Nairobi, 5 March 2010
- Five hundred were expected but more than
1,000 private and public sector participants
from Africa and elsewhere turned out for
the second Africa
Carbon Forum, all hoping to tap the potential
of greenhouse gas emission offset projects
on the continent.
Africa accounts for
just under two percent of the 2,060-plus
registered clean development mechanism (CDM)
projects in 63 countries worldwide. However,
the continent has seen a strong growth trend
in the past few years. There are now 122
CDM projects in Africa that are either registered
or in the pipeline for validation or registration.
This up from 116 in 2009, 75 in 2008 and
just 42 in 2007.
"The offset project
landscape is changing. Before when we talked
about Africa it was all about the need to
raise capacity and raise awareness about
the potential for offset projects in Africa.
Now we see a higher level of understanding,
we see real eagerness to get involved, and
plenty of business being conducted. It's
obvious the capacity-building is paying
off and the message is getting out,"
said John Kilani of the UNFCCC secretariat
on behalf of the five UN organizations and
two multilateral development banks that
make up the Nairobi Framework, an initiative
aimed at extending the benefits of the CDM,
especially in Africa.
Launched in November
2006 by then Secretary-General Kofi Annan,
the Nairobi Framework's partners now include
the United Nations Development Programme,
United Nations Environment Programme, the
World Bank, United Nations Institute for
Training and Research, United Nations Conference
on Trade and Development, the African Development
Bank and the UNFCCC secretariat.
"There is a growing
number of projects in Africa and a growing
number of countries hosting projects. What's
more, some project developers are even prepared
to pay a premium for offset credits originating
from Africa, no doubt because they are confident
in the long-term growth prospects for CDM
on the continent," said Mr. Kilani,
who is Director of the secretariat's Sustainable
Development Mechanisms programme.
Under the CDM, projects
that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and
contribute to sustainable development can
earn saleable certified emission reduction
(CER) credits. These CERs can be used for
compliance under the Kyoto Protocol.
"Africa Carbon
Forum 2010 has been a serious and businesslike
meeting of people with African emissions
reduction projects and people who want to
invest in them. Africa's slow start in the
CDM business seems now to have been more
about finding the right ways to structure
projects in the sectors that are Africa's
national specialities than about a fundamental
incompatibility," said Henry Derwent,
President and CEO of the International Emissions
Trading Association, the Nairobi Framework's
private sector partner in holding the three-day
Forum.
"Investors in compliance
and voluntary markets alike are seriously
interested in good quality African emissions
reduction projects, to balance their portfolios
and meet their climate change strategies.
Africa Carbon Forum has helped them and
project promoters alike," Mr. Derwent
said.
One of the new developments
under the CDM is the option to establish
so-called programmes of CDM activities,
which allows for many individual project
activities to be put together under a single
programme, to reduce transaction costs and
increase efficiency of implementation.
"Programmatic CDM
is clearly seen as a very attractive option
by African countries and several programmes
are under development in a handful of countries;
but, it is also clear from the discussions
that to make it a success there is a need
for targeted capacity-building, both for
DNAs and project developers," said
John Christensen from the United Nations
Environment Programme.
For two days prior to
the carbon forum, some 85 delegates representing
44 African countries met in Nairobi to share
their experiences and ideas on how to increase
CDM projects on the continent. These CDM
Designated National Authorities (DNAs) are
responsible for, among other things, laying
the policy groundwork for CDM in their countries
and for attesting to the sustainable development
benefits of each project prior to registration.
The DNA Forum was established
by the CDM Executive Board in 2006 to help
build national and regional capacity. This
most recent meeting of African members of
the DNA Forum focused on overcoming barriers
to CDM growth; how to mobilize resources
for CDM; Africa-friendly methodologies and
programmes of multiple CDM project activities;
and raising capacity of CDM stakeholders,
to name a few topics.
Countries are eager
to scale up and extend the benefits of the
CDM to more countries. Gatherings like the
all-Africa Carbon Forum, which bring together
project developers, buyers, service providers,
financial institutions, national CDM representatives
and other private and public sector stakeholders,
are an important part of that effort. Plans
are being made now for a third Africa Carbon
Forum, to be held in March 2011 in Morocco.
Note to journalists
Clean Development Mechanism
(CDM)
There are currently
more than 2,060 registered CDM projects
in 63 developing countries, and about another
2,200 projects in the project validation/registration
pipeline. The projects registered to date
are expected to generate more than 1.7 billion
certified emission reductions (CERs) by
the time the first commitment period of
the Kyoto Protocol ends in 2012, each equivalent
to one tonne of carbon dioxide.
