Nepal to bring 600,000 units of CER in the market

Kathmandu, Dec. 1: Nepal is about to bring about 600,000 units of Certified Emission Reduction (CER) in the international carbon market.

About 220,000 household biogas plants installed across the country in recent years have created those CERs, said the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) – a government agency working in the area of developing and promoting renewable/alternative energy technologies in Nepal.

CER is an emission unit, or carbon credit, assigned by the Clean Development Mechanism as per the rules of the Kyoto Protocol, which can be traded in the international market.

One CER equals to a reduction of 1 metric ton of carbon emissions.

The Kyoto Protocol is a global agreement to fight climate change by setting mandatory international emission reduction targets, which is linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and signed by 192 countries.

“So far the UNFCC has certified 60,000 biogas plants, 450 micro-hydro projects, 22,000 improved cook stoves and 4,000 improved water-mills in Nepal,” said Prem Kumar Pokhrel, Senior Programme Officer at the Climate and Carbon Unit of the AEPC.

According to him, 30,000 units of CER of improved cook stoves and 120,000 units of CER of water-mills were recently registered, and more units of these two as well as micro-hydro will be included very soon.

He said that Nepal has 1.9 million units of registered CER, and it has sold about 1.3 million units of CER and earned Rs. 835 million.

The country is also in the process of registering more clean units. The AEPC recently published a tender notice to hire carbon auditors.

Nepal is earning US$ 5 on average per CER.

“Currently, per unit rate of CER hovers at around 17-18 cents (Rs. 18). It had reached up to $19 in the past. Nepal is paid well because of its Least Developed Country status and inclusion of women in the Clean Development Mechanism,” said Pokhrel.

AEPC said that Nepal is unable to sell all the units of CER due to poor marketing. As more units are being certified, the country needs to be aggressive in searching for buyers.

Though on some occasions buyers come searching for the clean units, the country has to reach out to the buyers most of the times.

In order to balance their carbon emissions, the developed countries buy a CER (or RMU or ERU) from the developing countries.

According to the UNFCCC, a removal unit (RMU) is based on land use, land-use change and forestry activities, such as reforestation, and an emission reduction unit (ERU) is generated by a joint implementation project.