Yemen

Latest Developments

(2008-04-13)  The Executive Coordinator of the Global Environment Facility (EEG/BDP/GEF), Mr. Yannick Glemarec Visit to Yemen

SANA'A, 13 April 2008: The Executive Coordinator of the Global Environment Facility (EEG/BDP/GEF) and UNDP Carbon Finance Manager, Mr. Yannick Glemarec, visited Yemen from 11- 14 April 2008, in order to consult with Government Officials and the Private Sector on the progress made so far in the implementation of the Clean Development Mechanism. During his visit, Mr. Glemarec met: H.E. the Prime Minister of Yemen Dr. Ali Mohammed Mojawar, H.E. Minister of Water and Environment and Chair of the CDM Approval Board, H.E. Minister of Industry and Trade, H.E Minister of Oil and Minerals, and other Governmental officials.

As a background to the topic, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is a flexible mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol with two objectives: The CDM shall help developing countries in achieving sustainable development and assist industrialized countries in meeting their emission reduction targets. For each ton of CO₂ equivalent that is reduced as a result of a CDM project, a certified emission reduction unit (CER) is issued and can be used by industrialized countries for the fulfillment of their commitments. Ideally, it will encourage additional capital flows into developing countries, accelerate technology transfer, creating new job opportunities and enable developing countries to leapfrog to cleaner technologies.

In 2007 Yemen became one of the first countries in the world to sign a host Memorandum of Understanding for United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)'s Millennium Development Goals MDG Carbon Facility activities.  The MDG Carbon Facility, an innovative mechanism for the development and commercialization of emission reduction projects, was established to help mobilize the potentially significant benefits of carbon finance for the developing world.  This reflects the strong support for carbon financing as a development tool in Yemen and the foresight and leadership provided by UNDP-Yemen.  In December 2007, Yemen will become the first country in the Arab State Region in which project-level agreement has been signed with the MDG Carbon Facility The Sana'a Landfill Gas project has the potential to generate annual emission reductions of over 100,000 tCO2e and contribute to improved waste collection and management - a significant environmental problem in Yemen. The cooperation on CDM capacity building by far exceeded the originally planned outputs. Yemen has received enormous international recognition for these crucial steps taken. The country has taken the lead in the region to promote its CDM capacity to the global carbon market.

The MDG Carbon Facility’s compliance activities represent an innovative collaboration between UNDP and an international financial services provider, Fortis Bank (“Fortis”), offering prospective emissions reduction projects a comprehensive “one-stop-shop” package of services. UNDP and Fortis contribute their particular area of expertise, UNDP providing project development services and Fortis providing carbon banking services, comprised of purchasing and marketing the emission offsets generated by the Facility’s projects.  UNDP’s collaboration with Fortis encompasses an initial pipeline of projects issuing emission offsets during the first Kyoto commitment period from 2008 to 2012.

For more information about Mr. Glemarec visit, please feel free to contact:

Yazan Al-Saghiry, UNDP Yemen Communications Officer, yazan.al-saghiry@undp.org, Mobile: 712222301

Fuad Ali, Team Leader of Pro-Poor Economic Growth, fuad.ali@undp.org, Mobile: 712222330

Agnese Pinto, Programme Officer, agnese.pinto@undp.org, Mobile: 712222332

Last Modified on 2008-04-13