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The We Mean Business Coalition urges governments at COP24 to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy by setting bold targets and clear timelines. The coalition emphasizes the need for a just transition involving tripartite social dialogue and investment in worker retraining. Specifically, it calls for full government participation in the Talanoa Dialogue to update nationally determined contribution (NDC) targets and the creation of a strong Paris rulebook featuring a global stocktake, common NDC implementation periods, an enhanced transparency framework, and guidelines to protect carbon market integrity.

Carbon Market Watch argues that Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement must be designed as a set of mandatory rules for all credit transfers to avoid undermining climate ambition. The brief recommends that Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs) be limited to project-based emission reductions, excluding sector-based approaches and Emissions Trading System (ETS) allowances. To prevent double counting, the author advocates for corresponding adjustments at the first point of transfer and the creation of a publicly accessible international transaction log covering both UNFCCC and non-UNFCCC mechanisms.

The document examines the environmental integrity risks—specifically baseline determination, additionality, permanence, and leakage—and social safeguards associated with using forest-related mitigation credits in international carbon markets like Article 6 and CORSIA. It notes that while transfer-based finance could increase funding for forest protection, it introduces risks such as credit oversupply and volatility in market prices.

Carbon Market Watch calls for the operationalization of rules for Article 6 that prioritize the avoidance of double counting, a clear end date for the transition from Kyoto Protocol mechanisms, and the implementation of robust human rights and social safeguards to prevent the adverse impacts seen under the Clean Development Mechanism.

The report explores how jurisdictions can cooperate through 'carbon pricing clubs' to link carbon pricing instruments (CPIs) and reduce emissions cost-effectively. By analyzing non-climate institutions—specifically APEC, MTCR, OECD, and IFTA—the authors identify key governance dimensions: membership rules, decision-making processes, and compliance mechanisms. The report argues that 'hard coordination' and exclusive membership are essential for maintaining environmental integrity, while centralized secretariats can reduce administrative burdens and facilitate technical alignment. It concludes that a combination of strict accession criteria, peer-review processes, and flexible decision-making (such as majority voting) can help clubs adapt to changing political and economic circumstances while safeguarding their environmental goals.

The statement by EESI Board Chair Jared Blum asserts that Senator John McCain's early efforts to sponsor bipartisan legislation and lead Senate hearings on global warming created a benchmark for prescience and gave credibility to the business case for renewable energy and energy efficiency. This leadership influenced petroleum-based industries, energy efficiency sectors, and Republican-led states to consider CO2 reduction. The document further links McCain's concerns to the current recognition of climate change as a direct threat to U.S. national security, as codified in the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act.

The Union of Concerned Scientists proposes a transportation-based cap-and-invest program for New York State, citing the success of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) in the power sector. The document highlights that transportation is the largest source of emissions in New York and a major cause of health issues in New York City. It suggests that such a program could raise over $1.2 billion annually to fund electric vehicle infrastructure, public transit, and climate resilience.

Carbon Market Watch outlines critical issues facing the development of the Paris Agreement rulebook, specifically regarding carbon markets. The author emphasizes the need to prevent double counting between the UNFCCC and CORSIA, ensure additionality by requiring reductions to exceed national pledges, and protect indigenous rights through mandatory consultations. Furthermore, it warns against the trading of 'hot air' under cooperative approaches and advocates for the Sustainable Development Mechanism to function as a results-based finance scheme rather than an offsetting tool.

The document argues that Article 6 of the Paris Agreement can raise ambition if it focuses on inaccessible abatement options and includes time-limited support. It identifies three primary opportunities for ambition raising—global mitigation benefits via Article 6.4, non-market cooperation, and targeting inaccessible abatement—but warns that these depend on four broad safeguards to prevent ambition disincentives.

The document argues for the phase-out of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in favor of a results-based Sustainable Development Mechanism (SDM) that prioritizes climate finance over offsetting. It emphasizes the need for mandatory local stakeholder consultations and recourse mechanisms to prevent human rights violations. Additionally, it warns that the ICAO's CORSIA scheme for aviation emissions risks undermining the Paris Agreement if double-counting of emission reductions occurs.

