[sustran] CDM Projects (Clean Development Mechanism) - public transport

Eric Britton eric.britton at ecoplan.org
Mon Nov 24 20:21:29 JST 2008


From: Cornie Huizenga [mailto:cornie.huizenga at cai-asia.org] =

Sent: Monday, 24 November 2008 04:16



Dear Eric,

 =


Following Lee's suggestion - can you post this?

 =


Cornie

-- =

Cornie Huizenga
Executive Director
CAI-Asia Center
www://cleanairnet.org/caiasia
cornie.huizenga at cai-asia.org

 =


---------- Forwarded message --------
From: Cornie Huizenga <cornie.huizenga at cai-asia.org>
Date: Mon, Nov 24, 2008 at 11:10 AM
Subject: Re: [NewMobilityCafe] CDM Projects (Clean Development Mechanism) -
public transport



Dear All,

 =


To advance the discussion on transport and climate two approaches are
required:

 =


1)  Try to get transport into the climate agenda. =


 =


Obviously this is much wider than the question on CDM.  The upcoming COP 14
in Poland will be an important step on the road to a follow-up agreement to
the Kyoto Protocol. Based on the 4 th. Assessment Report of the IPCC it is
clear that the overall ambition level of the new agreement which will be
signed in Copenhagen needs to be a radically different one than in the case
of the Kyoto Protocol.  Many of the Annex 1 countries are now talking about
reductions of 20-30% by 2020 and 50-80% by 2050.  If such more ambitious
targets are adopted for Annex 1 countries this will need to have radical
consquences for transport in the Annex 1 countries. It is logical that these
radical changes in the Annex 1 countries will spill over to non-Annex
countries at some point in time. =


 =


In Poland there will be lots of dicussions on the new Agreement, especially
in the ad-hoc Working Group on Long Term Cooperative Action, which was set
up in Bali last year to "translate" the Bali Action Plan into a new
agreement. These discussions will also focus on mesurable mitigation
activities that developing countries/ non-Annex 1 countries will start to
undertake to reduce GHG emissions (outside the scope of any CDM activities).
This clearly opens the possibility to talk transport as well.

 =


In the ad-how working group on Future Commitments of Annex 1 countries under
the Kyoto Protocol there will be comprehensive discussions on how to move
forward with CDM.  The suggestions made in previous meetings of this working
group indicate that there is a strong awareness of the limitations of the
current CDM instrument.  While the transport community has been lamenting
that transport was not integrated in CDM, a large part of the wider climate
community has already come to the conclusion that CDM was flawed by itself
and not suitable to contribute to the relatively modest reduction goals
under the commitment period 2008-2012.

 =


 Looking at the discussions and suggestions on the future of CDM as well as
the broader agenda for COP 14 in Poland the important thing for the
transport community is to look forward and focus on:

*	The current importance of the transport sector as a contributor to
GHG emissions in Annex 1 and non- Annex 1 countries and the BAU scenario's
which will explain how the various reduction scenario's require reductions
within the transport sector for them to become reality;
*	Options to reduce transport emissions to a level required under
different GHG reduction scenarios through technological and
non-technological measures in both Annex 1 and non-Annex1 countries;
*	Mix of command and control and market based instruments to implement
the technological and non-technological measures, in both Annex 1 and
non-Annex 1 countries;
*	Transfer payments between Annex 1 and non-Annex 1 countries which
cover a substantial part of transport emissions AND which at the same time
encourage/reward non Annex 1 countries to take policy measures to reduce
transpot emissions further;
*	Capacity building measures to support non-Annex 1 countries to
formulate and implement broad based measures to reduce GHG emissions from
the transport sector through command and control as well as market based
approaches, both those which are implemented with and those which are
implemented without some form of transfer payment.

To promote such a more broad based approach to the integration of transport
in climate change a number of organizations have decided to coordinate in
the organization of transport related side events at COP 14.  They will also
seek to find some form of consensus on steps to be taken to arrive at a
common Action Plan of steps to be taken in 2009 leading up to COP 15 in
Copenhagen to promote a better integration of transport in the climate
agenda. We will be able to send out a brochure soon of the transport side
events at COP 15.

 =


2. Get climate into the transport agenda.

 =


Equally important is to ensure that transport planners take note of the
climate implications of the decisions made. While the number of CDM projects
is and will be limited in the time to come we should be aware that every day
investment decisions are being made in non-Annex 1 countries which will lock
in  GHG emissions for the next 20-30 years. Until and unless climate becomes
an integral component in transport policy and urban planning non Annex 1
countries will be unable to decouple economic growth and development of the
transport sector from the growth in GHG emissions.

