Promoting greenhouse gas emission reduction programs
"Climate change is real, and we clearly believe we are on a route to mandatory controls on carbon dioxide… we need to start now because the longer we wait, the more difficult and expensive this is going to be.”
James E. Rogers, chief executive of Duke Energy, a coal-burning utility in the USA
Under the Kyoto Protocol and other policies to combat climate change, projects that reduce emissions of greenhouse gases also generate a valuable new commodity. The sale of emission reduction units, or as commonly known, “carbon credits,” can significantly boost financial returns on climate-friendly projects. This is because they add an additional revenue stream in hard currency, which reduces the risks of commercial lending or grant finance. Thus, carbon finance provides a means of leveraging new private and public investment into projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, thereby mitigating climate change while contributing
to sustainable development.
> See full list of speakers at Carbon Finance Asia 2008
For more information, please contact Juliana Tyan at +65 6322 2726.
Today, companies and local governments across Europe, USA, Japan and especially emerging market Asia are taking advantage of carbon finance to raise financing for their projects. Air pollution in some Chinese cities is among the worst in the world, one in three water courses are severely polluted, energy intensity remains some 20% above the OECD average and the country is the second largest emitter of greenhouse gases and the biggest producer of ozone-depleting substances. The Chinese government has indicated its focus is now upon approving carbon finance for renewable energy projects, which is contributing to China’s rapidly expanding clean energy industry.
On climate change and its consequences:
"This disaster is not set to happen in some science fiction future many years ahead, but in our lifetime." Sir Nicholas Stern, former Chief Economist, World Bank
It is hoped that the development of clean energy projects will help to reduce the disastrous environmental consequences of global warming, which according to the 2005 Stern Report includes:
- Flood risk from melting glaciers
- Declining crop yields, particularly in Africa
- Rising sea levels which could leave 200 million people permanently displaced
- Extinction for up to 40% of the world’s species
- More examples of extreme weather patterns
Greenhouse gas emission reduction programs include projects relating to:
- Rural electrification
- Renewable energy
- Energy efficiency
- Urban infrastructure
- Waste management
- Pollution abatement
- Forestry, and
- Water resource management
For more information, please contact Juliana Tyan at +65 6322 2726.
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