The Union cabinet has given the green light for setting up a 'designated national authority' to clear projects being executed under the Clean Development Mechanism. The body will be headed by the secretary of the Union ministry of environment and forests, and comprise representatives from all concerned ministries, including those of non-conventional energy sources as well as power...
the Union cabinet has given the green light for setting up a 'designated national authority' to clear projects being executed under the Clean Development Mechanism (cdm). The body will be headed by the secretary of the Union ministry of environment and forests, and comprise representatives from all concerned ministries, including those of non-conventional energy sources as well as power.
The main functions of the authority will be to issue a written statement confirming the voluntary nature of a cdm project and to evaluate whether the venture contributes to India's sustainable development. These are essential prerequisites for any project to be validated and certified by the cdm executive board instituted under the un Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The authority will consider aspects like employment generated, contribution to improvement in quality of the local people's life, investment the project brings, its impact on resource sustainability, biodiversity and health, and technology upgrade.
cdm allows an industrialised country to invest in clean energy projects in developing countries and claim credits for the resultant reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases (ghgs). The Kyoto Protocol sets targets for industrialised countries to cut ghgs like carbon dioxide to arrest climate change. cdm provides a cheap way to meet these targets.
India ratified the protocol in 2002, which makes it mandatory for a country to designate a national authority for cdm projects. So far about 50 countries including Argentina, Bolivia, Bhutan, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Denmark, Germany, Morocco, Nicaragua, Peru, Uruguay and The Netherlands have established national authorities.
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