COP 24 Media Advisory: Environmental and Corporate Groups to Urge Countries to Adopt Rules on Sound Carbon Accounting Under Paris Agreement

Read the Katowice Declaration on Sound Carbon Accounting

What: Environmental Defense Fund and International Emissions Trading Association will unveil a declaration from prominent environmental and corporate groups promoting sound carbon accounting, and urging countries to adopt robust rules to avoid double counting of emissions reductions under the Paris Agreement.

This event, taking place at the UK Pavilion at COP 24 in Katowice, is open to media with COP access and will feature a discussion on: the importance of avoiding double counting from an environmental and corporate perspective; the solutions for doing so; and the wider requirements for environmental integrity under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. There will be a 20-minute Q&A session at the end of the program and interviews with the speakers may be arranged.

Who:

• Dirk Forrister, International Emissions Trading Association
• Alex Hanafi, Environmental Defense Fund
• Hugh Salway, UK Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy
• Key market stakeholders

When: Wed. 5 Dec. 2018, 13:30 – 15:00 CET

Where: UK Pavilion (Stand NR12, Pavilion E, Ground Floor of the International Congress Center)

Why: The Paris Agreement is clear that double counting must be avoided to ensure that emission reductions are only counted once towards the achievement of its long-term temperature goal. Double counting would present a risk to the integrity of the Paris Agreement, including cooperative approaches under Article 6, and could undermine real-world activity to deliver its goals.

It is vital that countries deliver clear accounting guidance in Katowice, and that the Paris Agreement’s rulebook contains sufficient safeguards to prevent double counting within Parties’ NDCs, between Parties’ NDCs, and between the Paris Agreement and other activities that contribute to its goals, such as the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA). The International Air Transport Association (IATA) issued a position 27 Nov. calling for the COP to deliver “robust rules on double-counting.”

RSVP: To RSVP and to receive an embargoed copy of the declaration that will be unveiled Wednesday, please contact Raul Arce-Contreras at rcontreras@edf.org.For more on the need to avoid double counting, including reports and analysis, please visit edf.org/cop24 and www.ieta.org/cop24.