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CDM Background
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2006
Background
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Greenhouse Effect
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What can happen
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What can happen (2)
• The global temperature may climb from
1.4 to 5.8 degrees C
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– Higher temperatures are expected to expand
the range of some dangerous "vector-borne"
diseases, such as malaria
– Where dryland agriculture relies solely on
rain, as in sub-Saharan Africa, yields would
decrease dramatically even with minimal
increases in temperature
– Large scale melting of ice caps can raise sea
levels
What can Happen (3)
• The sea level may rise from 9 to 88 cm
– Salt-water intrusion from rising sea levels will
reduce the quality and quantity of freshwater
supplies
– Low Lying areas such as Bangladesh and
tropical islands can be submerged
• Extreme weather events, as predicted by
computer models, are striking more often
and can be expected to intensify and
become still more frequent
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What can be done
• Reducing Emissions - Burning oil and coal more
efficiently, switching to renewable forms of
energy, such as solar and wind power, and
developing new technologies for industry and
transport can attack the problem at the source.
• Expanding Forests - Trees remove carbon
dioxide, the dominant greenhouse gas, from the
atmosphere. The more we have, the better. But
deforestation -- the current trend -- liberates
additional carbon and makes global warming
worse.
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What can be done (2)
• Changing Lifestyles - The cultures and habits of
millions of people -- essentially, whether they
waste energy or use it efficiently -- have a major
impact on climate change. So do government
policies and regulations.
• Coping - Steps have to be taken -- and the
sooner the better -- to limit damage from
consequences of global warming that are now
inevitable.
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Making a difference
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Making a difference
• The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC)IPCC
– Created by World Meteorological Organization
and United Nations Environment Program in
1988
• IPCC does not conduct its own scientific
inquiries
– Reviews worldwide research, issues regular
assessment reports, and compiles special
reports and technical papers.
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Making a difference (2)
• Panels finding led to United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC)
• Introduced for signature at Rio “Earth
Summit” in 1992
• The UNFCCC has the goal of preventing
“dangerous” human interference with the
climate system
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UNFCCC - Features
• Ultimate objective
– Stabilize greenhouse gas emissions "at a
level that would prevent dangerous
anthropogenic (human induced) interference
with the climate system."
• Heaviest burden for fighting climate
change on industrialized nations*
– Industrialized nations were expected by the
year 2000 to reduce emissions to 1990 levels
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*OECD and 12 “Economies in Transition” consisting of Central and Eastern European states
UNFCCC – Features (2)
• Precise and regularly updated inventories
of greenhouse gas emissions from
industrialized countries
• Support climate-change activities in
developing countries
– Provide financial support above and beyond
any financial assistance they already provide
to these countries.
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Kyoto Protocol
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History
• Need felt to augment the Convention
– stricter demands for reducing Green House Gas
Emissions
• 1995 governments began negotiations on a
protocol
– An international agreement linked to the existing
treaty, but standing on its own.
• Protocol adopted at Kyoto in 1997
– This protocol is now commonly known as ‘Kyoto
Protocol”
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Implications
• Mandatory targets on greenhouse-gas
emissions for the world's leading
economies
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– Applicable to all nations which accepted the
Kyoto protocol
– These targets range from -8 per cent to +10
per cent of the countries' individual 1990
emissions levels
– Future mandatory targets are expected to be
established for "commitment periods" after
2012
Implications (2)
• Commitments under the Protocol vary
from nation to nation
– 8 per cent in the European Union (EU[15]),
Switzerland, and most Central and East
European states
– 6 per cent in Canada
– 6 per cent in Hungary, Japan, and Poland
– Norway may increase emissions by up to 1
per cent
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Implications (3)
• Agreement offers flexibility in how
countries may meet their targets
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– Partially compensate for their emissions by
increasing "sinks" -- forests, which remove
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
– Pay for foreign projects that result in
greenhouse-gas cuts.
– Several mechanisms have been set up for
this purpose, including CDM (Clean
Development Mechanism) and JI (Joint
Implementation)
CDM
(Clean Development
Mechanism)
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Getting Everyone Involved
• Greenhouse-gas emissions of developing
countries are growing
– Rapidly industrializing nations like India and
China are contributing more
– No limits set on these nations
• Atmosphere is equally damaged wherever
they occur
– Protocol includes an arrangement for
reductions to be "sponsored" in countries not
bound by emissions targets
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CDM Simplified
• Industrialized countries pay for projects that cut
or avoid emissions in poorer nations
• Awarded “credits” that can be applied to
meeting their own emissions targets
• The recipient countries benefit from free
infusions of advanced technology
– This allows their factories or electrical generating
plants to operate more efficiently
• The atmosphere benefits because future
emissions are lower than they would have been
otherwise
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CDM Simplified (2)
• It Is Cost-effective And Offers A Degree Of
Flexibility
– More efficient to carry out environmentally
useful work in developing countries
– Land, technology, and labor are generally
more costly in developed countries
– The benefits to the climate are the same
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CDM Simplified (3)
• The system also appeals to private companies
and investors
– Credits or “Certified Emission Reductions” (CER) can
be traded in the Protocols emissions-trading market
– They can be “banked” for later use
• Overseen by an Executive Board
– Has approved a series of "methodologies" for largescale and small-scale projects
– To be certified, a project must be approved by all
involved parties, demonstrate a measurable and longterm ability to reduce emissions, and promise
reductions that would be additional to any that would
otherwise occur
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CDM Simplified (4)
• Small scale projects (<15MW) have fast
track processes
• Afforestation and reforestation projects to
be included in the scheme
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Current Scenario
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Worldwide CDM
• 520 projects are at various stages of
application as CDM projects (Dec 2005)*
– Of these, 202 are from India*
• 93 projects have been registered
– 23 of these are from India
• India is the leading force in CDM project
generation
– Supportive role by Ministry of Environment
– Increasing awareness in the private sector
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* Source: www.cd4cdm.org
India’s Potential
• Potential CER’s to be generated out of CDM projects in
different sectors
Power Generation
Industry
Transport
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Source: TERI National Strategy Study 2004