The world’s largest carbon offset instrument made wholesome, if not stunning or substantive, progress at Durban’s 17th Conference of the Parties. While Canada still faces considerable backlash from the hype surrounding its potential exit from 1997’s Kyoto Protocol [...]

The fate of the Clean Development Mechanism, the most robust and successful United Nations’ instrument to fight climate change, hangs in the balance at the 17th Conference of the Parties. It risks being used as a negotiating ‘chip’ in the penultimate COP before the Kyoto Protocol’s (KP’s) first commitment period ends. A leading climate change NGO explained that the KP is expected to ‘emerge alive from the conference, but it will be on life support.” [...]

As the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC kicks off in Durban this week, negotiators hope to build upon progress made during 2011 to govern the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation (JI) more effectively. Coupled with the positive sentiment that has been seeping from recent negotiations en route to Durban via largely pre-negotiated texts, progress is expected but expectations remain low [...]

The carbon markets have had a troubled few weeks. While the price of the world’s most popular and valuable carbon product, the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme allowance, shed some 22% in one week, the Australian government has finally announced a potential path for the country to join the small group of emissions trading nations. At the [...]

Following the spectacular milestone of 3,000 projects registered into the world’s largest carbon offset mechanism, this month marked a time for reflection for those involved in the United Nations’ Clean Development Mechanism. With over one-third of the registered projects now issuing Certified Emissions Reductions (CERs – the currency of the CDM, each equal to one [...]

This week marked a significant milestone of the United Nations’ Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). A wind power project in Inner Mongolia, China, has become the 3,000th project registered under the world’s largest international offsetting mechanism. There is no doubt that the process is speeding up: it took 18 months to register the first 1,000 projects; [...]

In 1989, the Montreal Protocol laid out an extensive set of environmental rules that regulate and phase-out gases which contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer: including hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and halons. Coming only 10 years later, the United Nations’ were able to build on that success when the Kyoto Protocol (KP) provided [...]

Following the minor operational successes from Cancun in December (see Climatico’s comprehensive report – PDF), the United Nations’ Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) has undergone something of a resurrection: issuing the 550 millionth offset almost five and a half years after the first, and surviving a period of undeniable uncertainty over the future of the mechanism. [...]

The United Nation’s flexible mechanisms were introduced as a cost-effective and efficient method to help poorer countries develop sustainably, whilst providing developed countries another option to meet commitments under the Kyoto Protocol. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and the Joint Implementation (JI) have progressed at different rates, with different levels of engagement and varying degrees [...]

The Executive Board of the United Nations’ Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) assumes full responsibility for its administration. Their remit is to uphold the environmental integrity of the CDM whilst ensuring the processes remains efficient and effective so projects can deliver the emission reductions. Since climate policy is a relatively immature, fast moving arena, the Executive Board [...]