Transcript paving the road for the implementation of a national greenhouse

PAVING THE ROAD FOR
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF
A NATIONAL GREENHOUSE
REGISTRY IN ROMANIA
Mihaela DUPLEAC - TERRA Millennium III,
ROMANIA
Development of Registries, REC&CANCEE Side Event, SBSTA, June
7, 2003
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1. INTRODUCTION
• Project in the frame of REC’s “Support for
the Implementation of the Kyoto Protocol”
• October 2002 - March 2003
• TERRA Millennium III - apolitical, nongovernmental and not for profit
organization for environment protection;
regional center of CAN CEE, legitimated by
the UN to follow the UNFCCC negotiations
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Objectives:
– overview of the intl. requirements (UNFCCC,
EU) for national registries (NR)
– overview of the national circumstances that
support/hinder the implementation of a NR in
Romania
– establishment of the specific needs related to
the NR implementation
– establishment of a scheme for the NR under
the most probable option for Romania’s
participation in flexible mechanisms
– contribution to capacity building in Romania recommendations on the next steps.
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Methods:
• desk research
– international requirements
– trading schemes
– existing climate policy, legal framework, institutions, capacity,
needs, financial support
– existing monitoring and registration systems
• interviews
– specialists - env. & energy research, statistics, companies,
financing institutions; operators of existing registries
– decision makers (MWEP, MIR)
• brainstorming
• comments on the draft paper.
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2. INTERNATIONAL REQUIREMENTS
ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A GHG
REGISTRY
• UNFCCC Guidelines
• EU Proposed Scheme for GHG Emissions
Allowance Trading
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UNFCCC Guidelines
• Kyoto Protocol: each Annex I Party shall
establish and maintain a NR
• COP 7, Marrakesh Accords: decisions on
NR, CDM registry and independent
transaction log
• COP 8, New Delhi: technical standards for
the structure and data formats of registry
systems.
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EU Proposed Scheme for GHG Emissions
Allowance Trading
• MS/authorities will grant GHG permits that set obligations to hold
transferable allowances equal to the actual emissions
• Yearly, companies must submit for cancellation a number of allowances
corresponding to their actual emissions
• Holding and tracking of allowances will be done through an electronic
register
• Preliminary phase 2005-2007
• Second phase - five years periods, starting 2008
• Linked national registries - crucial component
• Synergies with existing legislation (IPPC Directive) - EPER
• Accession countries may link to the EU scheme by entering into
agreements with EU Parties to mutually recognize each other’s
allowances
• Proposal does not foresee inclusion of credits from JI and CDM.
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3. NATIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES FOR
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A GHG
REGISTRY IN ROMANIA
GENERAL
• Romania - Annex I country
• Ratified the Kyoto Protocol in 2001
• MoUs with: The Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria,
Norway, Denmark
• AIJ already, JI under development; ET envisaged.
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INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK
• MWEP; national climate change focal point
• Future National Environmental Agency
• Environment Protection Inspectorates
• National Commission on Climate Change
• Institutes of research (ICIM, INMH, ISPE,
ICEMENERG)
• National Institute of Statistics
• NGO - TERRA Mileniul III.
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CLIMATE CHANGE STRATEGY AND
ACTION PLAN
• No specific CC strategy
• Guidelines for NAPCC initiated by REC Romania
(March 2003)
• Strategies for the environment protection (1996; 20012004)
• National strategy for economic development of
Romania
• National strategy for sustainable development
• Sectoral strategies
• NEAP (1995); new one scheduled for 2003.
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LEGISLATION
• Ratification of UNFCCC in 1994 (Law)
Ratification of Kyoto Protocol in 2001 (Law)
• Law on environmental protection
• Law and ministerial orders on the protection
of atmosphere
• Set of laws regarding the Environment Fund
• Law regarding integrated pollutants
prevention and control (IPPC Directive)
• Ministerial order for the set up of the PER.
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NATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS AND
INVENTORIES
• NC 1 (1995) - used CORINAIR
• NC 2 (1998) - used the 1995 IPCC Guidelines,
includes Inventory for 1989-1991 and estimates for
1992-1994
• NC 3 (2003) - draft; revised UNFCCC Guidelines
• Inventory for 1992-2000 and National Inventory
Report for 2000 were submitted in Dec. 2002, based
on revised UNFCCC Guidelines and Common
Reporting Format.
