BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA - New Financing
Opportunities for Clean Technologies
Bosnia and Herzegovina has the
potential to generate millions of dollars in carbon
revenue over the next three to five years by
leveraging investments in the energy, waste,
forestry and agricultural sectors. These
opportunities can be realized through:
Implementing Projects
that Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions or Enhance
Sequestration -
OECD countries are expected to purchase between 0.5
and 0.8 billion tonnes of emission reductions
through investments in projects that reduce
emissions of greenhouse gas or enhance
sequestration. Experience shows that carbon
revenues are typically available for projects that:
increase the efficiency of power generation;
decrease losses in power and gas transmission and
distribution; make use of renewable energy
technologies; and improve waste management and
capture landfill gases. Opportunities also exist in
the agriculture, land use and forestry sectors.
While carbon transactions do not address the
underlying financing needs of a project, experience
has shown that future cash flows from carbon finance
enhance the viability of a project. Since carbon
revenues are typically payable in strong currencies
by buyers with high credit ratings, these revenues
can be used to increase a financiers’ confidence in
a project and to leverage additional capital from
IFIs and others.
Ratification of the Kyoto Protocol-
ratification of the Kyoto Protocol is necessary
before Bosnia and Herzegovina can participate in
project based transactions under the Kyoto
Protocol. Bosnia and Herzegovina would also need to
ratify the Kyoto Protocol before any payment could
be made through an Emissions Reduction Purchase
Agreement under one of the World Bank’s carbon
funds.
Timing is Critical -
The window of opportunity is rapidly closing due to
uncertainty in the carbon market at the end of 2012;
the first commitment period under the Kyoto
Protocol. The bulk of project based transactions are
targeted at meeting OECD compliance needs up to
2012, emphasizing the need for quick action given
the long lead time between project preparation and
the ‘first yield’ of emission reductions.
The World Bank Can Help to Realize These
Opportunities
- The World Bank is Trustee of a number of carbon
funds comprising public and private buyers. US$1
billion of funds are currently under management,
targeted at project based transactions and the
purchase of surplus allowances that have been
“greened”. Through its experience in the market, the
Bank brings to the table its ability to mobilize
in-house and external expertise, links to sources of
funding and technical support for carbon project
development and supervision. The Bank supports host
country capacity building through its CF-Assist
(grant) program and training provided by the World
Bank Institute.
Natural Gas, an
Environmental Friendly Fuel - Get Ready in Time!
Bosnia and Herzegovina will be asked to fulfill some
preconditions to be integrated in the international community,
such as to join and accept the Protocol on Cross border Air
Pollution and to be involved into preparing the international
programs aimed at increasing energy efficiency.
Strong environmental laws are in force in the developed
countries. They limit the emission of harmful gases and
stipulate payment of high fine for emission of pollutants. That
means that the utilization of environmental friendly fuels
offers every consumer a possibility to save money by reducing
energy costs.
UNECE Energy Efficiency 21 Project and climate change
mitigation
The
16th Session of the EE21 Steering Committee held, on 29
June 2005, a Special Working Session on “The
Implementation of the Kyoto Protocol, Energy Efficiency
and Climate Change Mitigation”, organized jointly with
the UNECE Committee on Sustainable Energy. Experts from
35 countries and a wide range of international
organizations and international financial institutions,
business sector, private companies and academia actively
participated in the meeting. The meeting examined how
energy efficiency can contribute to reducing greenhouse
gas emissions and help the implementation of the Kyoto
Protocol. On 30 June and 1 July the Steering Committee
brought together a unique group of stakeholders to
review progress and provide guidance on the execution of
the EE21 Project and RENEUER* and looked ahead to coming
activities of the new phase of the project. In
particular, the session provided further information on
the developments with the United Nations Foundation
(UNF), the Fond Français pour l’Environnement Mondial
(FFEM) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and on
the investment funds under development in relation to
the EE21 Project.
The
new phase of the EE21 project is to assist South-east
European, East European and CIS countries to enhance
their energy efficiency, diminish fuel poverty arising
from economic transition and meet international
environmental treaty obligations under the UNFCCC
(United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change)and the UNECE.
* Regional Network
for Efficient Use of Energy Resources. This project
is primarily intended for countries with economies
in transition in South-east Europe - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Moldova, Romania, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Serbia and Montenegro. The project’s strategic goal is to promote conditions for sustainable development in the region by overcoming regional barriers and creating favourable conditions for the penetration of advanced technologies for the efficient use of local energy resources.
More information at:
www.reneuer.com
The Energy
Efficiency 21 Project is a regionwide project to enhance trade and cooperation in energy efficient, environmentally-sound techniques and management practices in order to help close the energy efficiency gap between actual practice and best technologies, and between UNECE countries, in particular market developed countries and economies in transition. It is the successor of the Energy Efficiency 2000 Project that was launched in 1991.
The EE21 Project covers
the development of carbon emissions trading standards and
emissions tracking; finance for energy efficiency
investments through advisory services to project sponsors
and investors on bankable projects. The intention is to promote a sound
business environment and corporategovernance to introduce
the economic, institutional and regulatory reforms needed to
support energy efficiency investments to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions and promote the Kyoto Protocol mechanisms.
These objectives are met through energy efficiency investment project development, capacity
building, involvement of the private sector, government
policy and institutional reforms, standards and labels, and
the development of NGOs. For more information visit www.unece.org/ie and
www.ee-21.net or contact Gianluca Sambucini
gianluca.sambucini@unece.org
SOURCE: UNECE WEEKLY
Global
Warming Threatens Extinctions
April 11, 2006 — By Alister Doyle, Reuters
OSLO —
Global warming will become a top cause of
extinction from the tropical Andes to South
Africa with thousands of species of plants
and animals likely to be wiped out in coming
decades, a study said on Tuesday.
"Global warming ranks among the most serious
threats to the planet's biodiversity and,
under some scenarios, may rival or exceed
that due to deforestation," according to the
study in the journal Conservation Biology.
"This study provides even stronger
scientific evidence that global warming will
result in catastrophic species loss across
the planet," said Jay Malcolm, an assistant
forestry professor at the University of
Toronto and a lead author of the study with
scientists in the United States and
Australia.
Last month, a U.N. study said humans were
responsible for the worst spate of
extinctions since the dinosaurs and urged
unprecedented extra efforts to reach a U.N.
target of slowing the rate of losses by
2010.
Scientists disagree about how far global
warming is to blame compared with other
human threats such as deforestation,
pollution and the introduction of alien
species to new habitats.
Climate change: Green Week is first
Commission event to go ‘climate neutral’
The European Commission has taken action to
ensure that its major annual environmental
conference, Green Week, does not contribute
to climate change. According to estimates,
Green Week 2005 generated emissions of
climate-changing greenhouse gases equivalent
to 139 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2).
The main source of emissions was the travel
activities of conference participants. The
Commission has now offset these by buying
emission allowances for the same amount of
CO2 under the EU Emissions
Trading Scheme. The allowances will be
cancelled so they cannot be used in the
future. This makes Green Week 2005, held in
Brussels last June with climate change as
its key theme, the first ‘climate neutral’
event organised by the Commission. The
Commission intends to do the same for Green
Week 2006, which will be held from 30 May-2
June and will focus on protecting biological
diversity.
By making Green Week
climate-neutral the Commission is showing
that it practices what it preaches when it
comes to leading the fight against climate
change. The Commission encourages the other
EU institutions as well as event organisers
in the public and private sectors around
Europe to adopt this practice
systematically. It welcomes that the
organisers of this summer’s World Cup soccer
tournament in Germany also intend to make
this event climate-neutral.
