Green Investment Schemes: Maximizing their benefits for climate and society

The report analyzes Green Investment Schemes (GIS) as a hybrid carbon finance mechanism in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) that 'greens' surplus Assigned Amount Units (AAUs) by earmarking sales revenues for domestic climate mitigation. It argues that GIS can overcome the failures of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation (JI)—particularly in energy efficiency and small-scale projects—by utilizing more flexible, programmatic architectures and simplified monitoring and verification (M&V). The report identifies the thermal retrofitting of old building stock as a high-priority target area due to its long-term climate impact and significant social co-benefits. It provides specific architectural recommendations, such as the use of sectoral baselines, post-2012 crediting periods, and the dominance of 'hard greening' to ensure environmental integrity.

• Green Investment Schemes (GIS) are described as a "hybrid" mechanism combining the International Emission Trading (IET) of AAUs under Article 17 of the Kyoto Protocol with domestic greening activities funded by the sales revenue.
• The total available AAUs from Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, including Russia and Ukraine, are approximately 6.5 Gt over the first commitment period, while net demand is estimated at 900 Mt.
• If the net demand of 900 Mt were met at a price of €10 per ton, the expected value of AAU transactions could reach approximately €9 billion.
• The report identifies the low-energy retrofit of old, inefficient building stock as a high-priority target area because it offers numerous co-benefits, including health improvements, reduction of fuel poverty, and employment creation.
• To avoid locking buildings into a high-emission future, GIS should support retrofits that approach passive solar standards rather than just economically optimal levels.
• Other priority areas for GIS in CEE include biomass-based heating and land-use activities (LULUCF) in countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, and Poland.
• The report concludes that CDM and JI largely failed to deliver in high-sustainability areas like building energy efficiency and small-scale bioenergy, and therefore GIS should not "copy-paste" their architectures.
• To ensure the bankability of long-term projects with long payback times, the report recommends a realistic post-2012 crediting period, such as until 2020.
• For environmental integrity, the report recommends the dominance of 'hard greening' (quantifiable emission reductions) over 'soft greening' (non-quantifiable activities), with soft greening limited to a minor share to avoid misuse.
• A programmatic approach is recommended over a purely project-based approach for dispersed investments like end-use efficiency to reduce transaction costs and enable larger scale roll-out.
• To reduce transaction costs and methodology problems, the report suggests using sectoral baselines instead of individual project baselines.
• The report suggests simplified and innovative monitoring and verification (M&V) methods, such as calculations confirmed by random checks or ISO standards, to avoid the prohibitive costs associated with CDM-style M&V.
• To prevent the misuse of funds in CEE countries with low financial discipline, revenues should be placed in special accounts that cannot be legally used for other purposes.
• As of October 2008, Hungary and Latvia were identified as the front-runners in GIS development, with Hungary having approved the first national law in June 2007.
• The report suggests that EU member states should prefer purchasing AAUs from other EU member states to help the EU comply with post-2012 commitments and avoid future investment burdens.

APA

Ürge-Vorsatz, D., Türk, A., Sharmina, M., Feiler, J., & Qiao, L. (2008). Green Investment Schemes: Maximizing their benefits for climate and society. Climate Strategies. https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/gis-full-report-updated1.pdf

Chicago

Ürge-Vorsatz, Diana, Andreas Türk, Maria Sharmina, József Feiler, and Liming Qiao. Green Investment Schemes: Maximizing their benefits for climate and society. Climate Strategies, 2008. https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/gis-full-report-updated1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Ürge-Vorsatz |first1=Diana |last2=Türk |first2=Andreas |last3=Sharmina |first3=Maria |last4=Feiler |first4=József |last5=Qiao |first5=Liming |title=Green Investment Schemes: Maximizing their benefits for climate and society |publisher=Climate Strategies |date=December 2008 |url=https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/gis-full-report-updated1.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rgevorsatz2008green, author = {Ürge-Vorsatz, Diana and Türk, Andreas and Sharmina, Maria and Feiler, József and Qiao, Liming}, title = {{Green Investment Schemes: Maximizing their benefits for climate and society}}, institution = {Climate Strategies}, year = {2008}, month = dec, url = {https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/gis-full-report-updated1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }