The chairman of the CDM executive board of the UNFCCC and director, climate change cell in the Union environment and forests ministry, RK Sethi cautioned that implementation of good projects was in the best interests of the country.
“Though climate change is a hot topic and over 950 CDM projects from India are registered with the CDM Executive Board, there is a need for some caution about the steps that are being taken by project proponents, validators and governments”, he said while speaking at a special interactive session organized on Monday by the apex industry body, CII in collaboration with ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development and with the support of PricewaterhouseCoopers Pvt.Ltd.
Sethi further informed that there were over 3,000 CDM projects in the project pipeline and the executive board was keen to seek the developments. He analysed some CDM projects in India and commented on the need to involve more small and medium enterprises by providing them with proper guidance. He also enlisted some of the key shortcomings, the successes and future directions of CDM projects.
While providing a detailed description of the technical distribution of global CDM projects, Sethi explained the nuances of the registration process and also how monitoring was becoming more rigorous. Designated Operational Entities (DOEs) were becoming more competent as they go through this learning process, he added, and stressed on the need for collaborative effort on guidance on investment analysis so that no ambiguities remain.
Like in any developing process, Sethi said that the entire mechanism would evolve as one went forward and would incorporate new ideas and adapt to new market situations. Being an optimist in his own words, the challenge, he said, was to spread the idea of green, low-carbon economic growth worldwide without creating disruptions. The CDM executive board was working hard to bring out a Manual for verifiers and validators in the near future to ensure better quality of CDM projects, he said.
Climate change is an all-pervasive issue that is engaging everyone’s attention and India occupies an important place in the dialogues and activities that are taking place across the world on this issue. To enhance awareness and discuss issues at hand, the CII and ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development also felicitated Sethi for his appointment as chairman of the CDM executive board from January, this year.. His appointment is seen as a testimony to India’s increasing role in the global economy and points to its being at the forefront in initiatives involving climate change.