John Myers Jr., Staff Reporter
PEART
MINISTER OF Land and Environment, Dean Peart, is urging the private sector to support Government in developing projects to reduce emissions to enable Jamaica to benefit from the lucrative carbon trade markets established by the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).
Mr. Peart also said the ministry must be strengthened to facilitate the private sector. The CDM provides incentives for developed countries, referred to as Annex One countries under the Kyoto Protocol, which assists developing countries in implementing greenhouse emission-reducing projects.
The Government can only facilitate to make sure that the projects are of a certain standard, but the important thing is for the private sector to see the reality," said Donovan Stanberry, permanent secretary in the ministry.
Last week the Government was paid US$3.2 million for the level of carbon reduction achieved from operating the Wigton Wind Farm Project in Manchester. The project uses the wind to generate electricity. Mr. Peart said there were plans to expand the wind farm.
The CDM is one of several measures introduced by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in an attempt to reduce the impact of climate change.
The recently concluded Climate Change Conference in Montreal, Canada, ended with more than 40 decisions that will strengthen global efforts to fight climate change. The Conference of Parties also committed to further discussion for action against climate change after 2012 when the Kyoto Protocol comes to an end. The developed countries have committed US$13 million to fund the CDM for 2006-2007.
MONETARY SUPPORT
The European Commission also agreed to provide an additional ¤853,000 to support the operation of the CDM. This is in addition to the ¤1.2 million it has committed. A series of workshops have also been planned to develop the broad range of actions needed to respond to the climate change challenge.
Richard Kinley, acting head of the UNFCCC Secretariat, described the conference as one of the most successful to date. "Our success in implementing the Kyoto Protocol, improving the convention and Kyoto and innovating for tomorrow led to an agreement on a variety of issues," Mr. kinley said in a press release from the UNFCCC press office.