 =


A better integration of transport in the climate agenda can help both Annex
1 and non-Annex 1 countries on the necessity to mainstream climate in
transport policy making. This because of the higher political priority
attached to climate if a successful new agreement is reached in Copenhagen
which incudes mitigation activities for non-Annex 1 countries and which
makes specific reference to the transport sector. =


 =


To stimulate this discussion a double session on Transport and Climate in
TRB in January. In a side event on 16 th. January the preliminary results of
a number of think pieces on transport and climate commissioned by the Asian
Development bank will be presented. This will include:

*	measurement of CO2 in the transport sector
*	co-benefits of climate oriented measures and e.g. air quality
oriented measures
*	policies for a low carbon sustainable transport future
*	financing of low carbon transport
*	institutional arrangements in support of low carbin transport

 =


Informal survey on Climate and Transport activities in 2009

 =


It will be helpful for the transport community to have an idea of what the
different organizations are doing/planning to do with respect to transport
and climate in 2009. To get such a overview we are implementing a small
informal survey - which is attached. If you are subscribed to a news group
which does not allow attachments please send me an email and I will be happy
to send the survey form to you.

 =


best regards,

 =


Cornie

 ----

 =


 =


On Mon, Nov 24, 2008 at 10:17 AM, <akopp at worldbank.org> wrote:

Lee =


I agree to what you write. I think, however, that the 'co-benefits' don't
materialize either if the urban transport discussion is boiled down to a bus
system discussion or on capacity expansion of public transport. Other
mechanisms are needed supporting sustainable urban transport more broadly.

Cap and trade and CDM like mechanisms will not lead to action in the
transport sector, because it is too expensive relative to other sectors to
cut CO2 emissions there.

Best

Andreas




Dr. Andreas Kopp
Lead Economist
World Bank Group
Department for Energy, Transport and Water
1818 H Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20433
USA
ph. +1 202 473 6031

 =


 =


-----"Lee Schipper" <schipper at wri.org> wrote: -----

To: <NewMobilityCafe at yahoogroups.com>, <sustran-discuss at list.jca.apc.org>

From: "Lee Schipper" <schipper at wri.org>
Date: 11/23/2008 12:24PM
cc: <Cities-for-Mobility at yahoogroups.com>, "Cornie Huizenga"
<cornie.huizenga at cai-asia.org>, <bert.fabian at cai-asia.org>, "Holger
Dalkmann" <h.dalkmann at gmx.de>, "Sergio Sanchez"
<ssanchez at cleanairinstitute.org>, <jleather at adb.org>, <akopp at worldbank.org>
Subject: RE: [NewMobilityCafe] CDM Projects (Clean Development Mechanism) -
public transport

Why would you want public transport in CDM, when the values/costs/benefits
of time saved, lower air pollution, less noise, greater rider security and
safety etc DWARF the carbon values=85and when adding a CDM component slows =
the
entire improvement of transport down immensely while all of us don our green
visors and count carbon. =


  =


Counting that carbon is VERY hard (
http://embarq.wri.org/en/Article.140.aspx
<http://embarq.wri.org/en/Article.140.aspx> examined some of these issues
including a paper we wrote for the 2007 ECEEE conference on measuring CO2
emissions CHANGES from transport projects). =


  =


I'm VERY worried about CO2 in transport, but I'm convinced CDM and like
process that link to "carbon finance" either slow the process down (see GEF
grant progress), put too much focus on reducing CO2 rather than improving
transport (they are not the same), filter our vision to projects whose
carbon savings are relatively to measure (hybrid buses, proven but
expensive) or ones with tiny and often questionable savings (like small
additions of biodiesel to bus fuel). =


I'm not against rewarding carbon saving or efforts at mass transit, but the
proportions of $ for carbon are tiny compared to the overall pot of time,
transport, urban development.  Can Mexico City honestly say that their
Metrobus was "additional", ie., would not have been undertaken to save $$
millions in saved time, accidents, local air pollution, reduced numbers of
cars on the road (according to a nice report by the Instituto Nacional de
Ecologia published in 2006) for a few hundred thousand $ of carbon finance
funds arranged after the fact? =


  =


Juerg Gruetter has made a good case for CDM and carbon financing of BRT
projects, but in the end these only affect a small amount of CO2 (in buses)
and, while they draw a modest number of riders from cars, still leave the
rest of cars untouched. My fear is that CDM draws interest to those easily
bankable projects and away from the much greater challenge, use of cars and
other light duty vehicles. =


  =


In four Latin American cities (Mexico City region, Bogota, S Paulo, and
Santiago) cars and taxis appear to account for 65-70% of all direct GHG
emissions from road traffic (including trucks).  Without policies and
projects that reduce that traffic (and its growth) SIGNIFICANTLY, the
savings from 'urban transport projects" in general will be small.  Since
most fo the carbon is in cars, most of the change has to come from cars. How
do you measure that and sell the results against a rapidly growing baseline?
And cars and trucks are not "cdm-able", i.e., owned by the kinds of entities
that can be part of CDM directly. Of course $$ could be given to cities who
undertook strong transport measures, but again, why would they not undertake
those measures anyway? And why would national governments not want to
promulgate fuel economy standards to save oil? =


