Press Highlights -- 82nd meeting of the CDM Executive Board

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Aviation emissions projects soon clear for take-off under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism 

Geneva, Switzerland, 20 February 2015 – The aviation sector will soon have a new way to measure, account for and reward reductions in the gases that contribute to climate change thanks to work agreed to this week by the Board that runs the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

Aviation accounts for about 2% of total global CO2 emissions and about 12% of the CO2 emissions from all transportation sources.

Once developed, the new emissions baseline and monitoring methodology could be used by projects in the sector to quantify their emission reductions and earn saleable credits for those reductions.

“This methodology will add an important tool to the aviation industry’s environmental toolbox,” said CDM Executive Board Chair Lambert Schneider. “We think it’s important to support the sector’s efforts to reduce emissions, and at the same time expand the usefulness of the CDM to address emissions from transport.”

The CDM rewards with saleable credits – certified emission reductions (CERs) – projects that reduce or avoid greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to sustainable development. The incentive has led to registration of 7,870 projects and programmes in 107 developing countries, hundreds of billions of dollars in investment, and 1.5 billion fewer tonnes of gas entering the atmosphere.

In the same work plan agreed at its 82nd meeting, the CDM Board also launched work on new methodologies for projects in renewable energy, electrification and household energy supply.

“The CDM is a brilliant tool for driving clean investment by rewarding projects that reduce emissions,” said CDM Board Vice-Chair Eduardo Calvo. “The CDM has provided the incentive to launch thousands of projects, everything from wind power projects, to clean cookstoves, to big industrial projects, and perhaps soon aviation projects.”

The Board has urged countries to renew their commitment to the CDM and use it to encourage emission reductions and drive climate finance, technology transfer, capacity-building, sustainable development and adaptation – everything that countries are working towards in a new climate change agreement expected in Paris, France, later this year.

Another important agreement at this weeks’ meeting will see the further simplification of the CDM while maintaining environmental integrity.

“This is an important work programme to further reduce transaction costs for emission reduction projects,” said Mr. Schneider.

Also at its meeting, the Board adopted a standardized baseline for methane emissions from rice cultivation in the Philippines, opening the possibility for projects in the agricultural sector, which is to date under-represented under the CDM.

Prices paid for CERs have plunged as their principal buyers, countries with an emission reduction obligation under the Kyoto Protocol, are busy negotiating a more ambitious agreement and an economic slowdown has reduced demand for CERs to meet obligations passed on to companies. Thus, the incentive to create new projects, and even continue existing projects, has almost disappeared. The Board’s approach is to continue improving the CDM and expanding its usefulness in anticipation of increased climate change effort pledged by countries in international negotiations.

Mr. Schneider of Germany and Mr. Calvo of Peru will serve as Chair and Vice-Chair of the CDM Executive Board, respectively, until the first meeting of the Board in 2016. Mr. Schneider, who joined the Board in 2013, is engaged in research and consultancy on carbon markets, climate policy and energy policy. Mr. Calvo, who joined the Board in 2012, is an Associate Professor at San Marcos University in Lima, Peru, and an advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Peru.

 The new Chair takes over from Hugh Sealy of Barbados. The new Vice-Chair takes over from Mr. Schneider.

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For a full report of the meeting see http://cdm.unfccc.int/EB/index.html.

For more information please visit http://cdm.unfccc.int/

For further information please contact David Abbass <dabbass(at)unfccc.int>, Public Information Officer, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change secretariat, Bonn, Germany.

 About the Kyoto Protocol’s clean development mechanism

The CDM allows emission-reduction projects in developing countries to earn certified emission reduction (CER) credits, each equivalent to one tonne of CO2. CERs can be traded and sold, and used by industrialized countries to meet a part of their targets under the Protocol. The CDM assists countries in achieving sustainable development and emission reductions, while giving industrialized countries some flexibility in how they meet their emission targets.