11 February 2009: The first meeting of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Executive Board (EB) in 2009 is taking place in Bonn, Germany, from 11-13 February 2009. At the meeting, in assuming the Chair of the CDM EB, Lex de Jonge underlined the need to scale up and enhance the CDM to release its full potential, underlining that it stimulates investment in green growth in developing countries, engages the private sector in climate change action, and provides countries with some flexibility in meeting their emission reduction targets.

At the fourth Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP/MOP 4) held in Poznań, Poland, in December 2008, parties made progress in efforts to streamline and speed up the CDM, and requested the CDM EB to explore procedures and methodologies that would enhance regional and sub-regional distribution of projects. De Jonge indicated that during his one-year term, he will focus on ensuring that the EB devotes time to policy discussions aimed at improving procedures that will increase efficiency and broaden the reach of the mechanism. [CDM EB meetings website] [UNFCCC press release]