Russia approves first JI projects

Russia today gave the green light to 15 projects to earn carbon credits under the Kyoto protocol.

The approved projects have the potential to generate 30 million emission reduction units (ERUs) up to 2012, a senior official with the Russian ministry of economy told Point Carbon News.

The 15 projects are among the 37 initiatives that applied for carbon finance under the Kyoto protocol’s joint implementation mechanism earlier this year, Oleg Pluzhnikov said.

The green light had been expected to be given by the government in April, which would have allowed the first issuance of ERUs in October.

“November is more realistic now (for the first projects to be issued with carbon credits)”, the Pluzhnikov said in an e-mail.

The list of approved projects will not be made public until the ministerial order on the approval gets published, he added without giving a specific date.

In February, Russia launched a tender through state-owned bank Sberbank which attracted 10 companies seeking to cut emissions in return for ERUs.

The 37 projects submitted by these companies aim to reduce emissions by a total of 74.74 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent during the years 2009-2012.

The approval follows years of delays in getting government consent for Russian JI projects