Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)

Comments on the Nam Ngum 5 Hydropower Project (Lao PDR)

Friday, November 11, 2011
Submitted to the China Environmental United Certification Center Co., Ltd.We are writing to express our concerns over the application for validation of the Nam Ngum 5 Hydropower Project in Lao PDR. Summary of ConcernsThe project is not additional. The project is 60% complete as of June 2011, and is likely being financed by a loan from the National Bank of China. In addition, the Project Design Document (PDD) uses inaccurate values to calculate its IRR in its investment analysis in order to appear economically unviable in the absence of CERs.The PDD is poorly written and riddled with gaps in i

Southeast Asian Dam Still a Carbon Source Ten Years Later

Nam Leuk Reservoir, an ADB-funded project
Nam Leuk Reservoir, an ADB-funded project China International Water & Electricity Corp One of the first reservoir emissions studies ever to be conducted in Southeast Asia has just been published, and the results may be a wake-up call to dam builders trying to win carbon credits for hydropower projects in Southeast Asia. The international team of researchers spent two years measuring the greenhouse gas emissions from two sub-tropical reservoirs in Laos, the Nam Ngum and the Nam Leuk reservoirs (the latter of which diverts water from the Nam Leuk River to the Nam Ngum Reservoir). What they f

Letting the Market Play Means Fraud and Few Environmental Benefits

Gaming the environment
Gaming the environment Friends of the Earth As Wall Street and the EU continue to reel under the crisis brought on by the financial deregulation of global markets, a recent report on the EU's carbon market shows just how far these (mal)practices have spread.  "Letting the market play: corporate lobbying and the financial regulation of EU carbon trading," co-produced by Carbon Trade Watch and Corporate Europe Observatory, reveals how under-regulation in a market mechanism meant to reduce global carbon emissions led to fraud and over-speculation. The EU is currently changing its

UNFCCC Approves Controversial Coal and Hydro Projects in India

Wednesday, October 5, 2011
For immediate release Brussels, 5 October 2011. The CDM Executive Board approved two controversial Indian mega projects: a new coal fired power plant and a hydro power plant which had recently made headlines because of its non‐additionality and the harm reportedly caused to the local population. CDM Watch, Sierra Club and International Rivers condemn the decisions and call on the Board to publish the findings of the review assessments that approve the compliance with CDM requirements for these projects. Despite heavy criticism about the environmental integrity of coal projects in the CDM,

Letter to the CDM Board Regarding Sujiahekou Hydropower Project (China)

Friday, September 30, 2011
CDM Executive Board UNFCCC Secretariat Martin Luther King Strasse 8 P.O. Box 260124 D-53153 Germany Subject: Request for review of the Additionality of the CDM Project 3497: Sujiahekou Hydropower Station Dear Mr. Hession, We are writing to express our serious concern about the proposed project activity 3497: Sujiahekou Hydropower Station. Registration has been requested following a validation report by ERM Certification and Verification Services Limited which recommends approval. Since the deadline for requesting review is 2 October 2011, we trust that you will take our concerns seriously

Clean-Energy Credits Tarnished

Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Originally published in Nature WikiLeaks reveals that most Indian claims are ineligible. As the world gears up for the next round of United Nations climate-change negotiations in Durban, South Africa, in November, evidence has emerged that a cornerstone of the existing global climate agreement, the international greenhouse-gas emissions-trading system, is seriously flawed. Critics have long questioned the usefulness of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which was established under the Kyoto Protocol. It allows rich countries to offset some of their carbon emissions by investing in climate-

Success Stopping CDM Registration of Harmful Large Hydro Projects

Day of Action, 2007, India, Koraput assembly
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Originally published in the CDM Watch Newsletter Many large hydro projects in the CDM are contentious because most are non-additional and cause environmental and social harm. International Rivers supports grassroots efforts to stop harmful hydro projects. Over the past few years collaboration between NGOs and active stakeholder engagement has increased dramatically. Encouragingly, almost a third of the most contentious CDM hydro projects have had their validations terminated. Currently 477 large hydro projects have been registered in the CDM and another 371 are seeking registration. This proje

WikiLeaks Cable Highlights High Level CDM Scam in India

A recent WikiLeaks cable from the US Consulate in Mumbai provides irrefutable evidence that carbon credits generated by Indian projects and sold to European countries under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) are a lot of hot air.  It reports on a seminar in 2008 with the US Consulate General Office, analysts from the Government Accountability Office (which later released a critical report on offsets), and the executives of top Indian companies. The cable notes that these companies "conceded that no Indian project could meet the 'additionality in investment criteria' to b

WikiLeaks Puts Integrity of UN Carbon Offsetting Scheme Under Question

Monday, September 19, 2011
For immediate release Large Hydro Project in India Under ScrutinyWikiLeaks Puts Integrity of UN Carbon Offsetting Scheme Under QuestionBrussels, 19 September 2011. CDM Watch and International Rivers call on the CDM Executive Board to reject the mega Rampur Hydroelectric Project in India from receiving CDM carbon credits because it does not comply with essential CDM requirements. They also call on the Swedish Energy Agency, as a party involved in the project, to prove compliance with World Commission of Dams criteria. A cable released by WikiLeaks earlier this month states that Indian proje

Belgian Cherry on Indian Pie

Friday, September 16, 2011
Originally published in 2009 by CDMWatch NICK MEYNEN, a Belgian journalist, discovers the fraud of Indian CDM projects. Excerpts from his research here. The North-South part of the $100 billion carbon market is regulated by the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which should also bring sustainable development to the South. But sustainable destruction and massive fraud are better descriptions of reality. In Belgium, a country obliged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a climate minister faces a simple choice: invest in reductions at home or pay someone else to do it. Like the Yash Paper Limi

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