CDM Executive Board Gears Up To Implement The Glasgow Mandates

Bonn, 2 June 2022. The Executive Board of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) concluded its 114^th meeting, which took place in Bonn, Germany, from 30 May to 2 June. The meeting focused on planning work for the remainder of the biennium including the implementation of the outcomes of the UN Climate Change Conference held in Glasgow, UK, last November.

The meeting opened with the Board paying tribute in deep sorrow to their colleague Dr. Hugh Sealy, who served on the Board from 2008 to 2011 and from 2012 to 2015. During his tenure, Mr. Sealy made many lasting contributions to the CDM. He also notably played a pivotal role in the Climate Change negotiations, where he facilitated negotiations on the Article 6 of the Paris Agreement to a successful conclusion in at COP26, held last year in Glasgow, UK.

The Board took steps to support the work of the Article 6.4 Supervisory Body in the expedited implementation of the Article 6.4 mechanism by offering the potential use of the CDM infrastructure and cooperation and interaction channels between the two bodies. The Board also requested a high-level overview of CDM methodologies to be made available. The overview shall cover certified emission reduction (CER) issuance, number of activities registered and geographic distribution, as well as contain information on the number of requests and other submissions with a provisional status.

The Board considered matters related to the communications portal for project participants and focal points and advised on next steps, while noting that any further work shall enhance the CDM website ability to communicate information relevant to the CDM transition to the Article 6.4 mechanism.

The Board reviewed the alternative means to mandatory on-site inspections by designated operational entities (DOEs) for validation or verification, that it previously allowed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was decided to discontinue the current practice as of 30 June 2022 and to consider requests for exemptions on a case-specific basis.

Looking ahead, the Board started working on its annual report to the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol at its seventeenth session (CMP 17) and agreed to consider a draft at its 115th meeting. This meeting will be held in Jamaica from 5 to 8 September 2022, upon invitation of Mr. Omar Alcock, Chair of the CDM Executive Board, on behalf of the Government of Jamaica.

In addition, the Board approved the extension of the term of service of the current members of the CDM Accreditation Panel, the Methodologies Panel and the CDM Registration and Issuance Team until 30 June 2023 and agreed to launch a call later this year. The term of service of the current members of the Afforestation and Reforestation Working Group and the Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage Working Group were extended until 30 June 2024.

The Board interacted with the Chair of the DOE Forum and the Co-Chair of the DNA Forum, as part of the regular work of the Board.

Finally, the Board noted that, as at 2 June 2022, a total of:

• 7,845 CDM project activities and 361 programmes of activities (PoAs) had been registered;
• 2,199,513,415 CERs for CDM project activities and 55,857,667 CERs for PoAs had been issued;
• 126,794,336 CERs (CERs/temporary CERs/long-term CERs) had been voluntarily cancelled, of which, 5,485,138 CERs had been voluntarily cancelled using the online platform for voluntary cancellation.

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