Honduras Hydropower Project Makes History Today for the Small Community of La Esperanza
LA ESPERANZA, HONDURAS, October 20, 2005¾ Another historic milestone in the global carbon market was reached today, when the Executive Board of the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) issued the first ever Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) to two small CDM projects located in Honduras—the La Esperanza Hydroelectric Project and the Rio Blanco Small Hydroelectic Project. The La Esperanza project is selling certified greenhouse gas emission reductions to the World Bank Community Development Carbon Fund (CDCF). In this first issuance of certified emission reductions, La Esperanza’s was a small, but historically important volume of 2,210 CERs.
The issuance of the Certified Emission Reductions is the final step in a process that officially recognizes the project and its greenhouse gas emission reductions under the rules of the CDM. The CERs that are issued can be used by countries to fulfill their Kyoto commitments to reduce greenhouse gases. Companies may acquire and use CERs to meet national obligations to reduce emissions, such as under the European Union Trading Scheme.
"One of the objectives of President Maduro's administration has been its commitment to promote new power production using renewable resources,â€? said Gerardo Salgado, Deputy Secretary of Natural Resources and Energy. “This goal has been reached with commissioning of new projects like La Esperanza hydro plant. However, it’s a great honor for Honduras to be a leader in the Clean Development Mechanism, showing not only our commitment with the sustainable use of our natural resources but contributing with actions to reduce greenhouse gases."
The people of the town of La Esperanza in central Honduras may not be aware that they are making history today but they do know that they are getting direct development benefits through innovative carbon trade mechanisms provided by the CDCF.
The carbon fund operates under the Kyoto Protocol, the 1997 agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) that are causing climate change, which went into effect in February 2005. The Clean Development Mechanism, a flexible mechanism of the Protocol, allows OECD countries to fulfill some of their greenhouse gas emission-reduction commitments through projects in the developing world.