  =


In short, is this really about $$ or political will? =


  =


Finally, consider the following very rough numbers that illustrate the scale
of the problem. =


World GDP 60 Trillion (until the crash) =


World gross investment $10 TN (remember buildings burn energy leading to CO2
emissions, too) =


Investments in transport infrastructure (road, rail, port, air, facilities
like transfer stations) =96 my guess $1-2 TN =


World purchase of private household transport equipment $1TN (40 mn cars $25
000/car) =


World purchase of road fuels (roughly 2 TN) =


  =


Are we really talking about  putting hundreds of billions YEARLY into doing
what is the right thing even if CO2 was not a problem. Conversely, if we had
a CO2 free fuel tomorrow, we'd still have a traffic mess worldwide. So maybe
focusing on transport and Co2, rather than more broadly clean development =
=96
and understanding why developing cities' traffic is such a mess even before
CO2 is considered =96 is higher on the agenda. If there are going to be N-S
transfers, aka Overseas Development Assistance, is CO2 "abatement" the most
cost effective way of using money for development? =


  =


Realistically, how can CDM have more than a demonstration effect? If so,
then let's forget CDM as such and move to  a wider effort to =


Demonstrate various regional policy and technical solutions, investing (for
once) in enough competence building and data gathering so localities can
monitor traffic, emissions, fuel, safety etc better. Our EMBARQ project in
se Asia (PSUTA) discovered that authorities' ability to monitor even the
most elementary problems of transport was pretty meager
--http://embarq.wri.org/en/ProjectCitiesDetail.aspx?id=3D9 =


  =


Some of these issues will be discussed at the upcoming COP (Dec 5). Maybe
Climate negotiations are not the right place to decide how to use the
streets? There will also be a spirited discussion during Transportation
Research Board Annual Meeting in Washington DC, both during the meeting
itself and at a special side event Friday 16 January.  This note is copied
to several of those involved in these discussions. Watch this space! =


  =


Lee Schipper, Ph.D =


Project Scientist =


Global Metropolitan Studies =


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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  =


From: NewMobilityCafe at yahoogroups.com
[mailto:NewMobilityCafe at yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Eric Britton
Sent: Sunday, November 23, 2008 2:37 AM
To: NewMobilityCafe at yahoogroups.com; sustran-discuss at list.jca.apc.org
Cc: Cities-for-Mobility at yahoogroups.com
Subject: [NewMobilityCafe] CDM Projects (Clean Development Mechanism) -
public transport =


  =


That's a good question Roland. I just tried Knoogling it and came up with
some interesting responses. You might wish to give it a try at
http://knoogle.net <http://knoogle.net/>  . (And if you have suggestions for
us as to sources or other details to improve  its operation ,please do . . .
Eric Britton =


  =


On Behalf Of Roland Sapsford
Sent: Sunday, 23 November 2008 00:11



  =



Hi

Is anyone aware of any work underway through the CDM, or in negotiations
around its successors, to make it easier for transport projects to be
included.  =


As far as I know, the only public transport project so far granted CDM
credits is the TransMilenio busway in Bogota.  The main barrier is that
transport projects usually involve policy and planning changes as well as
projects, and the methodological tests for additionality are hard to meet.

Curiously yours
Roland Sapsford



Roland Sapsford
Sustainability Solutions Consulting =

 =

Climate Change, Cities, Energy, Transport
 =

 =

PO Box 11-708, Manners St, Wellington 6142, New Zealand

+64-4-9341106(w); +64-4-3851105(h); +64-21-651105(m)


  =




Dr. Rainer Rothfuss wrote: =



A trav=E9s del instrumento CDM se pueden financiar proyectos para reducir
emisiones de CO2 - tambi=E9n en el =E1rea del transporte. =




M=E1s informaciones: http://www.cdm  <http://www.cdm/>
-cooperation.de/7.0.html =



Para saber m=E1s del los proyectos ya implementados en los diferentes pa=ED=
ses
de Am=E9rica Latina hay que registrarse como usuario (gratuito). =



Clean Development Mechanism =



The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is a project-based mechanism, laid
down in the Kyoto Protocol within the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change ( UNFCCC  <http://www.unfccc.int/> ) in 1997. On the one
hand, it serves as a tool for the achievement of companies? or state?s
emission targets under minimum costs. On the other hand, it provides an
economic incentive for investments in technologies aiming at climate
protection. =



Best regards, =



Rainer Rothfuss


-----------------------
Join the Cities for Mobility online forum:
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<http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Cities-for-Mobility> =

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