Billions of dollars set to be invested in projects to reduce carbon emissions could be withdrawn unless global environment leaders promise a successor to the Kyoto Protocol next month, carbon market traders said.
The United Nations' clean development mechanism (CDM) scheme allows rich countries to meet domestic greenhouse gas emissions limits by buying carbon offsets from developing nations, investing in emissions-cutting projects.
Project developers and offset traders are calling for clarity ahead of a meeting of world governments in Bali, Indonesia, next month that aims to begin negotiations on mapping out a plan to fight global warming to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.
"The big problem with the system is its unclear future post-2012, so it's hard for us to convince project managers even though we ourselves know it is going to continue," said Dang Hong Hanh, deputy director of Vietnam Energy and Environment Consultancy, on Wednesday....MORE
