July - December 2012

New publication in the journal Global Environmental Politics 12(4): The Global Political Ecology of the Clean Development Mechanism, drawing on Peter Newell's GCD research in Argentina and co-author Adam Bumpus's research in Honduras.

Peter Newell presented at the Low Carbon Energy for Development Network workshop hosted at the University of Sussex on the topic of 'The Political Economy of Energy Access in a Carbon Constrained World', drawing on insights from GCD project research.

The latest addition to the Working Paper Series assesses the record of sustainable development under Gold Standard CDM projects and non-labelled projects: Exploring the Measurement of Sustainable Development in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) by Rachel Killick

Lucy Baker presented on: “Determining South Africa’s electricity mix: Socio-technical transitions and the politics behind the planning” (paper available here) at Political Economy and the Outlook for Capitalism, a joint conference of the Association of Heterodox Economists, the International Initiative for Promoting Political Economy and the Association Française d'Économie Politique at the Sorbonne, Paris.

Peter Newell gave a key note address at a conference on ‘Environmental Conflicts and Justice’ in Barcelona organised by Prof. Joan Martinez-Alier. The talk was on ‘The Global Political Economy of Energy (In)Justice’ and drew on work from the GCD project as well as the background paper the team produced for the UNDP Human Development Report.
 

April - June 2012

Peter Newell presented some of the findings of the GCD project at the ISA-BISA conference in Edinburgh in July under the title ‘The International Political Economy of Governing Carbon’ as part of a wider book project on the ‘International Political Economy of Governance’.

The GCD team participated in CDM Policy Dialogue consultations with the business community in London and with civil society in Bonn. Peter Newell's presentation at a CDM Watch side event at the Bonn climate negotiations is available here: The CDM and sustainable development: What do we know? What do we not know?

Peter Newell contributes a book review of Bond, Dada & Erion (eds.) Climate Change Carbon Trading and Civil Society: Negative Returns on South African Investments (2009; University of Kwazulu-Natal Press) to the latest issue of Ephemera.

Lucy Baker presents a paper at the Royal Geographical Society New Energy Security Challenges workshop in London: Governing Power in South Africa: the Political Economy of Socio-technical Transitions.

Lucy Baker presented at the recent Tyndall Centre PhD Conference: From Coal Crunch to Wind Rush? Governing Power in South Africa. An audio recording and presentation slides are available on the Tyndall Centre website.

January-March 2012

Stephan Hoch has made the lastest contribution to the working paper series: Governing Clean Development in LDCs: do CDM rules promote renewable energy in Ethiopia? 

Peter Newell participates in an ESRC event at the Royal Society in London, Moving to a Low Carbon Economy, where he presented GCD research findings and their implications for UK government action and international transitions to low carbon economies. The event was chaired by the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Department for Communities and Local Government and attended by representatives of several government departments, business organisations, NGOs and academics.

Peter Newell organises and speaks at a public debate at the University of Sussex: What Future for Global Climate Politics? Read a summary of discussion at the event.

GCD research is cited in a Policy Forum article in Science (335: 1306-07, 16 March), Navigating the Anthropocene: Improving Earth System Governance, co-authored by Peter Newell.

ICIS Heron reports on GCD findings: UK Study slams the use of the carbon clean development mechanism by fossil fuel companies, based on an ESRC press release, UN emission market needs urgent reform.

Peter Newell writes an invited editorial for an anniversary edition of the Journal of Environment & Development (March 2012): Of Markets and Madness: Whose clean development will prevail at Rio+20?

Peter Newell has co-editted a new book, The New Carbon Economy: Constitution, Governance and Contestation (Wiley-Blackwell). The volume is based on a special issue of Antipode 43(3).  

The GCD team submit recommendations for the scope and focus of the CDM Policy Dialogue panel.

