Unclean process

the South African branch of PriceWaterhouseCoopers has been made a designated operational entity for clean development mechanism (cdm) projects. But the move has raised questions.

Under cdm, developed countries can invest in projects in developing nations to meet their Kyoto Protocol targets. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which governs the activities of the protocol, designates organisations, which verify project design documents of a proposed cdm project, as designated operational entities. If the project is satisfactory, the entity requests its registration with the Bonn-based cdm executive board. It also verifies emission reductions for projects once they are operational.

Experts are unhappy with the un's decision. Last year Down To Earth (DTE) had revealed (see 'Carbon rush', Down To Earth, November 15, 2005) that as a cdm project consultant, PriceWaterhouseCoopers India had fudged data while making project design documents for Gujarat Flurochemicals Limited (gfl) and srf Flurochemicals, located in Gujarat and Rajasthan. The document said the companies had identified local people for consultation, but DTE found that in gfl and srf's documents the same questions were asked, the answers were also verbatim, with even spelling mistakes being repeated. The process did not seem credible.

The obvious question is can an organisation act both as a consultant and a designated authority for cdm projects especially when it has been implicated for false practices?

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