Beware hot air in the Paris climate talks

The document warns that the Paris climate treaty risks failure if it allows 'hot air' (non-real emission reductions) to be used for compliance. Drawing on failures of the Kyoto Protocol's CDM and JI mechanisms, and the oversupply of permits in the EU ETS, the author advocates for the cancellation of surplus permits, the creation of a robust international accounting system to prevent double counting, the end of carbon offsetting in favor of direct finance for developing countries, and the exclusion of non-permanent land use offsets from carbon markets.

• The Kyoto Protocol has been undermined by an 11 gigatonne "Hot Air" loophole, with evidence suggesting that up to 70% of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) offset credits may not represent real emission reductions and that Joint Implementation (JI) offsets could have increased global emissions by 600 million tonnes of CO2.
• The EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is currently oversupplied with hot air units equal to double the total required emission reductions for 2013 to 2020; if these are carried over post-2020, the effectiveness of the EU's climate instruments could be reduced by more than half.
• The lack of international oversight and a registry in the current draft of the Paris treaty increases the risk of double counting emission reductions and allows countries to use hot air for compliance or trade.
• To ensure the success of the Paris treaty, the author recommends four specific actions: cancelling surplus carbon permits by 2020, establishing an international accounting system to prevent double counting, replacing CDM and JI offsets with direct financial support for developing countries, and excluding non-permanent land use offsets from carbon markets.

APA

De Jong, F. (2015). Beware hot air in the Paris climate talks. Carbon Market Watch. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2015/12/02/beware-hot-air-in-the-paris-climate-talks/

Chicago

De Jong, Femke. Beware hot air in the Paris climate talks. Carbon Market Watch, 2015. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2015/12/02/beware-hot-air-in-the-paris-climate-talks/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=De Jong |first1=Femke |title=Beware hot air in the Paris climate talks |publisher=Carbon Market Watch |date=2 December 2015 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2015/12/02/beware-hot-air-in-the-paris-climate-talks/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{dejong2015beware, author = {De Jong, Femke}, title = {{Beware hot air in the Paris climate talks}}, publisher = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2015}, month = dec, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2015/12/02/beware-hot-air-in-the-paris-climate-talks/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }