New Delhi, Jan 19 (Inditop.com) The national authority for Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects has so far approved 1,467 projects, which, if approved by its international counterpart, can net India $6.15 billion by 2012, an official spokesperson said here Tuesday.
CDM projects are carried out by developing countries to reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere in some way — such as saving energy or replacing a thermal by a hydel power plant. The carbon emissions saved are paid for by developed countries, which are legally obliged under the Kyoto Protocol to reduce their emissions.
The international CDM Executive Board has so far approved 469 of the projects recommended by its Indian counterpart, making India the world’s second largest CDM market after China.
The spokesperson pointed out that though India does not have any legal obligation to reduce carbon emissions under the Kyoto Protocol, if all the CDM projects are approved by the executive board it will reduce 615 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions by 2012.
India accounts for 3-4 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions are leading to climate change, which is affecting farm output, making droughts, floods and storms more severe and more frequent and raising the sea level.
