Climate Change

Improving energy efficiency (EE) is one of the most promising approaches for achieving cost-effective global greenhouse gases (GHG) reductions. However, it is severely underrepresented in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) portfolio. Just 10 percent of the emission reduction credits traded in the carbon market are from EE projects. In particular, small, dispersed, end-use EE measures—which entail significant GHG mitigation potential, along with other clear, local, and direct sustainable development benefits—have been largely bypassed by the carbon market.

This paper provides an overview of key issues involved in the choice among marketbased instruments for climate change policy. Specifically, it examines the potential net benefits from shifting to a permit system for emission reduction, and the preconditions necessary for this change. It also draws out the implications of New Zealand’s specific circumstances and current climate policies for future policy development.

With a focus on Fiji, this article assesses the benefits of and explores the barriers to using the Clean Development mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol in Pacific island countries.

With demonstrated strength across a range of potential CDM sectors, Fiji is in a relatively good position to take advantage of the opportunities on offer.

The formulation of the national development strategy (NDS) is one of the key expected outputs of the Ministry of Development Planning and Aid Coordination as we strive for endurance and nation building Solomon Islands. This strategy sets out a framework for Development programmes in Solomon Islands and is intented to be a catalyst for development in the next 10 years in an effort to achieve the goals of Solomon Islands development agenda.

The impetus for developing this guide came from the enormity of the Asian Tsunami disaster in 2004-2005 right on Australia's doorstep, and the inability of the renewable energy community to donate goods and services, highlighted a need to develop an understanding of a pathway with the aid and disaster relief organisations to overcome this situations.

This guidebook is produced by the UNEP Risø Center (URC), Denmark, as a part of the project titled Capacity Development for the CDM (CD4CDM), which is being implemented by URC for United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) through funding from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Netherlands.

The Capacity Development for CDM (CD4CDM) Project decided to capitalize on the lessons learned by this validation process and has collaborated with Det Norske Veritas (DNV), an accredited DOE, to produce this guidebook. The guidebook targets CDM project proponents in developing countries, specifically those engaged in PDD preparation. It draws upon the extensive knowledge of DNV, which has validated more than 50% of all CDM projects coming through to the validation stage.

The preparation of the Cook Islands Initial National Communication was funded by the Global Environment Fund Climate Change Enabling Activity through the Pacific Islands Climate Change Assistance Programme (PICCAP).

In order to seek further concrete actions at the national, regional and international levels, the PICTs have developed this action plan to implement the Pacific Islands Framework for Action on Climate Change (2006-2015).

This Guide is part of an organization-wide initiative to mainstream gender into all of UNIDO’s technical cooperation projects and programmes. Karen Cadondon, Eliana Gutiérrez-Amo and Liv Pelt Steensig are the main authors of the document.