Kyoto Protocol’s clean development mechanism registers 5000th project

Kyoto Protocol’s clean development mechanism registers 5000th project

(Bonn, 15 November 2012) – The Kyoto Protocol’s clean
development mechanism (CDM), the international market-based
tool that incentivizes greenhouse gas emission reduction
projects in developing countries, has registered its 5,000th
project. The Los Cocos Wind Farm Project, located in the
south-western province of Pedernales in the Dominican
Republic, expects to annually generate 74,200 MWh of
electricity and displace 54,183 tonnes of CO2 emissions from
electricity previously generated at fossil fuel fired power
plants.

“This is just the latest in a long line of impressive
achievements made by the CDM,” said UNFCCC Executive
Secretary Christiana Figueres. “In less than 10 years, the
CDM has attracted more than USD 215 billion in investment in
mitigation and has proven that carbon markets and market-
based mechanisms have the ability to bring in substantial
private sector support for mitigation and sustainable
development.”

There are registered CDM projects in 81 countries worldwide,
ranging from projects that reduce emissions by replacing
inefficient wood stoves, to solar power projects that
displace fossil fuels, to large industrial projects that
destroy extremely potent greenhouse gases (GHGs). In
September, the one billionth certified emission reduction
(CER) credit under the CDM was issued to a biomass plant in
India. The CDM is estimated to have provided between USD 9.5
and 13.5 billion dollars of direct benefit to developing
countries through the sale of CERs.

While prices for CERs have dropped over the past year,
Figueres points out that this is a matter of under-demand
and stresses the need for countries to increase their level
of ambition to reduce GHG emissions. “I say that the
problem is one of ‘under-demand’ and not ‘over-supply’
because even if every last unit available in markets today
were used or cancelled to meet mitigation targets, we would
still be far from reaching the Parties’ goal to limit global
warming to 2 degrees or better,” she said.

Projects registered under the CDM must produce real and
transparent reductions in greenhouse gas emissions while
contributing to sustainable development. Last December, when
they met at the UN Climate Change Conference in South
Africa, governments agreed a second commitment period for
the Kyoto Protocol and confirmed a continuing key role for
market-based approaches like the CDM. At the upcoming
conference in Qatar, parties are expected to define the
length of the second commitment period, either five or eight
years, to begin 1 January, 2013.

“The CDM has passed another important milestone, again
confirming the support the mechanism has gained in countries
around the world,” said Duan Maosheng, Chair of the CDM
Executive Board.

“What we need now from Kyoto Protocol countries when they
meet in Qatar later this month is their clear recognition of
how far the CDM has come in terms of quality assurance and
efficiency, and of the mechanism’s continuing role in the
international response to climate change.”

For more information on the Los Cocos Wind Farm Project, CDM
project 7093, visit:
https://cdm.unfccc.int/Projects/DB/RWTUV1346059974.32/view


For further information please contact:
David Abbass, Public Information Officer, UNFCCC at:
CDM-Press@unfccc.int, +49 (0) 228-815-1511



About the CDM
The clean development mechanism (CDM) allows emission-
reduction projects in developing countries to earn certified
emission reductions (CERs), each equivalent to one tonne of
CO2. CERs can be traded and sold, and used by industrialized
countries to meet a part of their emission reduction targets
under the Kyoto Protocol.

With 5,000 registered projects in 81 developing countries,
the CDM has proven to be a powerful mechanism to deliver
finance for emission-reduction projects and contribute to
sustainable development.


About the UNFCCC
With 195 Parties, the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC) has near universal membership and is
the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto
Protocol has been ratified by 193 of the UNFCCC Parties.
Under the Protocol, 37 States, consisting of highly
industrialized countries and countries undergoing the
process of transition to a market economy, have legally
binding emission limitation and reduction commitments. The
ultimate objective of both treaties is to stabilize
greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level
that will prevent dangerous human interference with the
climate system.

See also: cdm.unfccc.int
Twitter: @UN_ClimateTalks / @UN_CarbonMechs
Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres on Twitter:
@CFigueres
Facebook: facebook.com/UNclimatechange / UNcarbonmechs