The Uganda Green Economy Barometer 2018 argues that while Uganda has a conducive policy environment and significant natural capital, the transition to a green economy is hindered by poor policy implementation, high initial costs, and a financing gap. It highlights the potential for green growth to create 4 million jobs and boost GDP by 10%, provided there is political commitment, economic reform, and increased private sector investment in sectors like agriculture, renewable energy, and sustainable transport.

The document advocates for Community Forest Management (CFM) as a holistic approach to territorial governance that prioritizes the 'Good Living' of indigenous and peasant communities over capitalist development. It asserts that CFM is more effective at reducing deforestation than absolute protection regimes and is essential for maintaining biodiversity and climate stability. The report warns against 'commercial logging' disguised as sustainable management and rejects REDD+ and carbon markets, arguing they centralize power and commodify nature. It recommends strengthening community land tenure, investing in local capacity building, and shifting international finance away from fossil fuels toward community-led conservation.

The report advocates for Community Forest Management (MCB) as a sustainable alternative to industrial logging and top-down conservation. It links MCB to the 'Buen Vivir' philosophy, emphasizing the need for secure land tenure, social capital, and gender equity. The text critiques market-based mechanisms like REDD+ and the Payment for Environmental Services (PSA) for promoting privatization and centralizing control. It concludes with recommendations to shift funding from fossil fuel subsidies toward community-led conservation and the restoration of ancestral rights.

The report promotes community forest management (GCF) as a holistic approach to forest conservation and social justice, contrasting it with destructive industrial logging and the REDD+ mechanism. It argues that GCF, rooted in the 'bien-vivre' paradigm, effectively reduces deforestation and protects biodiversity by empowering indigenous and local communities with secure land tenure and ancestral knowledge. The document highlights the failures of carbon markets and 'sustainable forest management' labels used by corporations to mask extraction. It recommends strengthening community land rights, eliminating fossil fuel subsidies to fund adaptation, and reducing international trade in tropical hardwoods.

The report highlights a critical lack of aggregate global data to measure progress in reducing deforestation caused by basic needs. It uses the distribution of clean cookstoves and related funding as proxy indicators, noting that while annual distributions reached approximately 20 million, the number of stoves meeting clean and efficient standards declined from nearly 15 million in 2014 to 13 million in 2015. Financial support also showed a downward trend between 2012 and 2015, with Official Development Assistance (ODA) for fuelwood dropping from USD 81 million to USD 3.2 million and carbon offset transactions falling from USD 65 million to USD 15 million.

Carbon Market Watch urges COP23 negotiators to phase out the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) to prevent the use of credits that lack environmental integrity and could increase overall emissions. The organization advocates for strong rules for Article 6 to ensure net mitigation and protect human rights, and calls for the integration of aviation and shipping sectors into the Paris Agreement's transparency and accounting frameworks to avoid double counting and emissions increases from schemes like CORSIA.

The study investigates how internationally transferred mitigation outcomes (ITMOs) could increase global GHG emissions if countries with Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) less stringent than business-as-usual (BAU) projections transfer 'hot air'. Through road-testing 17 countries, the authors evaluate relative and absolute limits on transfers, concluding that while absolute limits are simple, relative limits based on historical emissions (as proposed by Brazil) could more effectively prevent hot air transfers, though they may restrict developing countries with increasing emissions trends.

Carbon Market Watch advocates for an orderly phase-out of the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and suggests using a placeholder for market provisions in the Paris Agreement rulebook until robust rules are established to ensure emissions reductions are additional and do not undermine climate ambition.

The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) recommends that Manitoba's watershed-based policy framework—comprising the GROW program, water resource management, and the Conservation District Program—adopt a robust, evidence-based evaluation framework focused on cumulative impacts. Key recommendations include targeting ecological goods and services (EGS) to specific high-impact regions, ensuring a net gain in water retention to combat climate-induced floods and droughts, and strengthening the authority and resources of local watershed authorities. The briefing emphasizes the need for open data, the integration of Indigenous and local knowledge, and the use of offsets to maintain wetland protection and water quality, particularly in the Red River Basin and Lake Winnipeg.

The Union of Concerned Scientists proposes a regional emissions limit for the Northeast US transportation sector, modeled after the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) for electricity. The document highlights that transportation is the region's largest pollution source, contributing over 40% of global warming emissions and causing significant health costs. It recommends a cap-and-invest strategy to hold oil companies accountable and fund clean mobility solutions, including electric vehicles and expanded public transit.