Credit to: GUARDIAN UK
© Guardian UK: The climate change talks are taking place in Doha, Qatar. Photograph: Osama Faisal/AP
Head of Brazilian delegation says countries should not be allowed to carry over credits into second round of Kyoto protocol.
Credit to: Reuters.com
The U.N.'s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
By Nina Chestney
(Reuters) – A United Nations panel will discuss this week ways to give poor countries better access to clean energy projects and clear a backlog of applications for carbon offsets, members said in a webcast on Monday.
The 10-member executive board oversees the U.N.’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and is holding its 59th meeting this week in Bonn, Germany.
Martin Hession, head of global carbon markets at the UK’s department of energy and climate change, was appointed the board’s new chair on Monday.
The CDM is part of the Kyoto Protocol, whose first phase ends in 2012. It allows rich countries to meet caps on carbon emissions by paying for carbon cuts in the developing world.
Rich countries buy carbon offsets, called carbon emissions reductions (CERs), which are each equivalent to 1 tonne of cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.
The board has set a two-year business plan to improve the CDM through greater efficiency, integrity, transparency and geographic expansion and by opening it up to investors.
FOCUS
Several board members said a high priority was to expand the involvement in the CDM of small countries and islands, which currently have a low emissions output.
“The issue is (getting) bodies on the ground who know about the CDM. At the end of the day, it is (about) accessing the resources and benefits of the CDM,” said panel member Asterio Takesy. (more…)
