Climate projects prevented 135 million tonnes of CO2: agency

Yahoo News 21 Apr 08;

Projects to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in developing countries have prevented 135 million tonnes of CO2 emissions from entering Earth's atmosphere so far, the Norwegian classification group Det Norske Veritas (DNV) said on Monday.

The projects, known as Clean Development Mechanisms (CDMs) and defined in the Kyoto Protocol, allow industrialised countries and their companies to finance projects aimed at reducing greenhouse gases in developing countries.

In return the investors are credited with emission rights.

The 1,000th project has just been certified in India, said Det Norske Veritas, one of the world's leading classification agencies.

"CDM projects have so far generated more than 135 million certified emission reductions (CERs, each unit of which is equivalent to one tonne of CO2)," it said.

"The mechanism is currently anticipated to generate more than 2.7 billion CERs in the Kyoto Protocol's first commitment period" that runs from 2008 to 2012, it added.

By comparison, Norway emitted 53.7 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent last year.

CDM projects, which have primarily benefitted China and India so far, are not free from controversy.

Critics argue that some dam projects in China have been officially certified as CDMs even though they were partially constructed before being given the certification -- suggesting they would actually be used outside the CDM framework.

"There's always a chance that mistakes are made. But the criteria have been gradually tightened. It's typically a case of learning by doing," Det Norske Veritas's global director of climate change services Luc Larmuseau told AFP.