The Kyoto Protocol's Joint Implementation (JI) mechanism has accredited its first third-party verifier, TÜV SÜD Industrie Service GmbH, almost 10 years after the UN-backed carbon offsetting mechanism was first agreed upon.
The JI scheme operates in a similar way to the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), allowing those in developed countries to invest in emissions reduction projects overseas to gain carbon credits.
But whereas the CDM is aimed at driving investment to projects in developing countries, JI projects can be undertaken in any developed country, classified as Annex I. The bulk of JI projects so far have been located in emerging economies, such as Russia and Ukraine.
TÜV SÜD Industrie Service GmbH will be responsible for ensuring that any projects undertaken under the JI genuinely result in reductions in carbon emissions and are truly "additional" and would not have happened without the authorisation to sell JI credits.
To date only one project, in Ukraine, has had its emissions reductions officially verified under the scheme, compared with more than 1,400 in the CDM.
Critics claim the JI was only set up as a sop to those emerging economies that felt they would miss out on inward investment as a result of their exclusion from the CDM.
They argue that the development of the market has been slow because of a lack of interest from buyers and sellers which prefer to target the more mature CDM market, as well as an absence of political backing. Ukraine, for example, only finalised regulations governing its involvement in the JI last year, while Russia still has not done so.
Allessandro Vitelli, director of information services at analyst IDEAcarbon said JI projects were also hampered by the fact that they had to compete with CDM projects.
"For buyers, it is cheaper to invest in projects in Latin America and Asia and there is more regulatory certainty," he said, adding that despite widespread ciriticism of the the scheme, reform is unlikely in the short term. "There is a body of opinion that says that the CDM and the JI will eventually morph into one with China, the US and Russia all investing in projects in each other. Any root and branch of the CDM before then is unlikely," he explained.
But confidence in EU emissions trading scheme continues to grow 03 Mar 2010
But expert warns UN offset market could still be heading for investment crisis 23 Dec 2009
Anger over decision to bar 10 Chinese wind energy projects from entering UN-approved carbon offset scheme 07 Dec 2009
Second suspension of official emission project verifier within a year highlights flaws in UN's flagship offsetting scheme 14 Sep 2009
IDEAcarbon report predicts number of CERs issued will double during 2010 02 Sep 2009
Desert tortoise fears allayed? 19 Mar 2010
Cameron presents pre-election energy policy, promising greater investment certainty for low-carbon projects, green loans for households, and streamlining of planning system 19 Mar 2010Joint statement from carbon exchange and Hungarian government aims to restore confidence in CER market 19 Mar 2010
More news
From climate change contrarians to the "KitKatastrophe" of Nestle's palm oil policy, we look at the best the green web has to offer this week 19 Mar 2010
"It needs the political enthusiasm that was behind the war on terror after 9/11" 19 Mar 2010
From the government's plans for a marine energy revolution to John Lewis' proposals for an off-grid supermarket 19 Mar 2010 More in-depth
Post your comment
Send an email to the Business Green editor at feedback@businessgreen.com
