Katy Yan's blog

The most comprehensive guidelines for large dams that protect the rights of river-dependent communities were outlined by the World Commission on Dams (WCD) report in 2000. When it was published, dam-affected communities and their allies worldwide celebrated its recommendations, which charted a better way forward for dam-building and community-centered development. 

Update:

• The number of projects that entered the CDM pipeline increased in the first two quarters of 2010 (See Fig. 1).
• The percent of registered projects that were involved in the review process (which includes projects that require corrections) has been growing over the years (see Fig. 4): 9.5% in 2005, 9.1% in 2006, 19.3% in 2007, 56.9% in 2008, 70.4% in 2009, 53.7% in 2010 (as of July 1, 2010).
  
• 50% of all hydro projects in the CDM pipeline have requested registration since 2004, while 44% of all hydro projects have actually been registered. Figs. 3 and 4 show the fate of projects requesting registration and being registered by year.
• Hydro projects continue to be the most prevalent type of project in the CDM pipeline (28% of all projects). 63% of credits expected from hydro projects come from China

Could a decrease in offsets mean an increase in energy efficiency? (www.gadgetking.com/trends/oligopoly+graph)

The latest Clean Development Mechanism Executive Board meeting ended right after a new World Bank report was published saying that investment in the CDM fell by 59% in 2009 (State and Trends of the Carbon Market).

The UNFCCC administers the CDM under the Kyoto Protocol. (UNFCCC)

Having helped local communities submit comments against large destructive dam projects applying for carbon credits through the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), I've gained a certain amount of insight into the CDM's official public participation process. The moral of that story is: official processes look all right on paper but in practice, they do a poor job of promoting transparency and public input.

As regional and national climate change bills continue to ebb and flow in the US, environmental groups have often found themselves split down the middle depending on how much they are willing to compromise with industry.

Update:

• The number of projects that entered the CDM pipeline stayed the same between the fourth quarter of 2009 and the first quarter or 2010 (See Fig. 1).
• The percent of hydropower projects entering the CDM pipeline relative to all CDM projects continues to be on a downward trend since 2007 (see Fig. 2).
• The percent of projects rejected out of the total number of projects requesting registration was 7.4% in 2007, 3.8% in 2008, and 2.0% in 2009 (this does not include withdrawn projects). 2009 saw an increase in rejections due to heightened scrutiny by the CDM Executive Board.
• The percent of registered projects that were involved in the review process (which includes projects that require corrections) has been growing over the years (see Fig. 4): 9.5% in 2005, 9.1% in 2006, 19.3% in 2007, 56.9% in 2008, 70.4% in 2009, 56.3% in 2010 (as of April). This is also likely the result of pressure by stakeholders for the CDM to review projects with questionable additionality and sustainability claims, and the CDM Executive Board's response.
• 46.6% of all hydro projects in the CDM pipeline have requested registration since 2004, while 41.5% of all hydro projects have actually been registered. Figs. 3 and 4 show the fate of projects requesting registration and being registered by year.
• Hydro projects continue to be the most prevalent type of project in the CDM pipeline (28% of all projects). 71% of hydro projects are located in China (the distribution among regions has been largely unchanged). 66% of all CERs issued come from China as well. Figs. 5 and 6 are based on the UNFCCC CDM pipeline database, last updated on March 1, 2010.

Mobilization for Climate Justice–West

On August 15th of 2009, our friends at Mobilization for Climate Justice–West held a successful rally, march, and non-violent demonstrationat the Richmond Chevron refinery to call for a strong, binding and justagreement at the Copenhagen climate talks in December. Over 300 peopleshowed up to create "street heat" for climate justice. You can check out their photos here.

Downtown Tokyo at night. Tokyo, unlike the rest of Japan, will not accept fake offsets. (Ian Muttoo)

According to Reuters, the Japanese government on Thursday announced that it has bought 95.8 of the 100 million tonnes of carbon offsets it plans to use during the 2008-2012 period to help the country meet its binding reduction target under the Kyoto Protocol. Japan's government and companies are the biggest buyers, outside of Europe, of Kyoto offsets (which include CERs from the controversial Clean Development Mechanism or the CDM, and AAUs from industrialized countries with excess emissions credits).

How about Earth Day everyday? (http://www.earthday.ca/pub/merchandise/calendar/index.html)

Normally, my experience with the hoopla surrounding national and international days of commemoration–Black History Month (US), World AIDS Day, International Women's Day, etc.–is tempered by a good dose of caution (except for our own International Day of Action for Rivers of course).

The earth is unhappy, but it's humans, not the sun, that's making it too hot to live on.

Back in college, a group of us worked with local high school students to see what methods were most effective in encouraging behavior change and climate change comprehension. One of the exercises we did early on was to dispel any climate myths through a mental model exercise.

"Draw a picture of what you think causes climate change," we'd asked.