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Circumstances that SUPPORT the
Implementation of a NR in Romania
• Political Commitment
– First Annex I country that ratified the Kyoto Protocol
– commitment to participate in flexible mechanisms (ranked as the most interested AC)
– commitment to keep the pace with EU initiatives
• Legislation
– primary legislation in place
– precedent created: setting up of the PER
– existing primary and secondary legislation on electronic commerce
• Experience with other registries
– most existing registries in the country are operated by governmental institutions, under
specific regulation
– existing capacity for developing, operating and maintaining registries is satisfactory
– many Romanian companies dealing with software development and computerized
services emerged on the internal and international market
– March 2003: National Guide of Pollutant Emissions issued; implementation of PER public register to provide environmental information on industrial activities covered by
IPPC Directive (including GHGs); useful for air emissions trading between facilities 
PER and NR efforts can be joint.
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Circumstances that HINDER the Implementation
of a NR in Romania
•
•
Strategy - no clear strategy on GHG mitigation
Compliance with the UNFCCC reporting requirements - until present the country
has not provided the GHG Inventories annually; only 3rd Inventory (for 1992-2000) complies
with the requirements
•
Institutional
– reduced climate related capacity in the MWEP
– National Commission on Climate Change met only once a year (1997-2002), no working
group, no activities between meetings; starting 2003, the frequency of the meetings has
raised
•
•
•
Monitoring systems for air quality
– lack of funds  very few stationary sources are equipped with continuous measurement
instruments to monitor air emissions
– a reliable inventory can not be achieved at a regional/local level  data uncertainties in
collecting emissions info from sources, low capacity on verification of data at the local
inspectorates for environment protection
Financing - financial assets at MWEP are unsatisfactory; new Environmental Protection
Fund
Status of international negotiations on registry systems - not finalized yet, ongoing
discussions in the EU, Romania follows the discussions.
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National Registry Built in Romania or
Acquired from Abroad?
1) ACHIEVEMENT OF THE REGISTRY IN ROMANIA
– Romania has the background, necessary expertise and
means
– less costly, while respecting international requirements
– best adaptation to the local situation
– built on existing databases in the country
– implemented using existing infrastructure
– limited external support: technical and financial
assistance (MoUs)
– establishment of national framework of recording
relevant information, as a preliminary step to the NR,
while intl. negotiations settle an agreed and detailed set
of requirements for the NR
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2) ACQUIRING THE REGISTRY FROM ABROAD
• readily made Registry, once such systems emerge internationally
• eliminate concerns regarding credibility and compatibility with other
international registry systems
• low existing legislative, financial and even technical capacity in the
country
• international negotiations have not been finalized yet  stand-by
approach
• international technical and financial assistance for the implementation
(MoUs)
3) WHILE STANDARDS ARE STILL BEING
NEGOTIATED INTERNATIONALLY, ROMANIA
NEEDS TO START THE INSTITUTIONAL
FRAMEWORK FOR THE REGISTRY
• designation of the NR Administrator (governmental/private body)
• selection and training of personnel
• definition of the NR requirements etc.
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4. DESIGN OF A NATIONAL GHG
REGISTRY FOR ROMANIA
ROMANIA’S POLICY OPTION REGARDING
PARTICIPATION IN FLEXIBLE MECHANISMS
• Romania is willing to participate in JI and ET (seller)
• currently it is envisaged that only the government will be
entitled to trade; further on, probably legal entities will
also be allowed to trade
• a domestic trading system is not likely to evolve at present
in Romania.
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GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR THE
DEVELOPMENT OF A NATIONAL REGISTRY
• NR to ensure accurate accounting of the issuance, holding, transfer,
acquisition, cancellation and retirement of AAUs, ERUs, RMUs and
the carry-over of the AAUs and ERUs
• concordance with technical standards (mandatory and indicative) issuance and transactions occur in an accurate, transparent and
efficient manner
• Romania will have to provide a description of its NR to the UNFCCC
(Marrakesh Accords)
• NR will be reviewed at UNFCCC
• Romania may link its NR to the EU’s trading scheme by entering into
agreements with EU Parties so as to mutually recognize each other’s
allowances
• Romania’s NR will be integrated in the EU network of NR and linked
to the Central Emissions Register.
