Has Joint Implementation reduced GHG emissions?

The study finds that approximately 75% of Joint Implementation (JI) offsets likely did not represent additional emission reductions, potentially increasing global GHG emissions by 600 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. The analysis highlights systemic failures in additionality testing, the prevalence of retroactive crediting, and the lack of international oversight in Track 1 projects, particularly in countries with significant Assigned Amount Unit (AAU) surpluses like Russia and Ukraine.

• The use of JI offsets may have increased global greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 600 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) compared to a scenario where countries met targets domestically.
• In a representative sample of 60 projects, additionality claims were found to be not plausible for 73% of the issued ERUs and questionable for an additional 12%.
• Of the six largest project types analyzed, only N2O abatement from nitric acid production demonstrated high overall environmental integrity.
• The avoidance of uncontrolled fires at coal waste piles in Ukraine is rated as having low environmental integrity due to implausible additionality and significant overcrediting based on unrealistic baseline assumptions.
• Associated petroleum gas (APG) utilization projects in Russia are rated as having low environmental integrity, with evidence suggesting that many would have been implemented regardless of JI incentives.
• Natural gas transportation and distribution projects in Ukraine are rated as having low environmental integrity, with many projects receiving Letters of Endorsement (LoE) years after implementation began.
• Energy efficiency projects in industry and power production are rated as having questionable integrity, as many were financially attractive without JI and the mechanism may have only accelerated implementation.
• Track 1 projects, which are overseen by host countries without international review, show significantly lower environmental integrity than Track 2 projects overseen by the Joint Implementation Supervisory Committee (JISC).
• Retroactive crediting, where ERUs are issued for reductions occurring before project registration, seriously undermined the integrity of the JI mechanism.
• Accredited Independent Entities (AIEs), specifically Bureau Veritas, are criticized for failing to identify obvious mistakes and inconsistencies, with 77% of projects determined by Bureau Veritas in the sample having implausible additionality claims.
• Host countries with significant AAU surpluses, such as Russia and Ukraine, had fewer economic incentives to ensure the environmental integrity of the ERUs they issued.
• JI may have undermined the emission reduction target of the European Union’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) by approximately 400 million tCO2.

APA

Kollmuss, A., Schneider, L., & Zhezherin, V. (2015). Has Joint Implementation reduced GHG emissions? Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/SEI-WP-2015-07-JI-lessons-for-carbon-mechs.pdf

Chicago

Kollmuss, Anja, Lambert Schneider, and Vladyslav Zhezherin. Has Joint Implementation reduced GHG emissions? Stockholm Environment Institute, 2015. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/SEI-WP-2015-07-JI-lessons-for-carbon-mechs.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Kollmuss |first1=Anja |last2=Schneider |first2=Lambert |last3=Zhezherin |first3=Vladyslav |title=Has Joint Implementation reduced GHG emissions? |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=August 2015 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/SEI-WP-2015-07-JI-lessons-for-carbon-mechs.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{kollmuss2015has, author = {Kollmuss, Anja and Schneider, Lambert and Zhezherin, Vladyslav}, title = {{Has Joint Implementation reduced GHG emissions?}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2015}, month = aug, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/SEI-WP-2015-07-JI-lessons-for-carbon-mechs.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }