Financing endorses the concept of a global scheme with a rebate
mechanism to ensure "no net incidence" on developing countries.
Finally, the co-sponsors request that these matters be discussed at
the GHG-WG 3 itself, with a view to recommending that MEPC
prepare a resolution for the IMO Assembly.

Financial transaction taxes for climate change

2010-11-09

New and innovative sources of financing are urgently required to address the growing and global challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, poverty and social injustice.
Financial transaction taxes (FTTs) are one of the few sources of financing that can, if designed properly, provide sufficient funding to address all these global problems, as well as contribute to national budgets and repay the debts remaining from the global financial crisis.

WWF Asks for COP16, Cancun

2010-11-01

This page contains WWF's two key recommendation papers for the UN climate conference in Cancun, Mexico from 29 November to 10 December, 2010.

The first document is the ' WWF Expectations for the Cancun Package' which has the outline and recommendations for a good outcome in Cancun. You will find the French, German and Spanish versions here as well.

The other major document is the ''WWF key country demands for Cancun' which provides a list of "policy prescriptions" for eleven of the world's most influential nations to bring to the table of the UN climate negotiations. The eleven countries incude the US, UK, South Africa, China, Russia, Mexico, Japan, India, Germany, European Union, China and Brazil.

Agreeing a low-carbon future in Cancun

2010-10-27

A briefing paper on zero carbon action plans-ZCAPs and low carbon action plans-LCAPs defining what they mean and what progress can be achieved on these at COP16 in Cancun.

Recommendations for national communications process under UNFCCC

2010-10-27

At COP 16 governments need to agree to a fair, ambitious and balanced Cancun package. The Cancun package should secure consensus on key areas of substance, and identify a way forward on the negotiation process.

It is  imperative  that  Parties  make  progress  on  the issue of measurable, reportable and verifiable (MRV) -a checklist for accountability on measures for emission reductions.
The recommendation papers on this page examine where  Parties  need  to  make  progress  on  one  particular  element  of  the  MRV  system  for  developing  and developed countries National  Communications  process. These have been written by IndyACT,  Germanwatch,  Greenpeace  and  WWF  .

In addition to this, WWF released an analyisis earlier this year called - Counting the Gigatonnes: Building Trust in Greenhouse Gas Inventories from the United States and China. This paper outlines the systems already in place in both countries that can ensure accurate and timely data on greenhouse gas emissions.

The United States and China, by far the world's two biggest emitters of greenhouse gas pollution, have the technology and processes in place right now to accurately measure and report their emissions of CO2 and other heat-trapping gases.

WWF Adaptation Policy Recommendations, COP16 Cancun

2010-10-21

The adaptation decision should be part of a package of decisions at COP16 in Cancun.

After COP 15 we are in fact close to agreeing a decision on establishing an Adaptation Framework for Implementation. This paper gives recommendations on effectively moving the adaptation process forward at COP16.

Finance brief for Geneva Ministerial on climate finance, 2-3 Sept 2010

2010-08-27

On 2-3 September 2010, Ministers and officials from more than 40 countries met in Geneva, Switzerland to discuss climate finance and prepare for the climate negotiations later this year in Cancun, Mexico.
Hosted by Switzerland and Mexico, the Geneva Ministerial was an opportunity to advance the negotiations on financing institutions to support climate action in developing countries, and how to generate finance at the scale required to support ambitious actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prepare for those impacts that are unavoidable.

WWF Brief: Finance from Aviation and Maritime sectors - UN High Level Group (2010)

2010-06-23

'Bunker finance' – revenues from the international aviation and maritime sectors – attracted considerable attention at COP 15 in Copenhagen as a potential new source of climate change finance.

This paper explains the different options for bunker finance, outlines the status of discussions in other fora, then assesses the options against the criteria published in the terms of reference for the AGF.

It finds that bunker finance could be a valuable, reliable and equitable source of finance, and that a recommendation from the AGF would give a boost to discussions elsewhere, potentially securing a double dividend by also unlocking mitigation packages in two sectors that have so far escaped greenhouse gas regulation.

WWF Recommendations for climate finance for the G20 Summit

2010-06-22

The still-unfolding oil spill disaster currently under way in the Gulf of Mexico is only the latest reminder of the urgent need to end our dependency on fossil fuels and make a rapid transition to a sustainable low carbon future.

