UK firms seek RP partners in CDM projects

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A group of UK-based companies expressed readiness to develop long-term partnerships with Filipino firms to invest in renewable energy and other carbon market-related businesses.

British experts urged Filipino companies to invest in green projects that can earn carbon credits, as prices for these are likely to rise with the possibility of a US entry into the global carbon trading market.

British Ambassador Peter Beckingham cited investments to the Philippine renewable energy sector by UK-based firms during the carbon market forum conducted recently by UK Trade and Investment.

“There are already a number of companies here in the Philippines involved in climate change and alternative energy… Global Green Power [is] setting up plants converting biomass into electricity. Bronzoak has set up an operation in San Carlos where they will convert biomass to ethanol. Another company I visited Ilocos Norte with… are looking at sites for wind power and envisage investments in the Philippines of over US$100 million in the next few years,” said Beckingham.

The Philippines is seen as a non-risky host, making it an appealing source of carbon market emissions (CERs), as there is relatively more local credit to finance Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects.

Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects are carbon credit schemes carried out in developing countries such as the Philippines to usher them into carbon financing with the benefit of safety nets. It involves the transfer of emissions reductions from the host country to the investor country in the form of certified emissions reductions (CERs).

Tom Bouwens, head of UK Climate Change Projects Office, explained Britain’s position in taking the lead on climate finance, “…We are facing climate chaos - temperatures are set to rise up to five degrees if we don’t take serious action against the emissions that we are putting into the atmosphere… We’re faced with a very serious problem, and it is against this background that the UK is pushing its investment and its encouragement into the carbon market.”

Britain has taken advantage of the demand for green projects, which opened major opportunities for British businesses to create jobs in the new low carbon economy. This has grown into a £3 trillion market employing nearly 900,000 people in the UK.
Currently the UK is proposing to the UN a global figure of $100 billion in assistance to developing countries to address climate change. This would help pay for developing countries’ plans to reduce emissions using greener technology, to avoid deforestation and adapt to global warming.