13 September 2012: During its 69th meeting, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Executive Board considered matters relating to the CDM’s governance and performance management, and, among other things, adopted its annual report to the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP/MOP), covering the period from 27 October 2011 to 13 September 2012.

During the meeting, the Board took note of the final report on the CDM Policy Dialogue prepared by the High-Level Panel, and agreed to inform the COP/MOP of the report, and of the fact that the panel had highlighted that the CDM is currently facing a difficult situation and that there is a need to take measures to address this situation.

The Board also adopted the “Procedure for implementing voluntary cancellation in the CDM registry,” which will enable project participants and others to voluntarily cancel their Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) into an account in the CDM registry. The implication of this is that CERs could then be used, not just for compliance with Kyoto Protocol commitments, but also for voluntary emission reductions, such as by companies wishing to reduce their carbon footprint. The Board requested the Secretariat to complete the necessary system modifications and process arrangements.

The Board also considered a variety of other issues, including: methodological standards for projects; the registration of project activities; issuance of CERs; accreditation of operational entities; and relations with forums and other stakeholders. [Report of the 69th Meeting of the CDM Executive Board]