News

“Positive signal to project initiators“

Munich. TÜV SÜD is now also authorized to verify climate-change projects under the Joint Implementation scheme of the Kyoto Protocol. The international service provider is the first company worldwide to hold an accreditation for these services. Projects in industrialized countries can thus now also be verified and approved for emissions trading.

The implementation of climate-change projects under the Kyoto Protocol is based on two instruments, Joint Implementation (JI), for projects in developed countries, and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) for projects in developing countries. While growth rates of CDM projects have soared over recent years, the rise in the number of JI projects has been relatively restrained. “TÜV SÜD’s accreditation as a verifier of JI projects is the prerequisite for emission reduction units (ERUs) generated by these projects to be approved for emissions trading“, says Dr Sven Kolmetz, Head of Carbon Management Services at TÜV SÜD Industrie Service GmbH. “Accreditation sends a positive signal to project initiators who plan to invest in these projects and need a reliable basis for decision-making.“

Following verification, ERUs can be issued and traded

170 projects in twelve countries are currently in the first stage of the JI process. In the Kyoto Protocol’s present commitment period until 2012, these projects could generate emission reduction units (ERUs) – the currency of the Kyoto Protocol – of up to 300 million tonnes. Six projects have already been registered with the Joint Implementation Supervisory Committee (JISC) in Bonn, which monitors the entire JI process. “So far, JI projects have been provisionally verified by “Accredited Independent Entities” on behalf of JISC”, explains Dr Kolmetz. “Thanks to TÜV SÜD’s official accreditation as verifier, ERUs can now actually be issued and traded.“ The first verified ERUs were generated in a Ukrainian project which produces methane from coal mines for use as fuel to produce power and heat.

TÜV SÜD is currently involved in over 70 JI projects throughout almost all industrialized countries. The experts also have extensive experience in CDM project validation and verification. The service corporation has been accredited for all 15 CDM sectors and has processed over 1,000 CDM projects over the last eight years. Further information about TÜV SÜD services in this area are available at www.tuev-sued.de/klimaschutz