Climate change is one of the most controversial topics included in the Asian Development Bank’s 40th Annual Meeting in Kyoto, Japan, on May 6-7 this year. The ADB said in a dispatch that more than 3000 participants have already registered at the Kyoto International Conference Center.
The conference is expected to bring in senior officials within the Asia-Pacific region to discuss among other things the importance of resolving poverty incidence and sustaining economic growth in the region, the ADB said.
The ADB’s Board of Governors meets annually, along with representatives of international organizations and civil society groups. Among the vital issues included in the discussions are clean energy, Asia’s 10 years after the 1997 financial crisis, aging Asia, and urbanization in the region.
There will also be an open forum on ADB’s energy strategies in the series of seminars that are lined up during the annual meeting.
Earlier, the ADB announced that funding commitments for the Asia Pacific Carbon Fund, part of the ADB’s broader Carbon Market Initiative, reached the US$80 million mark and is set for launching in the markets. Participants like Luxembourg, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, have agreed to put in at least US$85 million into the fund initiative. At the end of June, the deadline for the pouring in of investments from other countries, committed funds are expected to reach US$120 million.
According to Woo Chong Um, director-in-charge of clean energy programs of ADB, the commitments shown by the four developed countries are more than enough to get the fund initiative operational.
As the trustee for the fund, ADB will provide upfront payment of up to half of Certified Emission Reductions to be generated later by a given project. "he Carbon Market Initiative includes a technical support facility to provide capacity building, due diligence, documentation, and implementation support for clean energy projects," the ADB reported.
Mr. Um said the overall target value of the carbon Market Initiative was estimated at more than US$10 billion in 2005. In 2006, the value of carbon market transactions totalled US$27 billion, he added.
It was not immediately learned if China, one of the biggest polluters in the region, owing to its wanton use of coal-fired power plants, is attending the Kyoto meeting this year.
Source: Internet