AMMAN - In a bid to reduce greenhouse gases and generate revenue, the Ministry of Environment is studying several clean development mechanism projects, which would sell carbon dioxide "credits" to industrial countries, Minister of Environment Khalid Irani said on Wednesday.
The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), as defined in the Kyoto Protocol, allows a country with an emission-reduction or emission-limitation commitment to implement emission-reduction projects in developing countries, according to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) website.
"The ministry has already approved the implementation of five similar projects under the CDM. Such environmentally responsible ventures will annually help reduce some 3.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide and generate 100 million euros over the next five years," Irani said yesterday, in a speech delivered on his behalf by the ministry's secretary general Fares Juneidi at a workshop on CDM, organised in cooperation with the USAID-funded Sustainable Achievement of Business Expansion and Quality Programme.
Decision makers from various industrial sectors participated in the workshop, designed to encourage industries to adopt clean development methods and contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
Ministry of Industry and Trade Secretary General Muntaser Oqla said the ministry, together with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, is currently negotiating with the Egyptian government to supply local industries and industrial estates with natural gas.
"Industries that switch from fuel to natural gas will be labelled as clean development mechanism projects," Oqla said at the event.
The Kingdom signed the UNFCCC in 1992 and joined the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, which made it eligible to benefit from the protocol's CDM.
A total of 15 per cent of revenues generated from these projects will be allocated to the Environmental Protection Fund, which will help steer industries towards environment-friendly practices.
Meanwhile, Jordan Chamber of Industry Director General Zaki Ayoubi said the CDM serves the industrial sector as it conserves the country's natural resources and environment, adding that the chamber will launch its own programme on environment management.
"The programme seeks to boost industries' abilities to manage their resources in an environment-friendly way, while generating profits," Ayoubi said, adding that the first training course will end in one month.
By Hana Namrouqa
© Jordan Times 2008
