Highlights -- 79th meeting of the CDM Executive Board

CDM Board streamlines project approval process For a full report of the meeting see <http://cdm.unfccc.int/EB/index.html> Bonn, 1 June 2014 – The Executive Board of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) has made a change to its project vetting process that should cut the time to registration and reduce the need for changes to project design documents. For a CDM project to earn certified emissions reductions (CERs) it must first be validated, which until today has included vetting of the plans for how emission reductions will be monitored. The Board, at its 79th meeting, agreed that vetting of monitoring plans can now take place during or after validation and anytime up to the project’s first request for CER issuance. “This change smoothes the way to project registration, but retains the same level of stringency ensuring each tonne of emission reduction represents a true reduction,” said CDM Executive Board Chair Hugh Sealy. “This is an elegant but significant improvement that adds to the long list of enhancements we’ve made to the mechanism in the past number of years.” Aside from streamlining the validation and registration process, shifting the vetting of monitoring plans will give project participants some practical experience with their projects before they have to submit a detailed monitoring plan, experience they can use to create more accurate, workable plans. This is expected to reduce the number of requests for issuance that the Board has to review because a monitoring system deviates from an approved monitoring plan. Also at its 79th meeting, the Board simplified the procedures for how Programmes of Activities (PoAs) request issuance of CERs. Now PoA participants can request issuance in batches, bundling reductions made at several project sites, so-called component project activities. Under a PoA, an unlimited number of project activities over a wide area, even across national boundaries, can be placed under the same administrative umbrella, thus increasing efficiency and allowing even very small-scale activities to be practical under the CDM. At the meeting, the Board approved the first CDM methodology for the dairy sector. By supplementing the feed of their dairy cows or buffalo, smallholder producers can benefit from increased productivity, and reduce methane emissions per unit of milk produced. The Board also broadened and further simplified its methodology for rural electrification using renewable energy. The methodology can now be used for projects that rehabilitate non-functional systems. The Board also decided to extend by six months, to 1 January 2015, the date by which designated operational entities must comply with the Board’s revised accreditation standard, adopted in 2013. This should help the companies that validate projects and verify emission reductions, especially the smaller companies, make a smoother transition to the revised standard. ----- For more information please visit <http://cdm.unfccc.int>.