October - December 2011

Lucy Baker's article, Fits and Starts: Renewable Energy Policy in South Africa, is available to view as part of free online preview of the Africa Energy Yearbook 2011. The article provides an update (June 2011) on the governance of renewable energy initiaitves in South Africa.

Peter Newell appears in a recent independent film on carbon trading and offsetting: Carbon Markets: Trading with our Future. 

Peter Newell has commented in a Reuters article on the use of CDM credits for the development of cleaner transport systems in Mexico: New Mexico City buses cut pollution, generate cash.

Peter Newell writes an article in Climate Policy: The political economy of carbon markets: The CDM and other stories. The article provides a response to a previous exchange between authors addressing the potential and limitations of carbon markets and their alternatives.

Peter Newell and Jon Phillips disseminate GCD research findings at the COP17 climate change negotiations in Durban, South Africa. They met with delegates, researchers and advocacy groups and attended negotiations and side events on CDM reform and broader climate financing for clean energy and technology.

Implications of the third GCD Briefing for new technology mechanisms were presented at an official COP17 side event: Innovation and technology transfer for sustainable energy systems in developing countries. See Peter’s presentation, Governing Technology for Clean Development.

Peter Newell discussed CDM funding for ‘clean coal’ plants in India at a CDM Watch side event at COP17 associated with the release of a short film The Carbon Con: Investigating the True Cost of Offsetting. The GCD team provided background information to the producers of the film, The Ecologist Film Unit, which is accompanied by an online article: UN-backed Coal Power Station Linked to Deforestation and Land Grabbing.  

As the climate summit kicks off in Durban, Peter Newell and Jon Phillips have written a brief history of climate change negotiations and the institutions that govern aspects of climate change, from the UNFCCC to the World Trade Organization. The interactive guide appears as part of the Financial Times Special Report: Climate Change Insight, 25 Nov. Registration to view Financial Times articles is free.

The GCD project will be taking part in a side event at the Durban climate negotiations alongside the Sussex Energy Group and Energy Resources Centre Netherlands, 7th December, 16:45-18:15.

Peter Newell writes Guest Commentaries for CDM & JI Monitor (More Politics Needed in the CDM, not Less,16 November, subscription only) and IPS News Agency (The Future of Carbon Markets: Taking Politics Seriously; also available in Spanish).

GCD research has received press coverage from Reuters news agency (Bribery, collusion hinder UN carbon scheme; in The Guardian, UK, The Times, South Africa and others), Bloomberg ('Rich Man' Greenhouse Market Needs Better Governance, UEA Says); BBC Mundo (Los mercados de carbono están en crisis; Carbon Markets are in Crisis).

The GCD project hosted it main dissemination event at UEA London, titled Carbon Markets for the Poor: A Contradiction in Terms? A Panel of experts and an audience of around 70 debated the role of the CDM in climate policy and the prospects for improving the environmental and outcomes for poor people. View Peter Newell's presentation and a summary report of discussion at the event

Key Conclusions of the GCD research project are outlined in the latest policy brief: Governing Clean Development: What Have we Learnt? The briefing outlines key gaps and weaknesses in the governance of clean development and suggests fundamental reform of the Clean Development Mechanism.

Peter Newell gives a presentation at the UK's Department for International Development. He shared project findings during a roundtable discussion on the political economy of climate change finance. The event was attended by over 50 DFID advisers who were joined by DFID offices worldwide via teleconference.

Peter Newell and Jon Phillips, with co-author Dustin Mulvaney, have contributed a Research Paper for the UNDP Human Development Report 2011: Sustainability and Equity: A Better Future for All. Click to download the paper, Pursuing Clean Energy Equitably. 

The latest addition to GCD Working Paper Series is published: Governing Clean Energy in India gives a broad picture of GCD research findings in India.

Peter Newell gave an invited lecture on ‘The Politics and Governance of Clean Development: CDM and Beyond’ at Wageningen University in the Netherlands as part of a seminar series on environmental governance. The lecture and discussion was attended by around 80 staff and students of the University. The seminar abstract is available here.

