The Latin American and the Carribbean Carbon Forum focuses on sharing knowledge and experiences and on developing new business opportunities in the international carbon market. The forum, jointly organised by the UNEP Risoe Centre, the World bank Institute and several other partners, is now held for the fifth time. This is the first time for the event to take place in the Caribbean, namely in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic from 13 to 15 October 2010.
 | Carbon Forum is a conference, trade fair and capacity development programme based on CDM and revenues in connection with carbon finance in the region.
Carbon Forum is jointly organised by the Government of the Dominican Republic, the Latin American Energy Organization (OLADE), the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA), the World Bank Institute (WBI), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the UNEP Risoe Centre on Energy, Climate and Sustainable Development.
To learn more about ’the Latin American and the Caribbean Carbon Forum’, visit their website.
About CDM
There are currently more than 2200 registered CDM projects in 66 countries, and about another 3000 projects in the project validation/registration pipeline.
The Latin America’s share of CDM projects under validation/registration is 870 out of which 464 are registered projects. The Latin American CDM project portfolio covers a wide range of sectors, with an emphasis on renewables, 47% share, followed by methane avoidance with 26% and 14% on landfill projects.
Based on estimates from the CDM Pipeline, the CDM will generate approximately 1.8 billion certified emission reductions by the end of the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol in 2012.
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"Carbon Forum plays an important role in our efforts to strengthen Caribbean and Latin American countries' capacity when it comes to CDM. Carbon Forum provides countries with an opportunity to participate more actively in the international carbon market and benefit from increased funding for sustainable development projects. Carbon Forum allows the participants to increase their knowledge of current areas, meet potential investors and hopefully start plenty of sustainable energy projects in the Caribbean and Latin America," says John Christensen, head of the UNEP Risoe Centre at Risø DTU.
During the last 8 years, the UNEP Risoe Centre has focused on supporting institutional capacity development in the region, providing support to 17 countries in the Caribbean and Latin America. Currently, the centre is implementing several regional CDM projects together with national, regional and international partners.
”It is important that we continue to support CDM activities in the Caribbean and Latin America. Although the number of CDM projects in the region is quite high, only a few countries dominate and most countries are involved in very few projects,” says John Christensen.
There are several reasons why many countries have hesitated to exploit the opportunities, offered by CDM to encourage investment in clean energy and a sustainable development.
For one thing, there has been a need to develop the institutional capacity from the governments’ part. This has taken time and often required international support. For another, the investment climate in many of the Caribbean and Latin American countries is not aimed at foreign investments.
This is the fifth time for the UNEP Risoe Centre to help organise carbon forum in the region, but it is the first time for the event to take place in a Caribbean country. The UNEP Risoe Centre is cooperating with the World Bank Institute, the Inter-American Development Bank, other UN organisations and the private sector in carbon trading.
This time, the Latin American and the Carribbean Carbon Forum is taking place at a particular period for carbon markets as climate change experts and authorities work to develop and continue an expansion of the market mechanisms from the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2010. This will lead to important economic, environmental, political and social implications in the region. It is very encouraging that interest in Carbon Forum is the greatest ever, in spite of the fact that Santo Domingo is not the easiest destination to travel to.
So this commitment from almost all countries in the region sends a strong signal to the next climate summit (COP 16), which takes place in Mexico in just 6 weeks. The carbon market is still very dynamic and could prove important in future efforts to limit climate change.
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