Issue #4 ENB on the side – UNFCCC SB-18 PUBLISHED BY THE INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (IISD) in cooperation with UNFCCC Written by: Fiona Koza Karen Alvarenga de Oliveira Hugh Wilkins Managing Director: Langston James Goree VI "Kimo" Issue #4 Monday, 9 June 2003 The WWW version of ENB on the side (with photos), can be found at http://enb.iisd.org/climate/sb18/enbots/ Events convened on Saturday, 7 June 2003 Title: Support for the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol in CEE: Development of national registries Presented by the Regional Environmental Center (REC) for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) Motoharu Yamazaki, REC, described the background, objectives, and activities of REC, underlining its goal to promote regional cooperation and public participation in environmental issues in CEE. Maria Khovanskaia, REC, described her organization's project for assisting CEE countries to identify the best options for creating national registries and presented findings on: the parameters of domestic research activities; review of similar existing registries; analysis of institutional and legal bases for building a national registry system; and estimation of the costs of establishing national registries. Khovanskaia discussed studies conducted in Poland, Latvia and Hungary, highlighting conclusions relating to legal frameworks, legislation, capacity assessments, and costs. She also noted general findings of the project, including: the lack of climate change mitigation strategies in most CEE countries; implications of EU accession; cooperation with financial institutions; institution building needs; country specific needs; and uncertainty regarding whether registries should be consolidated or nationally based. Mihaela Dupleac, Terra Mileniul III - Climate Action Network CEE, outlined work undertaken in Romania toward the implementation of a national greenhouse gas registry. She said the project reviewed international requirements, national circumstances, specific needs, and capacity building. Noting that Romania does not have a specific climate change strategy, Dupleac reviewed the national circumstances that support or hinder the implementation of a national registry and the advantages and disadvantages of using a nationally developed registry system rather than one developed abroad. She outlined the requirements that the national registry design must address and recommended policy, legislative, compliance, institutional, capacity building, monitoring, and financial elements for a national registry. Eva Šnajdrová, IREAS Institute for Structural Policy, reviewed work completed in the Czech Republic in developing a national registry. She said the project reviewed UNFCCC requirements, existing national pollution registries in her country, existing national securities registry systems, and implications for other countries with economies in transition. She highlighted the lessons learned from the project relating to the reliability and availability of data, registry design, and the applicability of using questionnaires for data collection. More information: http://terraIII.ngo.ro http://www.rec.org http://www.ireas.cz Contact: Motoharu Yamazaki Maria Khovanskaia Mihaela Dupleac Eva Šnajdrová Title: Workshop on the IETA/PCF validation and verification manual Presented by the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) and the World Bank Stressing the need for multi-stakeholder transparency, standardization, high quality certified emission reductions (CERs) and fair competition in the CDM process, Andrei Marcu, IETA, highlighted that the IETA and Prototype Carbon Fund (PCF) validation and verification (V&V) manual aims at providing guidance to the CDM process. Johannes Heister, PCF, said moving toward mass manufacturing of emission reductions (ERs) creates the need for enhanced quality control of CERs. Heister said standardization of V&V is needed to create a single approach to ensure comparable and high quality results across CDM projects and operational entities. Werner Betzenbichler, TÜV Süddeutchland, underlined his organization's experience on V&V and the importance of the V&V manual in providing better access to the ER market. Eric Koudijs, KPMG Sustainability, explained that ERs must be validated to ensure that CDM and Joint Implementation (JI) reductions are real. He said that the quality of risk approaches and baselines for CERs are improving and stressed the importance for operational entities to work together and develop common baselines. Lucy Naydenova, the Netherlands' Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM), presented a paper on the Dutch policy relating to CDM projects, baselines and validation. She explained that Certified Emission Reduction Unit Procurement Tender (CERUPT) project proposals are selected following the requirements set out in the Marrakesh Accords, and include criteria such as: general guidance on baseline methodology; simplified baselines for small-scale projects; and guidelines for specific technologies. Einar Telnes, DNV Certification, observed that the V&V manual aims at ensuring that all its users are able to achieve genuine results. He said the manual outlines UNFCCC COP-6 and COP-7 decisions, and endeavors to cover all the V&V aspects of CDM and JI projects. Discussion: Participants discussed the differences and similarities between V&V processes for CDM and JI projects, the estimated costs of V&V, and the possible measures for reducing such costs. More information: http://www.ieta.org http://www.prototypecarbonfund.org http://www.tuev-sued.de http://www.vrom.nl http://www.dnv.com Contact: Andrei Marcu Johannes Heister Werner Betzenbichler Eric Koudijs Lucy Naydenova Einar Telnes Title: Civil society round table on the social aspects of climate change Presented by Environmental Defense and the Center for Russian Environmental Policy Nadezhda Zhdanova, Center for Russian Environmental Policy, provided an overview of a civil society round table on climate change that will convene from 1-2 October 2003, in Moscow, Russian Federation. She noted that the round table is being co-organized by Environmental Defense and the Center for Russian Environmental Policy, and will convene parallel to the World Climate Change Conference (WCCC). Noting that Russia's ratification is important for the Kyoto Protocol's entry into force, she stressed that civil society provides a crucial voice and may be able to influence the country's decision to ratify. She outlined the goals of the conference, including to: encourage Russia's ratification and implementation of the Kyoto Protocol; mobilize civil society in countries with economies in transition to build greenhouse gas management systems for social, environmental and economic benefits at the local level; and support the global agenda of implementing the Kyoto Protocol and the UNFCCC. Alina Averchenkova, Environmental Defense, explained that priority issues for the round table include how activities to mitigate climate change may yield community and health benefits, and how reducing greenhouse gas emissions can simultaneously contribute to economic growth and environmental protection. She said the working groups will address climate change impacts, mechanisms to mitigate those impacts, and the realization of the objectives of the Kyoto Protocol and the UNFCCC. Averchenkova highlighted that the round table will submit a civil society declaration to the WCCC, and invited participants to register by 1 July 2003. More information: http://www.ecopolicy.ru/en http://www.environmentaldefense.org Contact: Nadezhda Zhdanova Alina Averchenkova The Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) on the side is a special publication of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) in cooperation with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat. This issue has been written by Fiona Koza , Karen Alvarenga de Oliveira and Hugh Wilkins . The Digital Editor is David Fernau the photographers are David Fernau and Leila Mead and the online assistant is Diego Noguera . The Director of IISD Reporting Services is Langston James “Kimo” Goree VI . Funding for publication of ENB on the side at UNFCCC SB-18 is provided by the UNFCCC Secretariat. The opinions expressed in ENB on the side are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of IISD and funders. Excerpts from ENB on the side may be used in non-commercial publications only and only with appropriate academic citation. For permission to use this material in commercial publications, contact the Director of IISD Reporting Services at . Electronic versions of issues of ENB on the side from SB-18 can be found on the Linkages website at http://enb.iisd.org/climate/sb18/enbots/.