We need to mobilize all possible forms of investment to support the global clean technology revolution that is essential to protect our planet and our children's future. Rapidly scaled up financing is needed to support developing countries in adopting low-carbon technologies and adapting to the impacts of climate change.

Political leadership is needed to shift investments from polluting and dangerous sources of energy to clean, renewable sources, and to mobilize the additional investments required to respond to climate change.

WWF Recommendations and Asks for G8 and G20 Summits in 2010

2010-06-09

The United Nations climate change talks in Copenhagen brought together unprecedented participation of Heads of State and Government in an attempt to broker a global deal to address climate change. It is clear from the unsatisfactory outcome that much remains to be done if world leaders are to answer the call of the millions of people around the world who called for much higher levels of action than were seen in Copenhagen.

The G8 and G20 Summits in Canada in June 2010, and the second G20 Summit in South Korea in November 2010 represent major opportunities for global leaders to confirm their commitments to resolve the issues that prevented them reaching a deal in Copenhagen. These meetings of the world's leading economies must provide clear political signals of a willingness to regain the momentum towards concluding a comprehensive climate agreement.

WWF advocates the necessity of pursuing climate finance and low-carbon economy issues in a way that can be leveraged positively by the UNFCCC process. WWF asks that Canada and South Korea show leadership as host countries, and put climate change – and specifically the climate-resilient low-carbon economy and finance for climate change mitigation and adaptation – as high priorities on the G8 and G20 agendas.

WWF Recommendations to the Advisory Group on Climate Finance

2010-06-08

Breaking the impasse over how to generate public funding for developing countries at a sufficient scale is essential if we want to create an equitable basis for global climate action, protect vulnerable countries and populations from climate impacts, and mobilize shifts in investment patterns needed to stimulate the rapid introduction of clean technologies.

In Copenhagen, developed countries committed to mobilizing US$100 billion annually by 2020.

Although estimates of required financing are much higher, rapid progress towards putting in place mechanisms to generate at least this amount is an essential step. WWF therefore congratulates the UN Secretary General for his initiative in convening the High-level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing (AGF). Members of this group have an important and challenging task ahead of them. Because of the financial expertise and institutions represented in the group we are confident the advisory group can play an important role in mobilizing the financial support to help developing countries mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Establishing a Global Carbon Budget

2009-11-25

If we are serious about avoiding catastrophic climate change, we need to limit global warming resulting from increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This means limiting and reducing global net emissions. But who must limit their emissions, by how much, and when? This is where a global carbon budget comes in; more precisely – a long-term cumulative GHG allowance for the entire planet.

A global carbon budget can guide and inform our efforts to limit the total amount of greenhouse gases we put into the atmosphere, share the remaining global space equitably, and achieve sufficient effort in the near and medium term so that we don't leave an impossible task for the next generation in future decades.

OK, sounds interesting. But what exactly is a Carbon Budget?

A Global Carbon Budget sets out the total emissions that humanity is allowed to "spend" over a specific period, and then allocates those allowed expenditures to particular time periods, countries and regions over the period covered by the "budget".

Science tells us that it is cumulative global emissions in particular long-lived greenhouse gases such as CO2 that drive atmospheric concentration levels and global temperatures, and it will be our total emissions of these gases between now and 2050 that will determine our success in limiting warming to below two degrees. Thus the starting point of a global carbon budget is the total emissions allowed worldwide between now and 2050 to meet a particular objective, such as having a high chance of staying well below 2 degrees C.

International auctioning of emission allowances (AAUs)

2009-11-25

What is international auctioning of emission allowances?
Norway has proposed a mechanism for generating financing for climate change actions in developing countries through auctioning a portion of national emission permits, called AAUs.

Currently those countries with caps under the Kyoto Protocol are issued their entire allocation of AAUs free of charge.

Under Norway's proposal, instead of receiving all the AAUs free of charge, these countries would have a certain percentage of their allocation held back by the UNFCCC, and sold in a public auction. The auction would occur at the international level before the AAUs are allocated to national registries, and would be handled by an international institution.

The resulting revenue would then be placed in a fund under the authority of the CoP to be accessed by developing countries for climate change actions.

