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U.S. climate envoy John Kerry on Friday announced the launch of a new carbon offset program that will allow companies to fund clean energy projects in developing countries and earn carbon credits that they can then use to meet their own climate goals , at least in part.
Kerry said the program, called the Energy Transition Accelerator (ETA), will be developed by the United States in conjunction with the Bezos Earth Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation, and will receive input from both the public and private sectors.
“This concept holds great promise. We are working closely with governments, companies and NGOs. We can ensure that it provides large-scale financing no later than COP28…to provide a just energy transition and environmental integrity …” Kerry said Sheikh, speaking at the “Financial Day” of this year’s UN climate conference (COP27) in Sharm, Egypt.
The concept, according to Kerry, is to make carbon markets work, deploy capital that would otherwise not be deployable, and accelerate the transition from dirty to clean energy.
Experts say the proposed initiative will not be enough to make up for the lack of funding in rich countries.
“Developing countries need predictable financing — not offsetting markets. Proposed initiatives cannot compensate for the U.S. failure to provide its fair share of climate finance — an estimated $40 billion of the $100 billion annual unmet target Nor should it replace the deep decarbonisation needed by the US and other industrialised nations. For developing countries like India, the priority is to meet their own goals, not to compensate developed countries for their emissions reductions,” World Ulka Kelkar, director of the Climate Change Program at the Resource Institute (India), said in a statement.
“Kerry’s announcement may address a political narrative — telling a story about unlocking finance — but it’s unlikely that sufficient, predictable finance is actually available,” Navroz Dubash, a professor at the Center for Policy Studies, said in a statement. flow.”
A third expert added that how the plan is implemented will be key. “The U.S. Energy Transition Accelerator is arguably the first large-scale structured program that will demonstrate Article 6.2 in practice,” Vaibhav Chaturvedi, a fellow at the Energy Environment and Water Council, said in a statement. A senior official of the Indian delegation to COP27 took a similar position. “The plan needs to be scrutinized very carefully. It will definitely be good for renewable energy projects and for the very old and unviable coal plants India wants to close. Too early to say,” said the person, who asked not to be named Say.
Kerry’s announcement of the carbon market plan comes as developing countries grow increasingly distrustful of developed nations failing to deliver on climate finance pledges. India’s Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said on Tuesday that the $100 billion pledges made by developed countries were a “mirage”.
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