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The Clean Development Mechanism and Emerging Offset Schemes: Options for Reconciliation?

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The Clean Development Mechanism and Emerging Offset Schemes: Options for Reconciliation? CLIMATE CHANGE 06/2014 The Clean Development Mechanism and Emerging Offset Schemes: Options for Reconciliation? CLIMATE CHANGE 06/2014 ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH OF THE FEDERAL MINISTRY FOR THE ENVIRONMENT, NATURE CONSERVATION, BUILDING AND NUCLEAR SAFETY Project No. (FKZ) 3711 41 507 Report No. (UBA-FB) 001899/E The Clean Development Mechanism and Emerging Offset Schemes: Options for Reconciliation? by Aki Kachi, Dennis Tänzler adelphi research, Berlin and Wolfgang Sterk Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, Wuppertal On behalf of the Federal Environment Agency (Germany) Imprint Publisher: Umweltbundesamt Wörlitzer Platz 1 06844 Dessau-Roßlau Tel.: 0340/2103-0 Telefax: 0340/2103 2285 [email protected] Internet: www.umweltbundesamt.de http://fuer-mensch-und-umwelt.de/ www.facebook.com/umweltbundesamt.de www.twitter.com/umweltbundesamt Study performed by: adelphi research, Caspar Theyss Straße 14a, 14193 Berlin Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, Döppersberg 19, 42103 Wuppertal Study completed in: 2013 Edited by: Section E 1.6 Emissions Reduction Projects - CDM (DNA)/JI (DFP) Malin Ahlberg Publikation as pdf: http://www.umweltbundesamt.de/publikationen/the-clean-development- mechanism-emerging-offset ISSN 1862-4359 Dessau-Roßlau, May 2014 The Clean Development Mechanism and Emerging Offset Schemes: Options for Reconciliation? Abstract During the first Kyoto commitment period, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) emerged to be a global standard for the global carbon market. Linking developing and industrialized countries in an international cooperation mechanism, it provided a governance and accounting framework for emission reduction efforts around the world. Not without its own problems, and now suffering from a severe lack of market demand, the mechanism has been subject to substantial criticism from various stakeholders and has made great reform efforts in response. This report shows that, despite these reform efforts, potential sources of new demand such as emerging emissions trading systems have distanced themselves from the European approach of supporting the mechanism through use of its credits as offsets in its trading system. Australia had planned to accept CDM credits, but not exclusively, and distanced itself from the CDM model in the development of its own domestic offset system. California originally considered but ultimately rejected the CDM, instead also electing to launch its own offset system concentrating on North America. Japan, which had been the second largest source of demand for Kyoto units after Europe, has elected to start its own bilateral system, explicitly departing from the multilateral approach. South Korea has made it clear it will not accept international offsets into its system until at least 2020. Despite efforts made to reform the CDM, as its market fades, the international climate regime stands to lose the benefits of the CDM including its input role vis-à-vis the design of new offset policies. This report examines the political context and reasoning of these sources of potential demand to depart from the established system and offers suggestions for further reforms or measures to take to preserve some of the benefits of the erstwhile framework. Kurzbeschreibung Der Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) hat sich während der ersten Verpflichtungsperiode des Kyoto Protokolls als globaler Offset-Standard des globalen Kohlenstoffmarktes etabliert. Der CDM verknüpft industrialisierte und sich entwickelnde Staaten in einem internationalen Kooperationsmechanismus und bildet somit einen Referenzrahmen für Governance und Verantwortlichkeiten für globale Minderungsaktivitäten. Hierbei mussten verschiedene Schwierigkeiten überwunden werden, nicht zuletzt die gegenwärtig fehlende Marktnachfrage auf dem Kohlenstoffmarkt. Der substantiellen Kritik am CDM wurden mit verschiedenen Reformbemühungen begegnet, die aber nicht dazu geführt haben, dass dieser im Mittelpunkt des Interesses außerhalb von Europa entstehender Emissionshandelssysteme steht, die für zusätzliche Nachfrage auf dem globalen Kohlenstoffmarkt sorgen könnten. Wie die vorliegende Studie zeigt, beabsichtigen entsprechende Systeme in Australien, Kalifornien oder Japan nicht in gleicher Weise wie das EU Emissionshandelssystem Emissionsgutschriften, die durch den CDM erzielt wurden, als Offsets anzuerkennen. So plant Australien bislang CDM als lediglich eine Quelle von mehreren zu nutzen und hat sich auch bei der Entwicklung des eigenen nationalen Offset-Ansatzes vom CDM distanziert. Kalifornien hat zunächst die Nutzung des CDM erwogen, dann aber ausgeschlossen. Stattdessen wird ein eigenes auf Nordamerika fokussiertes Offset-System vorangetrieben. Japan, als zweitgrößter globaler Nachfrager, hat ebenso beschlossen ein eigenes, bilaterales, System zu installieren und sich somit explizit vom multilateralen Ansatz abzusetzen. Als Folge dieser Entwicklung droht die internationale Klimapolitik die Vorteile des bestehenden multilateralen CDM-Rahmens zu verlieren, obwohl gezeigt werden kann, dass dieser im Rahmen seines Reformprozesses verschiedene Kritikpunkte bereits berücksichtigt hat und neue Ansätze auch verschiedene Elemente des CDM in ihrem Design berücksichtigt haben. Dieser Bericht analysiert die politischen Kontexte von ausgewählten Offset-Ansätzen und die Beweggründe, nicht den etablierten CDM-Rahmen zu 5 The Clean Development Mechanism and Emerging Offset Schemes: Options for Reconciliation? nutzen. Auf dieser Grundlage werden Vorschläge entwickelt, in welcher Weise weitere Reformbemühungen dazu beitragen können, einige der Vorteile des CDM-Rahmens auch in Zukunft für die Weiterentwicklung von Offset-Politiken nutzbar zu machen. 6 The Clean Development Mechanism and Emerging Offset Schemes: Options for Reconciliation? 7 The Clean Development Mechanism and Emerging Offset Schemes: Options for Reconciliation? Table of Contents Table of Figures .....................................................................................................................................11 List of Tables ..........................................................................................................................................12 List of Abbreviations .............................................................................................................................13 1 Summary ........................................................................................................................................15 2 Zusammenfassung ........................................................................................................................20 3 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................25 3.1 The CDM’s role in Global Carbon Markets .........................................................................25 3.2 Sources of Demand for CDM ................................................................................................26 3.2.1 EU .......................................................................................................................................26 3.2.2 Japan ..................................................................................................................................27 3.2.3 New Zealand .....................................................................................................................28 3.3 Structure of the Report .........................................................................................................28 4 Australia .........................................................................................................................................31 4.1 Overview of Australian Climate Policy ...............................................................................31 4.2 The Australian Emissions Trading System ..........................................................................31 4.3 Australian Offset Policy .........................................................................................................32 4.3.1 Australia’s Position towards the CDM ............................................................................34 4.3.2 Australia’s Carbon Farming Initiative ............................................................................35 4.3.3 Eligibility in Australia’s Carbon Farming Initiative .....................................................36 4.3.4 Permanence ......................................................................................................................41 4.4 Monitoring, Reporting and Verification .............................................................................42 4.5 Interim Conclusion ................................................................................................................42 5 California/WCI ..............................................................................................................................44 5.1 Overview of California Climate Policy ................................................................................44 5.2 Examination of the Californian Climate Policy Making Process .....................................44 5.2.1 Other Stakeholders ...........................................................................................................46 5.2.2 Judicial ...............................................................................................................................46
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