SINGAPORE, Feb. 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Clean energy industry body the Project Developer Forum (PD Forum), whose members include Singapore-based Sindicatum Sustainable Resources, is calling on the United Nations to show its commitment to tackling climate change and to saving its own carbon market, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), by offsetting its greenhouse gas emissions with Certified Emission Reductions (CERs).
The PD Forum - whose members include some of the biggest players in the global emissions reduction industry and account for over 20% of investment in the UN's Clean Development Mechanism - has started a petition urging the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, to lead by example and offset the UN's carbon footprint by buying CERs (the carbon offsets that serve as the CDM's internal currency) where it can't be reduced through other methods.
While the UN and its 38 Partners on Climate Change are implementing measures to increase resource efficiency and reduce their carbon footprint, they do not currently offset their global emissions. According to the UN's third annual report, titled "Moving Towards a Climate Neutral UN", the UN's total GHG emissions for 2010 (for 54 entities in hundreds of locations and over 200,000 employees) were 1.8 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. The PD Forum hopes its petition will raise public awareness of this issue and persuade the UN to practice what it preaches by going carbon neutral.
Gareth Phillips, Chairman on the PD Forum, commented, "The UN has been very quick to encourage the industrialised world to offset its emissions by investing in the CDM, yet it has failed to take its own medicine. It's time for Ban Ki-moon to lead by example and offset the UN's carbon footprint every year by buying and retiring CERs. Not only would this cast a valuable vote of confidence in the CDM - the UN's own mechanism - but it would also create much-needed demand for CERs, helping to secure the future of clean energy investment. If you agree, please go to http://www.change.org/petitions/ban-ki-moon-reduce-and-compensate-the-un-s-greenhouse-gas-emissions to let Ban Ki-moon know."
The PD Forum voluntarily offset the estimated carbon emissions of 10,000 attendees at the COP18 climate change conference in Doha last November by cancelling a total of 25,000 CERs. This gesture was recently completed and the majority of these offsets are visible today in the CDM Registry (see link below).
The CDM is a UN-guided market mechanism, intended to stimulate investment in clean energy projects across the developing world while giving industrialised countries flexibility in how they meet their emission reduction targets. To date, the CDM has channelled over USD 215 billion of investment into renewable energy and energy efficiency projects, such as hydropower and wind power. However, due to the plummeting value of CERs, the future of the scheme now hangs in the balance.
To sign the PD Forum's petition, go to http://www.change.org/petitions/ban-ki-moon-offset-greenhouse-gas-emissions-from-the-activities-of-the-united-nations.
Notes to Editors
About the PD Forum
The Project Developer Forum is a collective voice to represent the interests of companies developing and investing in greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction and mitigation projects in international markets under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), Joint Implementation (JI) and other carbon emission reduction schemes and programs. The PD Forum represents the sector of industry that has invested significant financial and intellectual capacity in the development of the CDM, JI and capacity building in developing countries. We also represent a significant part of the future of GHG mitigation in both developed and developing countries. Without the involvement of companies such as those represented by the PDF, the future of the CDM, new market mechanisms, project based mitigation activities and the inclusion of many Non-Annex 1 countries in the carbon market will be jeopardized.
About Sindicatum
Headquartered in Singapore, Sindicatum Sustainable Resources is a developer, owner and operator of clean energy projects worldwide and a producer of sustainable products from natural resources and waste. Sindicatum is leading the way in the sustainable utilization of the world's natural capital.
More on PD Forum's cancellation of CERs to offset COP18
As of 2nd February 2013, 7050 cancelled CERs are visible in the CDM Registry at http://cdm.unfccc.int/Registry/vc_attest/index.html. A further 10150 are in the process of being cancelled and recorded by the CDM Registry Administrator and will be visible in due course. 7,800 CERs have been cancelled in the Swiss Registry. The Swiss Registry does not have a public interface and cancellation confirmation may be seen here: http://www.sindicatum.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/NETR-Document-2013-02-01.pdf
Please see below for the full breakdown of CER cancellations by PD Forum members:
http://www.sindicatum.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/breakdown-CER-cancellations.jpg
For more information on the PDF and its members, visit www.pd-forum.net.