WWF position on forests and climate change mitigation

2009-09-01

Forests have a vital role to play in the fight against global warming, being the largest terrestrial store of carbon and the third largest source of carbon emissions after coal and oil.

Deforestation is estimated to be responsible for 18% of current greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, forests have signifcant economic and ecological value as a provider of ecosystem services, being home to much of the world's biodiversity and supporting the livelihoods of over 1 billion of the world's poorest people.

A strong post-2012 climate regime is essential to keep the rise in global temperature well below 2 degrees Celsius. Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD) is a critical component of the overall greenhouse gas emission reductions required to achieve this climate goal. The strategies in this paper are needed to ensure REDD supports a successful global climate regime.

Although their importance in addressing climate change is clear, forests have had a complex history in the international climate negotiations. The UNFCCC calls on all nations to protect and enhance the reservoirs of carbon, including forests.

NGO's Climate Treaty and the Real Deal

2009-06-08

Update November 2009

Some voices now say that we have run out of time for a comprehensive climate change deal in Copenhagen; that we should only focus on some of the early action and implementation issues and tackle the politically difficult issues later; that a scientifically-based, comprehensive and ratifiable outcome is not feasible at this point in time; or not necessary.

Our response is: we do not need more time, it is not impossible, what we need is the political will to take the hard, ambitious decisions to reach agreement on a comprehensive and legally binding deal in Copenhagen, in December 2009.

The Real Deal for Copenhagen: a proposal for treaty language for an amended Kyoto Protocol and a new Copenhagen Protocol based on the official UN negotiation texts.

A climate deal at Copenhagen is not impossible: we do not need more time, what we need is the political will to take the hard, ambitious decisions to reach agreement on a comprehensive and legally binding deal in Copenhagen, in December 2009.

This document demonstrates that all the core elements are on the table: it is a compilation of text put forth by Parties themselves, taken from the most recent non-papers. Text has been adjusted and edited where it is not ambitious enough, or where linkages are missing, and sorted into a coherent legal framework. In a few cases, it has been supplemented by paragraphs to address gaps in the current non-papers.

The briefing papers listed below support the NGO treaty document.

Biodiversity Briefing
In version 1.0 of the Copenhagen Climate Treaty consideration of biodiversity and ecosystems is implicit in the carbon budget and the related targets. More explicitly, biodiversity and ecosystems are referred to in the shared vision, adaptation and reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation sections.

Shipping and Aviation Briefing
This paper describes a change in the approach to international bunker emissions from that taken in Treaty Version 1.0.

ZCAPs Briefing
Version 1.0 of the Treaty proposed that all developed countries, including newly industrialized countries (NICs), submit a Zero Carbon Action Plan (ZCAP) for their country to the proposed Copenhagen Climate Facility.

Full NGO Treaty released in June 2009

In June this year climate change experts from leading non-governmental organisations produced a blueprint for a legally binding Copenhagen agreement.

The 160-page Copenhagen Climate Treaty, which was distributed to negotiators from 192 states, took some of the world's most experienced climate NGO's almost a year to write and contains a full legal text covering all the main elements needed to provide the world with a fair and ambitious agreement that keeps climate change impacts below the unacceptable risk levels identified by most scientists.

NGO Copenhagen treaty - narrative (Vol. 1) 680 KB pdf
NGO Copenhagen treaty - narrative (Vol. 1) 622 KB doc
NGO Copenhagen treaty - legal text (Vol. 2) 395 KB pdf
NGO Copenhagen treaty - legal text (Vol. 2) 332 KB doc
NGO Copenhagen treaty - narrative (Vol. 1) Español 1.51 MB pdf
NGO Copenhagen treaty - summary (Vol. 1) Deutsch 175 KB pdf
NGO Copenhagen treaty - summary (Vol. 1) Arabic 1.94 MB pdf

This is the first time in history that a coalition of civil society groups has taken such a step. Together we have produced the most coherent legal document to date showing balanced and credible climate solutions based on equity and science said Kim Carstensen of WWF International.

The document describes the path the world must be on to avoid catastrophic climate change, recognising that global temperature increase must be kept well below 2 degrees Celsius. It sets a global cap on emissions a carbon budget and explains in detail how both industrialised and developing countries can contribute to the safety of the planet and its people, according to their means and responsibilities and shows how the poorest and most vulnerable on the planet can be protected and compensated.