 

July - September 2011

Peter Newell presented some of the project findings at a seminar and panel discussion at the University of Oxford for the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP). The event was attended by a mix of over 30 climate policy practitioners and academics.

The GCD project UK dissemination event will take place at UEA London on 15th November. Carbon Markets for the Poor: A Contradiction in Terms? is a panel discussion and public debate about the role of the CDM in climate change mitigation and poverty alleviation. To register to attend, contact Peter Quinn at p.quinn@uea.ac.uk.

Peter Newell spoke on a panel at Chatham House in London on his paper for the recent Transparency International 2011 Global Corruption Report on Climate Change. Professor Newell's opening contribution to the Report outlines the challenges of responsible collective governance of the climate.

Peter Newell's contribution to a special issue of Global Policy on Global Energy Governance is now available: The Governance of Energy Finance: The Public, the Private and the Hybrid. 

Peter Newell ran a training session on the CDM with participants on the UEA Professional training short course ‘Climate Change and Development'. Participants came from the UNDP, UNEP, JICA, DfID Tanzania, the Kenyan Ministry of Planning and the German Ministry BMZ.

Two new working papers outline PhD work in progress from GCD doctoral student Lucy Baker and GCD Associate Fellow Wei Shen. Lucy's GCD research looks at emerging power struggles in the governance of South African electricity, while Wei assesses the political economy of China's unilateral CDM projects.  

Stephan Hoch, PhD student at the University of Freiburg, visited the GCD team in Norwich to discuss his recent research on the emerging CDM governance landscape in Ethiopia and Kenya.

GCD Visiting Fellow Kasturi Das has contributed the latest addition to the Working Paper Series. Kasturi's paper analyses 1000 CDM projects to assess claims that the CDM has contributed to the transfer of technology to developing countries.

April - June 2011

Lucy Baker presents a paper at the Nordic Environmental Social Science Conference in Stockholm as part of the panel on The Power of Power. The paper has been adapted and updated and now appears as part of the GCD Working Paper Series: Governing Electricity in South Africa: Wind, Coal and Power Struggles 
 
Kasturi Das joined the GCD team in Norwich for three weeks under the second project Visiting Fellowship. During the fellowship Kasturi developed collaborative work with the GCD team on technology transfer and CDM governance. Dr Das also visited academics at the University of Oxford and Cambridge to discuss mutual research interests and met with several UEA staff working on climate change governance and trade.   

Peter Newell ran an executive training session for the ‘Climate Governance’ programme organised by the European University Institute in Florence, drawing on GCD research. Participants included representatives from different governments, the European Parliament as well as from international organisations such as UNEP and the World Trade Institute.

Peter Newell organises a project dissemination event at FLACSO Argentina in Buenos Aires to feed back findings from GCD research. Titled 'Climate change and carbon markets: Challenges and Opportunities for Argentina', the workshop was attended by over 30 participants from government, business, civil society and academia, and prompted a lively discussion and positive feedback on the project

Peter Newell has co-edited the new issue of Antipode on 'The "New" Carbon Economy'. The special issue includes revised versions of GCD working papers by Peter Newell (with Ian Bailey and Andy Gouldson) and GCD Associate Fellow Adam Bumpus, and an introduction to the issue, ‘The “New” Carbon Economy: What’s New?’

The GCD team are in South Africa during May conducting a series of interviews with government, private sector actors, and a range of consultancies, civil society representatives and NGOs, exploring governance issues that affect the uptake of renewable energy through the Clean Development Mechanism and a range of domestic drivers of clean energy. 

Initial findings from GCD research in India have been published in a new IDS Bulletin issue (volume 42, number 3) on The New Political Economy of Climate Change and Development: The Political Economy of Clean Development in India: CDM and Beyond.

