WASHINGTON, October 8, 2004—
The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), both members of the World Bank Group, are pleased to announce the launch of the Netherlands European Carbon Facility aimed at purchasing greenhouse gas emission reductions. . The Facility, signed together with the Netherlands’ Ministry of Economic Affairs, will focus on the acquisition of emission reductions resulting from the implementation of projects under the Joint Implementation mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol in the emerging market countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
The Facility will be jointly managed by IBRD and IFC, (the private sector arm of the World Bank Group), to purchase 10 million tons of emission reductions for the benefit of the Government of the Netherlands. Eligible projects include those based on renewable energy, energy efficiency, methane capture, fuel switching, reduction of industrial emissions, or afforestation/reforestation.
IBRD and IFC have joined in supporting the Netherlands in meeting its objectives because of the clear convergence with the World Bank Group's market development and capacity building role for the rapidly growing market for Kyoto Protocol-compliant greenhouse gas emission reductions. For projects in emerging market countries in Europe, the purchases will encourage the transfer of cleaner technologies to reduce emissions at an effectively reduced cost, and will be of benefit both to the global climate and to the environment in those countries where the projects are implemented. For developed countries, such as the Netherlands, this project increases the range of options for complying with the Kyoto Protocol emission reduction requirements.
Peter Woicke, Managing Director of the World Bank Group and Executive Vice-President of IFC
, said,
“This initiative builds on the existing products of the World Bank Group and underscores our commitment to sustainable development by actively promoting the new and evolving market for greenhouse gas emission reductions.”
“
This agreement with the World Bank and IFC is an important step forward and we hope that the Facility will contribute substantially towards the desired cost-effective fulfillment of the Netherland’s international climate obligations under the Kyoto Protocol,”
said
Okko van Aardenne, manager JI at the Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs.
The Kyoto Protocol is a United Nations agreement which calls for industrialized countries to reduce the levels of their greenhouse gases between 2008-2012. Emission reductions result from activities that avoid or reduce the production of carbon dioxide, methane or other greenhouse gases as compared to a 'business as usual' situation, or from 'sequestering' carbon in biomass such as forests and soils.
