16 October 2015: The UNFCCC Secretariat has published the ‘Annual report of the Joint Implementation Supervisory Committee to the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol’ (FCCC/KP/CMP/2015/4). The report covers the work carried out by the Joint Implementation Supervisory Committee (JISC) from 18 September 2014 to 30 September 2015.

The report outlines the status of the Joint Implementation (JI) mechanism, stating that activity under the mechanism has virtually ceased. It explains that this is because the JI cannot operate until countries ratify the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol and issue assigned amount units (AAUs), as the Emission Reduction Units (ERUs) generated by JI projects are created through the conversion of a country’s AAUs. The report notes that despite this standstill, the JISC continues to fulfil its mandate, keeping JI available for Parties’ use and also seeking ways to improve the mechanism.

Regarding the future role of JI, the report underlines the JISC’s belief in the continued value of JI, noting the need for both market and non-market approaches in the expected 2015 agreement so as to achieve the UNFCCC’s ultimate objective of mitigating climate change. It outlines the overarching vision for the JISC’s work in the period 2016–2017, which is to continue to maintain JI as a “viable and effective tool for the international collaboration of Parties, and the private sector, in mitigating emissions of greenhouse gases” (GHGs). The report further reiterates the JISC’s recommendation that JI be run under a single track with international oversight on the basis of criteria that ensure environmental integrity, and urges that Parties should, at the Paris Climate Change Conference, take a decision that would allow JI to restart immediately upon transition to the revised guidelines.

The report also describes the work undertaken by the JISC in the reporting period, particularly in relation to strengthening policy guidance and seeking greater cooperation with the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

The report will be considered by the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol at its 11th session (CMP 11) convening on 30 November-11 December 2015, in Paris, France. [Publication: Annual report of the Joint Implementation Supervisory Committee to the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol]