Green and low-carbon emission industries are set to be the growth engines for economies worldwide amid the global warming crisis, said the experts from the financial sector today at the Green Business Co-operation and Finance Symposium, which is part of the ongoing 2009 Macao International Environmental Co-operation Forum & Exhibition (2009 MIECF).
Advanced economies now regard the green industry as a new growth engine, with the market of new renewable growing up to 30 percent every year, and make every endeavor to tap the market, said Vice-Chairman of Korea Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCCI), Mr. Ethan Ji Win Tzou.
Korea also plans to actively cope with climate changes and foster green industry projects in order to boost its national economic recovery. The government has launched 17 projects supported by fiscal spending in three sectors including the Green New Deal Project, according to Mr. Ji.
He said that the Korean government projected that if these new growth engines bear successful fruits, the added values for 2018 of green industry would be approximately US$700 billion and the volume of exports would reach US$900 billion.
Mr. Stewart J Ballard, Business Development Director (Asia) of Sindicatum Carbon Technology Limited, introduced the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) during the symposium.
CDM allows industrialised countries to meet their emission reduction targets by paying for green house gas emission reduction in developing countries. A CER, or Certified Emissions Reductions, is issued by the CDM Executive Board to projects in developing countries to certify they have reduced green house gas emissions by one tonne of carbon dioxide per year.
For example, if a project generates energy using wind power instead of burning coal, it can save 50 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. There it can claim 50 CERs (as one CER is equivalent to one tonne of carbon dioxide reduced).
Developed countries buy CERs from developing countries under the CDM mechanism to help them achieve their Kyoto targets.
Mr. Nigel Hall, Technical Adviser of Regional Office for the Pacific of European Investment Bank (EIB), said that EIB provided loans and financing services to environmental and renewable energy projects across the world. Through its Carbon Funds, EIB engages in Clean Development Mechanism and promotes participation of CDM by the related industries.
Mr. Michal Pastvinský, Director of the Development and Project Cooperation Department of the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic, also took part in the symposium.
2009 Macao International Environmental Co-operation Forum and Exhibition Organizing Committee.
