Thaindian News

New Delhi, May 10 (IANS) Recognising India as the leading generator of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects in the world and the nation’s “huge potential” in the field, the German government Monday called on India for international cooperation to provide market linkages for carbon credits.
Expressing interest in India as a partner for CDM projects German Ambassador Thomas Matussek, inaugurating a two-day event ‘Carbon Bazaar 2010′, said: “India has a huge potential for CDM projects. Along with China, India has been a leading destination for CDM projects globally since the inception of the mechanism. India is also one of the leading countries with the highest number of registered protects until February 2010.”

The event was jointly organised by the environment ministries of India and Germany along with the German Technical Cooperation Agency in Delhi.

Stressing the pro-active role of the Indian government in facilitating international conventions, Deputy General of the German Ministry of Environment Franzjosef Schafhausen said: “The Ministry of Environment and Forest, government of India, and the German Federal Ministry for the Environment have launched the CDM initiative in India to boost the market mechanisms and CER (Certified Emission Reduction) trading in India and also provide a meeting ground for the disparate market players.”

“The focus of this initiative is to facilitate the participation of the Indian CDM projects in the European Union’s Emission Trading Scheme, thereby also becoming a part of the Global Carbon Market,” he added.

Additional Secretary of the environment and forests ministry Jairam Mauskar said: “India’s CDM potential represents a significant component of the global CDM market.”

“As on May 7 2010, 505 out of a total of 2,194 projects registered with the CDM executive board are from India. If all these projects get registered, they have a potential to generate 639 million CERs by the year 2012.”