Brussels. The watchdog organisation CDM Watch launched a discussion forum to enable the general public to participate in the CDM reform dialogue. The UN High-Level Panel on the CDM Policy Dialogue is currently taking stock of lessons learned from the often-criticised UN offsetting scheme and the aim of CDM Watch’s online forum is to foster open, objective, and constructive communication between civil society, policy makers and market participants.
At a CDM Watch event last night, attended by international CDM negotiators, NGOs and market participants the Discussion Forum (forum.cdm-watch.org/) was officially launched by Pedro Martins Barata, former vice-chair of the CDM Executive Board.
The forum contributes to the public dialogue on the CDM reform efforts currently underway. It is a response to the lack of communication between civil society and other CDM stakeholders, such as project developers, auditors, national governments and other policy makers.
“We very much welcome this initiative by CDM Watch and invite everybody, including our harshest critics, to share their views and suggestions in this online discussion forum” says CDM Executive Board vice-chair Martin Hession, who launched the CDM policy dialogue together with UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres in Durban in December 2011.
At the COP-17 in Durban, the CDM Executive Board established the CDM Policy Dialogue to conduct a dialogue on the past and future of the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and to make recommendations on how to position the mechanism going forward. From January to September this year, 12 Panel members are engaging with a wide range of stakeholders to gain a full and unbiased picture of the operations, benefits and shortcomings of the CDM.
A final report is expected to be released in September 2012 and will include recommendations on several hot topics, including governance of the CDM, sustainable development and human rights issues.
“We welcome the Board’s initiative on the policy dialogue and would like to see concrete recommendations on these important issues not only to the COP-18 but also to national governments participating in the CDM” says Eva Filzmoser from CDM Watch. “For the first time, our new Discussion Forum will facilitate dialogue between policy makers and civil society to learn from first hand experiences and encourage change where needed.”
The Panel is also expected to assess the architecture of the CDM and the context in which the CDM could operate together with new market mechanisms that are currently being negotiated.
“It is important to analyse how the CDM can be further improved especially at a time when new mechanisms are being discussed. Past experience should be carefully assessed through a dialogue between key actors to make market mechanisms fit for the future,” says Christoph Sutter from South Pole Carbon Asset Management.
More information:
CDM Watch Discussion forum http://forum.cdm-watch.org/
CDM Policy Dialogue http://www.cdmpolicydialogue.org/
Press Contact:
Eva Filzmoser (CDM Watch)
+32 499 21 20 81, GMT
[email protected]
