The move by Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs will support clean-energy initiatives under Kyoto Protocol
MUSCAT -- The Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs (MECA) is in the process of setting up a National Designated Authority (NDA) to facilitate and administer clean-energy initiatives under the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Establishing the NDA will allow for investors and businesses in the Sultanate to benefit from incentives available for projects certified as meeting sustainable development criteria. The move will also stimulate Oman's entry into the multibillion dollar global carbon market, experts say.
"As part of its mandate, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs (MECA) has taken the initiative of setting up all necessary structures. The Designated National Authority (NDA) falls within the mandate of MECA's Directorate General of Climate Affairs. Its structure is currently (under) discussion," the ministry said in a statement to the Observer. Oman has signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol, an international environmental treaty that aims to stabilise and reduce greenhouse gas emissions responsible for climate change and global warming. As a 'non-Annex I' Party to the Protocol, the Sultanate is not bound by specific targets for greenhouse gas emissions.
But it can gain significant benefits from a global environmental investment and carbon credit and offset scheme set up under the Protocol to enable industrialised nations to meet their emission reduction targets. The Kyoto Protocol, which came into force in 2005, legally binds most industrialised economies to limit their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to a certain level known as the emissions compliance cap. On average this cap requires countries to reduce their emissions by 5.2 per cent below their 1990 baseline between the 2008 to 2012 period.
To help countries meet their emission targets, and to encourage the private sector and developing countries to contribute to emission reduction efforts, the Protocol creates three market-based mechanisms -- Emissions Trading, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation (JI). The CDM, in particular, allows emission-reduction projects in developing countries, like Oman, to earn certified emission reduction (CER) credits, each equivalent to one tonne of CO2. These CERs can be traded and sold, and used by industrialised countries to a meet a part of their emission reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol.
But for the projects to be considered for registration as CDM initiatives, they must first be approved by the country's National Designated Authority before being vetted by a rigorous registration and issuance process designed to ensure real, measurable and verifiable emission reductions. "Once the Designated National Authority of Oman has been finalised, the Kyoto Protocol's flexible Clean Development Mechanism can support Oman in achieving sustainable development and contribute to the ultimate objective of the Protocol in reducing greenhouse gas emissions," the ministry said.
Welcoming CDM project proposals and ideas, the ministry however stressed that all CDM initiatives must meet strict criteria defined by the Protocol. "For any party applying for CDM project approval, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) conditions must be strictly adhered to. Evidence must be provided that real, measurable and long-term benefits related to the mitigation of climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions are projected." The ministry statement further added: "All CDM projects that fulfill the relevant criteria and are in line with the government's legal framework at the time, hold potential for implementation in Oman."
The ministry's decision to set up the National Designation Authority will be welcome news to several public and private sector entities that are keenly looking to tap into CDM-linked opportunities. Since the CDM mechanism became operational in early 2006, more than 1,000 projects have been registered and are anticipated to produce CERs amounting to over 2.7 billion tonnes of CO2, which is equivalent in the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, 2008-2012.
By Conrad Prabhu
© Oman Daily Observer 2009
