Search Climate Insights Directory

The document examines how the insistence on consensus-based decision-making in the INC process for a plastic pollution treaty acts as a tool for obstruction, allowing a minority of least ambitious countries to block substantive progress. It contrasts this with other multilateral environmental agreements that include voting provisions to incentivize compromise and avoid deadlock. The brief also details specific procedural tactics used to stall negotiations, such as repeated quorum calls and credential verifications, and warns that without the ability to vote, the final treaty will likely reflect only the lowest common denominator of ambition.

Sierra Club and CDM Watch object to the CDM Secretariat's decision to disregard a June 2011 letter requesting a review of the additionality of CDM Project 4533 (Coastal Andhra Power Ltd., India). The authors argue that the Secretariat's failure to forward the letter to the CDM Executive Board before the July 3 deadline—based on a minor project number error—undermines the CDM's credibility and transparency. They highlight that the project is high-risk, seeking over 12 million CERs while generating 215 million tons of CO2 emissions, and call for clarified guidelines on stakeholder engagement and the forwarding of public concerns.

The memorandum, submitted by a coalition of NGOs and civil society groups, asserts that the WTO's internal processes are weighted against developing countries, leading to rules that harm the environment and vulnerable populations. It identifies systemic failures including the misuse of the consensus system, the exclusionary 'Green Room' process, and the lack of neutrality in the WTO Secretariat. The authors propose a shift toward a more inclusive system featuring a regular General Assembly during Ministerial Conferences, transparent drafting of texts that reflect diverse views, and the cessation of 'Mini-Ministerials' and exclusive meetings.