Peter Newell gave a key note lecture at the inauguration of the International Project Office of the Earth Systems Governance Project at Lund University in Sweden. His address, building on the work of the GCD project, was on ‘Transitioning to a low carbon economy: What role for global environmental governance?’ 

 

January - March 2011

Jon Phillips attended an event on the national delivery of climate finance at the Overseas Development Institute in London. Discussions around the political economy of climate finance in developing countries and the role of national institutions in governing climate finance programmes drew parallels with GCD project research.

Peter Newell was interviewed as an expert informant for an EU Commission study on the reform of the CDM. He was asked for reflections and recommendations on necessary governance reforms in the CDM based on the work of the GCD project.

Peter Newell ran a series of sessions for students of the MBA in Straegic Carbon Management at UEA London, including workshops on corporate social responsibility and carbon markets for development.

Babette Never contributes the first working paper to address clean development in South Africa: Integrating energy and climate governance in South Africa: drivers, barriers and the shadow of hierarchy.

In his capacity as a councillor for the World Future Council, GCD Associate Fellow Tony Colman highlights the launch of an updated website for The African Renewable Energy Alliance (AREA), www.area-net.org. Since its launch in 2009, the Alliance has expanded quickly to 262 members of governments, the private sector and civil society acting to scale up renewable energy in Africa.

Inayat Jan's paper What makes people adopt improved cookstoves? Evidence from rural northwest Pakistan is the latest addition to the Working Paper Series

October - December 2010

Peter Newell's article The Politics of Change: Tackling Poverty in a Carbon-Constrained World [PDF 119 KB] appears in the Annual magazine of the the Economic and Social Research Council, Britain in 2011

Applications are now being welcomed for the second project cycle of the GCD Visiting Fellowship programme. For more information, see Working with Us

Jolene Li of the University of Hong Kong contributes the latest paper to the Working Paper Series. Jolene's critical assessement of the EU's use of 'Meta-Standards' in biofuel governance draws parallels with the regulations and governance of the Clean Development Mechanism to argue for strong regulation as a basis for attaining sustainable development goals. Jolene also joins the network of GCD Associate Fellows.

Lucy Baker attends the South African government’s public hearings on the National Integrated Resource Plan for electricity, a key policy process in Lucy’s PhD research

Lucy Baker attends two important Eskom public events in Johannesburg: the Rural Electrification Seminar and the presentation of the Study of the Capacity Credit of Wind Energy in South Africa, by Eskom, the Department of Energy and GTZ.

Peter Newell was interviewed live on BBC TV news 24 about the outcomes of the Cancún climate summit and what it means for developing countries. Extracts from the interview were also used on BBC Radio 2 and on local radio stations including BBC radio Leicester and Gloucestershire. Peter Newell appears on BBC News 24 to discuss the outcomes of UNFCCC climate negotiations in Cancún, Mexico (11th December, 10pm bulletin)

A new Opinion Piece outlines the views of a CDM project financier on additionality rulings by the UNFCCC: Executive Board missing a trick to kick-start technology transfer 

Jon Phillips attended the book launch of Climate Change and Trade: Challenges for Southern Africa (Fanele) at Chatham House, London and discussed the implications for South Africa and the region with co-authors Peter Draper and Ivan Mbirmi.

Lucy Baker attends conferences in South Africa including Powering Africa: the Financial Options, and also participates in the South African Civil Society Energy Caucus in Cape Town. 

Peter Newell gave a lecture and commented on the projects of over 30 PhD students working on different dimensions of carbon markets who attended a three day workshop organised by the Climate Campus at the University of Hamburg

GCD Associate Fellow Adam Bumpus co-publishes an analysis of the use of carbon finance in clean energy programs: Win-win scenarios at the climate-development interface: challenges and opportunities for cookstove replacement programs through carbon finance

Peter Newell is asked by Christian Aid to advise their strategic thinking on future climate finance and carbon market campaigns, based on the work of the GCD project on both the governance of energy finance and the clean development mechanism.