* Ukraine is Japan's first govt-to-govt CO2 offset partner
* Governments agree on clean-technology transfer from Japan
* Another similar deal to come
By Risa Maeda
TOKYO, March 18 (Reuters) - Japan on Wednesday sealed a deal
to buy emissions rights from Ukraine, marking its first deal via
a government-to-government trading scheme under the Kyoto
Protocol and paving the way for another similar deal soon.
Kiev will deliver 30 million tonnes of so-called Assigned
Amount Units (AAUs) to Japan, with the sale's proceeds earmarked
for six specific environmental measures in Ukraine, including
renewable energy projects, the Japanese government said in a
statement.
The other five areas are energy conservation, utilisation of
coal bed methane, shift to cleaner fuels, pollution reduction
and reduction of other greenhouse gases than carbon dioxide.
The value of the deal was not disclosed.
Japan has said it hopes to complete another
government-to-government deal in April with a different eastern
European country, also estimated to involve tens of millions of
tonnes, to help it meet its emissions target under Kyoto.
Under Kyoto, industrialised countries comfortably under
their emissions reduction targets can sell emissions rights, or
AAUs, to other governments.
The number of AAUs held by each nation is calculated with
reference to emissions levels in 1990, Kyoto's baseline year.
Each AAU represents a tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent.
Several former Soviet bloc countries have an excess of AAUs
after their heavy industries collapsed in the 1990s, and are
offering to sell them to those nations well above their Kyoto
targets, including Japan.
After Japan's second AAU deal is announced, the Japanese
government will have secured the majority of the 100 million
tonnes of CO2 offset credits it planned to buy during the
2008-2012 Kyoto period, a government source has said.
A second Japanese government source told Reuters on Monday
that talks with Poland and Hungary had been delayed, increasing
the prospect of a deal with the Czech Republic.
A Czech government official said on Feb. 17 that the country
is on track to sell around half of its AAUs to Japan.
[]
(For related story, click on [])
TRANSPARENCY
AAUs are often cheaper than European Union emissions permits
<CFI2Z9>, seen as the market's benchmark, as critics say there
is a lack of accountability and transparency over where the
proceeds are spent.
The statement said the two governments agreed that Ukraine's
National Environmental Investment Agency would play a key role
to manage the proceeds and monitor the usage of the pooled money
on the specific environmental activities.
Further details on the environment technology transfer from
Japan are to be decided later, said an official at the New
Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation
(NEDO), the Japanese government's emission offset purchasing
agency.
Japan, the world's fifth-biggest greenhouse gas emitter, saw
emissions rise to a record 1.37 billion tonnes in the year to
March 2008, compared with its Kyoto commitments to cut them to
1.19 million tonnes on average in the five years to March 2013.
Apart from the government, Japan's utility and steel
companies are buying offsets to help them meet voluntary
emissions targets.
Japanese trading companies are also involved in early stage
investments in clean energy projects in developing countries
like India and China under Kyoto's Clean Development Mechanism
emissions trading scheme.
Japanese industry's voluntary emissions reductions are a
core part of Japan's plan to meet its Kyoto target.
(For related factbox, click on [])
(Editing by Michael Szabo and Anthony Barker)
