Yemen jumps onboard Kyoto campaign [Archives:2006/978/Local News]

SANA'A, Sept. 2 ) Yemen is looking to keep pace with global goals to cut down on carbon dioxide by joining the Capacity Development for Cleaning Development Mechanism Project.

The project is known as CD4CDM and Yemen is a new member in the project which falls under the Kyoto Protocol.

“Yemen, as party to the Kyoto protocol, is fully committed to fulfill its national and international environmental targets” said Minister of Water and Environment Dr. Abdullrahman Al-Ariani at the press conference announcing Yemen's green step forward.

“I am happy to say that Yemen will be one of the new nine countries that enjoyed lately the Capacity Development for Cleaning Development Mechanism project,” said Al-Ariani.

CDM aims to direct private sector investment into emission-reduction projects in developing countries while also promoting sustainable development. In return the industrialized countries investing in projects will receive credits against their Kyoto target.

“Ideally, it will encourage additional capital flows into developing countries, accelerate technology transfer, create new job opportunities and enable developing countries to leapfrog to cleaner technologies,” Al-Ariani remarked.

Yemen needs 4 more million jobs over the next years to cope with the excessive growth of labor force in the country.

“On the global level job creation in the environmental sector, especially in the field of clean technologies, is large and expanding and global expenditures on the environment are in the range of US$ 525 billion per year,” Al-Ariani added.

The project, funded by the Netherlands Government and implemented by Untied Nation Environment Program, will aim to enable Yemen to fully engage as a partner in the global carbon market.

Deputy Head of the Royal Netherlands Embassy, Roelof Buffinga, said CD4CDM's activities include support for establishing a designated national authority, organizing practice-oriented workshops for CDM stakeholders, civil servants, local experts, academic and staff members of relevant financial institutions to enable them to identify, design and implement CDM projects.

Buffinga mentioned that 12 pilot countries started the program in 2002 and they will finalize their programs at the end of the year. Another nine countries, including Yemen, have joined the program.
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