CCS in CDM and JI
Will CCS be eligible for crediting in the current Kyoto Protocol's flexible mechanisms CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) and JI (Joint Implementation) ? The issue was discussed at the UN conference in Poznan in December 2008 in the UNFCCC SBSTA (Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice). A number of proposers including the EU, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Australia recommended that CCS be included in line with existing agreed project activities such as renewable energy, fuel switching and reduction of emissions of industrial gases.
No agreement was reached – among others the Brazilian government opposed the proposition - and the issue was postponed for further consideration at the SBSTA meeting in Bonn in June 2009. No agreement here either, but SBSTA "agreed to continue its consideration of this matter at its thirty-first session."
The EU recommendation of CCS as a CDM project activity can be seen in this statement preceding SBSTAs meeting in December 2008: Submission by SLOVENIA On behalf of THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY AND ITS MEMBER STATES which states: "The CDM is an appropriate means of promoting Genuine technology cooperation and technology transfer. Through the CDM and its link into the EU ETS, the carbon market could be one among several means of supporting the demonstration, diffusion and deployment of CCS in the first commitment period and providing useful insights for discussions on CCS deployment post-2012. "
CDM lets countries with binding reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol (Annex 1 countries) buy reductions or offsets in countries without such commitments (non- Annex 1 countries). Governments or companies in Annex 1 countries can invest in greenhouse gas reduction projects in non-Annex 1 countries like e.g. technology for reducing emissions of industrial gases or for the recovery of biomass. The resulting greenhouse gas reductions can subsequently be credited in the national CO2 accounts or sold in the EU quota trading. JI is basically identical to the CDM except that JI projects are contracted between two parties who both have committed themselves to binding reductions. The philosophy that lies behind these mechanisms says that greenhouse gas reductions should take place where costs are lowest, which in general means in the developing parts of the world. Because of the potential volume of the technology an inclusion of CCS in the CDM would raise a series of problems among which are impacts on the EU's existing emission trading scheme. |