16 December 2011: Colombia has begun implementing a national mechanism for voluntary mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, supported by a $2.7 million grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and co-financing of more than $7.9 million.

Implemented by Fundación Natura and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the project will create a market platform for the issuing of verified emission reductions (VERs), to be made accessible to national and international buyers. It will also support the issuance of VERs from forest carbon projects, including those dealing with forestry, agroforestry and REDD (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries), and will foster local demand of VERs through corporate carbon mitigation and offsetting strategies.

The support will also involve capacity building in carbon accounting and monitoring, as well as project development, validation and verification, among local environmental authorities and ethnic groups. The project will also support research on growth and sequestration for at least six native species. [GEF Project Description]