India Gets Fewer Carbon Credits as UN Scrutinizes Projects
By Natalie Obiko Pearson
June 2 (Bloomberg) — India, the second-largest supplier to the United Nations emissions market, received 51 percent less carbon credits in the five months through May as regulators scrutinize the country’s projects.
Issuances of Certified Emission Reduction credits to India in the UN Clean Development Mechanism, the world’s second- biggest greenhouse gas market, fell to 5.86 million, from 11.96 million in the same period last year, according to UN data on Bloomberg. Worldwide issuance rose 13 percent in the period.
“The trend is striking,” said Anmol Singh Jaggi, director of Gensol Consultants Pvt Ltd. in Ahmedabad, which advises and brokers on carbon projects. “You have to ask if this is because of UN roadblocks in the process.”
The European Union may restrict eligibility of UN CERs in its emissions program, the world’s largest, as it favors projects such as windfarms to combat global warming over credits awarded to projects to reduce emissions of hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs. About half the CERs issued since October 2005 stem from plans to cut HFCs, used in the production of chemicals for air conditioning and refrigeration.
The UN is holding back on awarding credits to projects involving HFCs and hydropower, Jaggi said. Hydropower projects are under scrutiny for signs that they may have been financially viable without CERs, violating UN market regulations, he said.
The CDM, which awards tradable credits to investors who fund emission-reducing projects in developing nations, issued 2.98 million credits to HFC projects in India between January and May, down 64 percent from the same period last year. Issuances to hydropower projects declined 59 percent to 103,744, according to Bloomberg calculations.
CER credits for December delivery declined 0.9 percent to 12.31 euros ($14.97) a metric ton on London’s European Climate Exchange at 12:16 p.m. today in London.
–Editors: Rob Verdonck, Reed Landberg
Bron: businessweek.com
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