Summary of Executive Board meeting 66

The 66th CDM Executive Board meeting established the 2012-2013 business plan and the 2012 Management Plan, which includes a commitment to assess improvements for demonstrating additionality in large-scale projects. The Board is transitioning to a risk-based approach for project registration to handle an expected surge in applications before 2012 year-end EU restrictions. Other key developments include the creation of a permanent working group for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and ongoing debates regarding perverse incentives in nitric acid N2O abatement methodologies. Carbon Market Watch expressed concern over the risk-based approach and the lack of Board discussion regarding the price collapse of EU-ETS allowances and CDM credits.

• The CDM Executive Board's 2012 Management Plan now includes a commitment to assess ways to improve the demonstration of additionality, specifically responding to requests from the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP). This will involve a 'Concept note on possible improvements in the demonstration of additionality' in fall 2012 and potential 'New or revised standards and/or guidelines for additionality' by the end of 2012.
• To manage a predicted 'flood of projects applying for registration in 2012'—driven by the EU's plan to only accept new projects in Least Developed Countries after 2012—the Board is implementing a risk-based approach. This system allows the Board to use 'spot checks' rather than evaluating every project individually, a move Carbon Market Watch argues could make it harder to 'identify and eliminate harmful projects'.
• The Board is reviewing N2O abatement projects from nitric acid production due to concerns that older methodologies (AM0028 and AM0034) create a 'perverse incentive' for developers to maximize N2O production to earn more credits. The Board has requested the Methodologies Panel to assess these risks, while noting that the newer ACM0019 methodology uses a 'declining baseline emission factor' to minimize such incentives.
• The Board established a permanent working group dedicated to the assessment of methodologies for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) projects, following the adoption of procedures at COP17 in Durban.
• Carbon Market Watch criticizes the CDM Secretariat and Board for avoiding a 'frank discussion' regarding the price collapse of CDM credits and EU-ETS allowances, noting that the EU's role as the largest buyer makes the lack of demand a 'serious threat to the viability of the CDM'.

APA

Carbon Market Watch (2012). Summary of Executive Board meeting 66. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/publications/summary-of-executive-board-meeting-66/

Chicago

Carbon Market Watch. Summary of Executive Board meeting 66. 2012. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/publications/summary-of-executive-board-meeting-66/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Carbon Market Watch |title=Summary of Executive Board meeting 66 |date=18 March 2012 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/publications/summary-of-executive-board-meeting-66/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{carbonmarketwatch2012summary, author = {{Carbon Market Watch}}, title = {{Summary of Executive Board meeting 66}}, institution = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2012}, month = mar, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/publications/summary-of-executive-board-meeting-66/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }