National-level implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change proceed on different tracks, despite growing recognition of the ample opportunities
The carbon market doubled to $126bn, but the value of transactions financing project-based emission reductions fell 12% to $6.5bn in 2008. Difficulties in getting financing for projects during the financial crisis, regulatory delays and the market's uncertain future caused the drop. World Bank is working to deepen the reach of the carbon market with two new facilities.
To achieve efficacy in scale up efforts, different approaches are likely to be appropriate for different countries and interventions.
There is common understanding that energy efficiency is a crucial piece of the puzzle to control climate disruption within the required timeframe, as well as to combine vital environmental and economic returns while increasing energy security. Yet investments towards energy efficiency appear to be lagging behind the actual development of financially viable technologies.
Carbon or greenhouse gas (GHG) offsets have long been promoted as an important element of a comprehensive climate policy approach. Offset programs can reduce the overall cost of achieving a given emission goal by enabling emission reductions to occur where costs are lower.
Article 6 of the Kyoto Protocol enables Annex 1 Parties to agree to jointly undertake emissions saving or sink enhancing activities, with credits arising from cross border investments transferred between them. Joint Implementation (JI) is effectively an alternative project-based mechanism for trading emissions between countries with a cap. Instead of directly purchasing emission rights, i.e.
The scale of investment needed to slow greenhouse gas emissions is larger than governments can manage through transfers. Therefore, climate change policies rely heavily on markets and private capital. This is especially true in the case of the Kyoto Protocol with its provisions for trade and investment in joint projects.
Carbon trading can have a significant influence on the bottom line and is here to stay. Its future, however, is uncertain and is driven by emerging legislation for the period after 2012. In the face of this uncertainty, what should executives responsible for investment outcomes post-2012 be doing now to ensure they maximize competitiveness and minimize risk?
The global carbon market grew to a whopping US$64 billion (
This report provides a review of the active UNDP-GEF wind energy portfolio. It looks at the design, costs and efficiency of existing projects, drawing on the experience of 14 wind energy projects that have been financed through UNDP to help national governments implement wind energy public policies. It includes a detailed analysis and recommendations for future projects on prioritizing countries, choosing types of policies and designing mechanisms. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), for example, emerges as a possible way of increasing revenues of wind energy projects.
Urging the people from the cross-sections of the society not to ponder much over what the Northeast region got and what it did not from the recently announced General Budget, Prof Dr Madhurjya Bezbaruah of Gauhati University instead said that the focal point should now be to keep a close eye on the implementation aspect, which would eventually determine the growth of the country as a whole and the Northeast in particular. Calling the General Budget as an election Budget, Dr Bezbaruah stressed on the need for an inclusive growth by bridging the gap between the haves and the have-nots, which is one of the biggest challenges before the 11th Five Year Plan. Dr Bezbaruah was speaking during a discussion on the recently announced General and Railway Budgets, which was organised under the aegis of the All Assam Students' Union and the Asom Unnati Sabha. The Northeast, especially Assam, in recent times, has witnessed a phase where a series of development schemes has been initiated, but when it comes to the implementation of the schemes, there has always been a question mark. "A proper implementation monitoring system is what we need at this moment,' he pointed out. He also rued over the fact that unlike some of the other educational institutes of the country, some of the oldest and premier educational institutes of the State like the Cotton College and the Gauhati University had failed to draw the attention of the Union Finance Minister, which is a matter of concern. Dr Bezbaruah also took an exception to the Union Finance Minister's decision to waive off loans of the farmers, stating that it might well destroy the rural loan market. "The Government can help the cause of farmers by encouraging bank and institutional loan system,' he pointed out. RS Joshi, director, FINER, while echoing the concerns of Bezbaruah, further said that political aspirations have overtaken the recently announced General Budget. He, while mentioning that the allocation for the North East in the Budget has remained more and less stagnant, further called for giving stress on the service sector which contributes heavily to the country's economy. "Though the country's overall GDP growth is 8.7 per cent, the north-eastern States' growth rate is however lagging behind,' Joshi stated, adding, "The North East has to be in the scheme of things of the Union Government if the regional imbalances in the country are to be bridged.' S Borborah of Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, while stressing the need for expediting infrastructure development, said, "More than allocation, evaluation and monitoring of various projects is what can produce greater dividends.'