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FUNCTIONS OF THE REGISTRY (1)
• Recording of units
– holding account - containing initial AAUs & RMUs and
ERUs initiated in JI projects
– cancellation account - corresponding to each commitment
period
– retirement account - for each commitment period, to
demonstrate compliance
– each legal entity authorized to trade will have at least one
holding account
– available list of legal entities (to UNFCCC Secretariat and
public)
– serial numbers - assigned to AAUs, RMUs, ERUs
– account numbers - assigned to every account in the NR.
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FUNCTIONS OF THE REGISTRY (2)
• Processing transactions
– issuance
• no. of AAUs to be issued is equal to no. of tones of CO2e
corresponding to Romania’s assigned amount (92 % of
emissions in 1989)
• issuance of RMUs, equivalent to net GHG removals
• issuance of ERUs, as result of JI projects
– cancellation (AAUs, RMUs, ERUs), in case:
• the LULUCF activities result in a net source of GHG
emissions;
• of non-compliance;
– retirement - valid AAUs, ERUs and RMUs shall be retired for
the commitment period, to be used for demonstrating compliance
– carry-over - neither retired nor cancelled AAUs can be carried
over (if retirement account shows compliance).
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FUNCTIONS OF THE REGISTRY (3)
• Substantiation of compliance/ Reporting
– Information from and about NR will be incorporated in the annual
Inventory reports and the National Communications
– The National Inventory Report shall contain information on any
changes that have occurred in the NR, compared to last submission
• Access to information
– NR records non-confidential information
– Publicly accessible user interface through the Internet
– Data transparency  improved credibility regarding:
• implementation of measures for compliance achievement
• reliable systemof GHG emissions monitoring, verifying, registration
and reporting Romania would be a trustworthy counterpart for
transactions (including JI projects).
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5. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE
ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL
REGISTRY IN ROMANIA
POLICY
• Urgent development of CC strategy, stating also the modalities Romania
will participate at flexible mechanisms
• A more enhanced MWEP coordination of the CC related activities; strategy
before action plan
LEGISLATION
• Creation of a specific legal framework to set up the registry (i.e. Ministerial
Order, as for PER)
– definition of the NR’s functions;
– data collection, validation and registration in the NR;
– assigning an institution responsible with the NR.
• Emission trading needs to be regulated
• Transposition of the Council Decision 93/389/EEC as amended by Decision
99/296/EC for a Monitoring Mechanism of Community GHG Emissions inclusion in the MWEP’s Program of Priority Measures (2002-2004).
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COMPLIANCE WITH UNFCCC REPORTING
REQUIREMENTS
• Prior to January 1, 2007, Romania will have to submit to
the UNFCCC Secretariat the report on calculation of its
assigned amount for the first commitment period, plus a
complete inventory
• Romania will have to issue a quantity of AAUs equivalent
to its assigned amount in its NR
• Romania will have to authorize:
– legal entities to participate in projects;
– legal entities to make transactions.
• Immediate implementation of measures should commence,
as the country lacks infrastructure and capacity.
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INSTITUTIONAL BUILDING
• Assign of an institution as Central Administrator of the NR,
governmental (MWEP’s option)/ private body
• Romania - separate registry, not a consolidated one
• Later, brokerage companies will evolve.
CAPACITY BUILDING
• Development of a national institutional infrastructure: MWEP,
inspectorates
for
environment
protection,
Central
Administrator, MIR (and agencies)
• Coordination between:
– responsibles in the MWEP;
– MWEP and other governmental institutions;
• targeted trainings addressed to personnel, including in
inspectorates for environment protection; international
assistance needed.
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MONITORING
• Monitoring systems needs a dramatic improvement:
– increase of number of monitored sources and
– endowment with high quality monitoring equipment.
• Enforcement of the existing legislation in the environment
protection
• Close follow-up of the fulfillment of the so-called ‘programs for
compliance’ of facilities by inspectorates.
FINANCING
• MWEP does not dispose of sufficient financial assets
• New Environment Protection Fund, low resources
• Further need for international financing assistance (agreements
under MoUs, GEF capacity building).
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Dr. Mihaela DUPLEAC
Executive Director
TERRA Mileniul III
1-3 Walter Maracineanu Sq., Room 171, sector 1,
Bucharest, ROMANIA
Tel/fax: +4021- 312 68 70
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Http://terraIII.ngo.ro
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