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Glossary

Clean Development Mechanism

The Clean Development Mechanism is one of the instruments created by the Kyoto Protocol to facilitate carbon trading. The CDM has two explicitly stated twin objectives: emissions reductions for industrialized countries and speed up of sustainable development in developing nations. It enables industrialized Parties with emission reductions commitments to efficiently reach their targets in an economically efficient way.

The incentive to invest in projects is created by the different costs of carbon abatement – an industrialized country seeking to reduce emissions domestically is likely to face substantially higher costs, compared to investment in CDM projects to decrease emissions overseas.

By providing investment incentives, the CDM acts as an aid to project finance in host countries, encouraging sustainable development through the adoption of cleaner energy sources, or more efficient industrial processes. Host countries which tax the revenue from local projects will also be able to build a national fund which may be used for local adaptation to climate change.

Greenhouse Gases

The greenhouse effect is the rise in temperature that the earth experiences because certain gases in the atmosphere (water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane, for example) trap energy from the sun. Because of how they warm our world, these gases are referred to as greenhouse gases. Today, most scientists are pretty sure that the rising temperature can’t be blamed on nature. Ever since the industrial revolution in the 1700s, humans have relied on machines for daily life. And many of those machines (like cars) give off, or emit, a lot of greenhouse gases. An increase in the release of greenhouse gases from human activities is throwing nature off balance.

Global Warming

Global Warming is the increase of the average temperature on Earth. As the Earth is getting hotter, disasters like hurricanes, droughts and floods are getting more frequent. Carbon dioxide and other air pollution that is collecting in the atmosphere like a thickening blanket, trapping the sun’s heat and causing the planet to warm up. Coal-burning power plants are the largest U.S. source of carbon dioxide pollution – they produce 2.5 billion tons every year. Automobiles, the second largest source, create nearly 1.5 billion tons of CO2 annually. The good news is that technologies exist today to make cars that run cleaner and burn less gas, modernize power plants and generate electricity from nonpolluting sources, and cut our electricity use through energy efficiency. The challenge is to be sure these solutions are put to use.

Certified Emission Reductions

CERs are carbon credits generated by CDM projects which have completed the registration process. Each CER represents the abatement of one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent, and CERs are only issued by the CDM Executive Board once estimated abatement volumes have been validated independently, and a stringent verification process is in place for ongoing monitoring.

Verified Emission Reductions

A VER is a reduction of one metric ton of greenhouse gas carbon equivalent below a defined baseline or regulatory requirement. VERs are frequently used for voluntarily balancing greenhouse gas emissions, demonstrating in this manner a person’s or company’s responsibility and awareness on climate change issues and contributing to reasonable investments by offsetting carbon emissions. VERs allow GHG emitters to “balance” emissions of GHGs produced in one place by procuring GHG reductions from somewhere else (whether next door or around the world), thus meeting either voluntary or mandatory emissions reduction targets.