The Copenhagen Climate Treaty, was drafted by Greenpeace, WWF, IndyACT the League of Independent Activists, Germanwatch, David Suzuki Foundation, National Ecological Centre of Ukraine and expert individuals from around the world.

Expert for interviews:

Kim Carstensen Leader, WWF Global Climate Initiative E: k.carstensen@wwf.dk M: +45-40-343635	Kathrin Gutmann Head of Policy, WWF Global Climate Initiative E: kathrin.gutmann @wwf.de M: +49-162-2914428
Wael Hmaidan IndyACT the League of Independent Activists E:whmaidan@indyact.org Tel/Fax: +961-1-447192	Christopher Bals Executive Director Policy, Germanwatch E: bals@germanwatch.org T: +49 174 3275669
Martin Kaiser Climate Political Coordinator, Greenpeace International E: martin.kaier@greenpeace.org T: +49 171 8780817	David Marshall David Suzuki Foundation E: dmarshall@davidsuzuki.org
Irina Stavchuk National Ecological Centre of Ukraine E: irina.stavchuk@necu.org.ua T: +38(044)238-62-60

For more information or interview arrangements contact:

Ashwini Prabha
E: aprabha@wwfint.org
M: +41-79-8741682

Stephanie Tunmore
E: Stephanie.Tunmore@uk.greenpeace.org
M: +44 7796947451

The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bonn

2009-06-01

1 June - 12 June 2009

The year 2009 is all about the credit crunch, but it will also decide the future of our planet. The world must agree to a new global climate treaty and low carbon economy by December.

Green energy solutions are increasingly seen as one important way to solve our economic and climate crisis together.

Mapping the way forward, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) holds its second inter-sessional meeting of government delegates and technical experts this year in Bonn, Germany from 1 June - 12 June, 2009.

Expectations for the Copenhagen Climate Deal 2009

2009-03-26

How important is climate protection these days? The world economy is in recession. Some countries are on the verge of national insolvency. Thousands of factories are closing and jobs disappearing. For some, the pending climate disaster now seems a less immediate threat; the policies needed to reduce emissions seem a harsh demand in light of people losing their homes and their income.

At the same time, the disasters that loom in the wake of full blown climate change mean that the current recession, when over, will literally only fill a few pages of history books, while the devastating effects of climate change will fill volumes. They will need to detail the countries lost, massive extinctions, plagues, droughts and floods, and the loss of lives and cultures. Climate security must be a continued priority since science tells us we only have until 2020 to put ship "earth" on a new course. There is no alternative to an ambitious outcome at the Copenhagen COP in December 2009.

In 2009, we have already seen some countries invest smartly to create jobs, foster innovation and help their economies go green. However, the nightmare scenario still exists of the next stimulus and recovery packages locking us into the root causes of climate change and throwing us back by twenty years.

The reforms to deal with the root causes of the economic recession present a huge opportunity, which must not be lost. In this context of a "green economy", international commitment to climate change is more important than ever. We must show that we are serious about pursuing a sustainable, low-carbon, climate resilient future.

WWF would like to emphasize the view that mitigation as part of low-carbon development is not just a burden we want to minimize, but ultimately is an opportunity for job creation and a healthy society, setting the world on a development path that we can sustain over long periods.

WWF Position Paper on Bioenergy

2009-03-01

Bioenergy production for large-scale commercial use is currently growing rapidly and is increasingly supported in several countries. Developed countries have opted for bioenergy production and trade to meet their domestic emissions reduction targets. Medium to large developing countries have adopted bioenergy as part of their development strategy to generate export earnings, meet local demand and develop their own bioenergy industries in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Others are turning towards bioenergy crops to meet local energy demands and foster rural development. These goals are not mutually exclusive.

WWF believes that bioenergy can provide diverse sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels, additional incomes for rural communities and contribute to development. However, bioenergy development is not necessarily sustainable. Depending on which crops are produced, where and how, bioenergy developments can cause significant negative environmental and social impacts, such as deforestation, biodiversity loss, soil erosion, excessive water use, land use conflicts, food shortages and staple food crop price spikes.

WWF will only support bioenergy that is environmentally, socially and economically sustainable and considers that effective measures are needed to address a number of issues.