Project Objective & Brief Description: |
The project aims to assist Belarus in creating the necessary enabling environment for the country's full-scale participation in the flexible mechanisms (Joint Implementation, Emissions Trading) of the Kyoto Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
A Party to the Kyoto Protocol and one of the most advanced economies in transition, Belarus, along with industrialized countries, is concerned about global climate change caused by human activities and acknowledges its share of responsibility for that. The Kyoto Protocol sets stringent GHG emission caps, calls for targeted actions toward improvements in energy efficiency and requires establishment of an enabling institutional and regulatory framework (GHG inventories, registry of reduction units, reporting to the UNFCCC Secretariat).
Actual GHG emissions in Belarus are going to be lower than the assigned amount under the Kyoto protocol during both the first (2008-2012) and the second (2013-2017) commitment periods, which would enable Belarus to attract investments into environmental and energy efficiency projects.
However, despite the active and targeted efforts at establishment of the needed institutional framework for the Kyoto protocol in Belarus, the country lacks sufficient capacity for full-scale participation in the flexible mechanisms.
Belarus needs to gain hands-on experience and enhance the internal capacity in implementation of the Kyoto mechanisms – joint implementation projects, green investment scheme and emissions trading. The missing elements of the institutional framework in Belarus need also to be formed, including the national registry of reduction units.
The present project will enable Belarus to timely prepare for participation in the flexible mechanisms and intensify overall Kyoto work. |
