COP 18: WBCSD on Establishing a Global Carbon Market

Recently the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) resurfaced work that it undertook back at the start of the Long-term Cooperative Action (LCA). The discussion on LCA includes a broad range of issues including the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA), the New Market Mechanism (NMM) and more recently, the Framework for Various Approaches (FVA).

The WBCSD has published a paper entitled “Establishing a Global Carbon Market,” it looks at how the substance of the Kyoto Protocol carbon market can be applied much more broadly to an evolving world of various approaches.

As reviewed in the paper, a refined single track approach will bring much needed focus back to the discussions which then paves the way for at least some hope that the 2015 goal for a new agreement can be met.

According to the paper, the big asks for COP 18 are:

1. Agreeing to a continuation of the Kyoto Protocol through to 2020 and then politely ushering this Grand Dame of the UNFCCC off the stage with some reverence and applause.

2. Bringing closure to the LCA work programme and shifting some key components (e.g. GCF, TEC) into the formulation of the ADP.

3. Establishing a clear work programme for the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP). The ultimate goal of the ADP track is a new global climate deal by 2015 which will take effect in 2020. One of the primary efforts involves the establishment of a carbon market infrastructure.