In order to take advantage of the vast opportunities and huge potential that exist in carbon dioxide trading globally, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) has indicated its preparedness to finance tradable emission reduction initiatives in Africa. In an address read for him at the opening of a three-day workshop on Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Wednesday in Accra, Arnold Ekpe, CEO of ETI, said investments in CDM were highly tipped to offer solutions to Africa’s double jeopardy of poverty and climate change. According to him, “While investment in technology will improve energy efficiency, the United Nations has projected the Africa CDM market to generate US$1 billion by 2012. “This means that additional revenue will be available for financing development projects, which will invariable leverage project implementation.” CDM is an arrangement under the Kyoto Protocol that allows industrialised countries with greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction commitments to invest in emission reduction projects in developing countries so as to provide an alternative to more expensive emission reductions in these countries. Carbon Financing therefore is resources earmarked for funding projects that generate or has the potential to generate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emission reductions in the form of tradable emission reductions. Karan Capoor, who works with the Carbon and Environmental Finance Division of the World Bank, in a speech, said $128 billion has been made available globally for countries wanting to partake in carbon emission reduction business. Latin America and the Caribbean have close to 31 percent of the projects while Asia and pacific countries have claimed 66.13 percent, leaving Africa with less than 3 percent and some other countries holding onto 0.65 percent. “Projects got started in Ghana but never got done,” Capoor emphasized. He therefore called on the United Nations to simplify the complex monitoring and credit awarding systems so as to get more countries to participate. Kirk Koffi, who represented the Volta River Authority, said carbon trading is an emerging trend in the world, which Ghana must take advantage of. Presently, the authority in collaborating with some foreign agencies, is considering the establishment of a 50 megawatts windfarm despite the high cost of generation. “VRA’s aim this year is to do 70 percent hydro and 30 percent thermal in its energy production bid.” Countries with commitments under the Kyoto Protocol, he continued, can acquire emission units from other countries with commitments under the Protocol and use them towards meeting a part of their targets. CDM furthermore allows emission-reduction projects in developing countries to earn certified emission reduction (CER) credits, each equivalent to one tonne of carbon dioxide. These can be traded and sold, and used by industrialized countries to meet a part of their targets under the Protocol, expected to expire by 2012. Carbon trading under the Kyoto Protocol, however, is simply a quota system, whereby countries that emit below their quota have units to sell, and those that go over their quota must look to the market. Source: Daily Guide