Sushma Gera, CDM Executive Board (EB), listed some improvements in the management plan of the CDM EB, including the creation of a registration team, a pre-assessment stage, and an executive committee.

Richard Kinley, UNFCCC Secretariat, noted that 41 CDM projects have been registered and over 500 are in the pipeline. He hoped the COP will send a positive signal to carbon markets for the post-2012 period.

Hirofumi Kazuno, Kansai Electric Power Co., representing the e7, and Karma Teshering, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Bhutan, outlined the cycle of a project which aims to construct a micro-hydro power station to support rural electrification in rural Bhutan. Kazuno called for simplified certification procedures to reduce transaction costs and promote similar types of projects.

Eduardo Reyes, National Authority of Environment, Panama, described a hydroelectric project promoted by Unión Fenosa, which has committed to build project infrastructure. He noted that some of the CER income will help recover flora and fauna together with community groups and fund adaptation initiatives.

Iftekhar Enayatullah, Waste Concern, presented a landfill gas extraction and utilization project in Dhaka, Bangladesh, funded by World Wide Recycling, explaining it collects methane gas from waste dumping and generates 3 to 6 MW.

Sergio Vives, Agrosuper, described a methane capture and combustion project from swine manure treatment in Chile, co-funded by Canada and Japan. He underscored that patience and learning from experience are key.

Li Liyan, Office of National Climate Change Coordination Committee, China, listed priority CDM areas, including energy efficiency, and methane recovery and utilization. She stressed that the project owner must be a wholly Chinese enterprise.

José Miguez, Ministry of Science and Technology, Brazil, said 21 CDM projects have been approved and 28 more are in the pipeline, and mentioned the approval of a resolution by the CDM interministerial commission on afforestation and reforestation projects.

Fransisco Avendano, National Council for the Environment, Peru, underscored that CDM projects should deploy proven technologies and must show social acceptance in the project area.

Lwazikazi Tyani, Department of Minerals and Energy, South Africa, outlined the function of the designated national authority (DNA), and described sustainable development criteria for CDM project approval.

Roger Peter, Pembina Institute for Appropriate Development, Shinichi Iioka, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, and John Christensen, UNEP, presented the perspective of CDM capacity development partners.

Ken Newcombe, World Bank, said analysis of natural capital accounting in economic growth patterns has been inadequate. He stressed the need to consider the effects of climate change on natural capital and ecosystem service payments for managing natural resources.

Kirk Hamilton, World Bank, said wealth has a number of components such as natural, human and institutional capital. He noted that the wealth of many low income countries is declining, that cropland and pastureland is their most important wealth, and that there is a need for better management of natural capital.

Atilio Savino, Secretary of Environment, Argentina, underscored that traditional economies produce at the expense of natural and human capital which leads to poverty, and indicated that Argentina is taking environment into consideration in its national accounts.

Discussion: participants questioned the book’s consideration of the impact of climate change on the wealth of nations, and the use of market prices in valuing natural resources.

Bonizella Biagini, GEF, underlined that GEF plays a significant role in supporting adaptation, noting that the new Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) and Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) funds will support the additional costs of activities that increase adaptive capacity over a development baseline.

Ian Burton, independent scholar, Canada, highlighted the presence of an adaptation deficit, noting the need for an adaptation protocol to address adaptation issues systematically.

Saleemul Huq, International Institute of Environment and Development, emphasized the importance of considering the millions of poor who bear the greatest burden of climate impact, noting that the GEF funding mechanisms need a simplified structure.

Neil Leary, International Systems for Analysis, Research and Training (START), said developing countries should take ownership of their adaptation agenda.

Ian Noble, World Bank, noted that there are many excellent research facilities in developing countries that can be enhanced further.

Prodipto Ghosh, Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF), India, noted that development is the best adaptation strategy for developing countries.

Discussion: participants discussed the relative responsibilities of developed versus developing countries for funding adaptation.

Charles Caccia, University of Ottawa, said some government officials are sensitive to ethical argument, and emphasized that one can be ethical without being religious.

Laura Broughton, Ministry of Environment, Ontario, announced that Ontario plans to close all coal-powered power plants by 2009.

Christine Milne, Tasmania Senator, Australian, stated that all decisions are ethical and that choosing to ignore climate change is a choice that threatens others.

Elizabeth May, Sierra Club, said the radical changes required involve moving from greed to love and said this is not a horrible journey.

Peter Timmerman, University of Toronto, expressed concern about the destruction of spiritual traditions of traditional societies.

Bill Somplatsky-Jarman, Presbyterian Church, US, called for solidarity, and said we have a responsibility to articulate concerns of those who are unable to speak for themselves.

Joy Kennedy, Kairos, Canada, described “Greening Sacred Spaces,” an initiative designed to make churches more environmentally friendly.

Mahua Acharya, World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), presented the GHG Protocol for Project Accounting, a tool and guidance manual for quantifying and reporting projects emission reductions.

Derek Roekhoff, WRI, described the various parts of the Protocol.

Michael Lazarus, Stockholm Environment Institute, commented on the process behind the Protocol’s development, highlighting stakeholders’ involvement.

Dwight Domorais, Lafarge, described ways the Protocol helped clarify GHG project accounting and design while developing a CDM project in Malaysia.

Bruno Vanderborght, Holcim, hoped the Protocol, like the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard, would facilitate the development of standardized baselines for the cement industry.

Einar Telnes, DNV, commented on how policy considerations may be relevant to GHG accounting decisions.

In noting the complexity of designing GHG programs, Rob Fowler, New South Wales GHG Abatement Scheme, said the Protocol is an excellent starting point.

Jeff Fielder, Natural Resources Defense Council, said the Protocol’s requirements and principles assist NGOs in reviewing the credibility of GHG reduction projects, and highlighted it does not include sustainable development criteria.