True to the Association’s advocacy in helping mitigate climate change, the ADFIAP Secretariat has purchased 22 certified emission reduction units (CERs) that were issued for the Indian Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project Switching of Fuel from Naphtha to Natural Gas at United Phosphorus Limited (CDM Project No. 437). The CERs have been obtained by the Secretariat to offset 22 tonnes of carbon emissions that it incurred in 2008 through electricity usage in its offices and from business travel of its officers and staff.

The Secretariat chose to buy offsets from an existing project and from a batch of issued CERs rather than to contribute to a general portfolio fund for investment in future projects so it could be sure that the project and the emission reductions achieved have both been through rigorous approval processes. As the CERs were kept in a CDM registry, it could also be certain that they would be retired upon purchase.

The project, United Phosphorus Limited (UPL), primarily aims at reducing GHG gas emission through switching naphtha as a fuel to natural gas as a fuel for their power plant as well as at bringing social (employment, health and labor conditions), environmental (air quality) and economic benefits, thus contributing to sustainable development objectives of the country. The project has been validated and verified in accordance with the CDM as defined by the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is an arrangement under the Kyoto Protocol allowing industrialized countries with a greenhouse gas reduction commitment (called Annex B countries) to invest in projects that reduce emissions in developing countries. The CDM allows net global greenhouse gas emissions to be reduced at a much lower global cost by financing emissions reduction projects in developing countries where costs are lower than in industrialized countries.