U.N. Makes It Harder To Get Carbon Dioxide Offset Approval

Projects that generate carbon dioxide (CO2) credits under the United Nations Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) are finding it harder and impossible to get their offsets approved. If a project or retrofit leads to a reduction in carbon dioxide that would not have otherwise occurred as a natural order of business, then the U.N., through the Kyoto Protocol sanctioned CDM, allows for the selling and purchasing of credits.

One example is the burning of bagasse, leftover sugarcane husks that are a renewable energy source, which the U.N. approved in the past but now considers it business as usual.

AAEA, through its parent, Center for Environment, Commerce & Energy, has established two emissions trading exchanges: 1) Clean Carbon Bank (GCB) and 2) Carbon Mercantile Exchange (CMX) to market CO2 offsets and other gases. We are promoting CDM offsets and have met with the Asia Development Bank (ADB), headquartered in the Phillipines, to utilize a competitor to the U.N. program. (The Wall Street Journal, Graphic: Carbon Atom)