UN steps up carbon offsetting investigation

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The UN panel responsible for the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) has announced plans to intensify an investigation into allegations that some companies are deliberately increasing greenhouse gas emissions in an attempt to exploit a loophole in the carbon offsetting scheme.

Following a meeting on Friday, the CDM Executive Board announced it had approved a recommendation from CDM’s Methodologies Panel that further research is required to ascertain whether safeguards governing the reporting of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) gases are adequate.

The move follows a recent report from lobby group CDM Watch, which accused some firms of “gaming” the CDM system and deliberately increasing emissions of HCFC-22 and HFC-23 gases in order to earn additional Certified Emissions Reductions (CERs) carbon credits.

CDM Executive Board chair Clifford Mahlung said that CDM projects designed to reduce HFC emissions had prevented a “great deal of very potent greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere”.

But he added that it was “prudent” for the board to investigate whether the safeguards built into the methodology were sufficient to prevent ” perverse incentives” that could encourage firms to increase emissions.

Separately, the CDM Executive Board announced it has lifted the suspension on third-party certification firms TÃœV-SÃœD and KEMCO, allowing them to once again begin certifying projects for inclusion in the CDM after they were suspended from approving projects earlier this year over procedural breaches.

It also confirmed that Deloitte Cert has been accredited as an approved third-party certifier for the first time, while Deloitte-TECO has been re-accredited.

In addition, the board announced further progress in its efforts to streamline accreditation processes for new emission-reduction projects, adopting new procedures for reviewing requests for CDM registration from projects.

“The new procedures have very tight timelines, yet they provide for more expert input and more time for project participants to respond to concerns raised about their submissions,” said Mahlung. “It’s a great piece of work that goes a long way to responding to the needs expressed by industry and the need to ensure quality.”

The CDM has been consistently criticised by project developers, who have argued that the paperwork required to join the scheme is too onerous and costly for smaller projects.

Posted on August 8, 2010 · in Global

Tagged as: carbon offsetting • CDM • CERs