Norway to buy 6 million CERs

Norway has signed various contracts to buy six million UN carbon credits, it emerged today.

The so-called certified emission reductions (CERs) are expected to come from Norway’s investments in several emission-cutting projects in China, Chile, Tanzania and South Africa.

Some 5 million of the credits were contracted for investments in wind farm projects in China, where the renewable energy will replace fossil-fuel burning coal, Norway’s finance ministry said in a statement today.

A ministry spokesman told Point Carbon the credits still needed final approval from the clean development mechanism (CDM) executive board.

The remaining credits are expected to come from a tree-planting project in Tanzania, a methane-cutting project in Chile and a biomass project in South Africa.

The Kyoto protocol’s CDM allows governments and companies in rich nations to invest in carbon-cutting projects in developing countries in return for CERs.

The CERs, once registered by the CDM executive board, can be used for trading or Kyoto compliance during the period 2008-2012.

Earlier this week, data from Statistics Norway showed the country’s 2008 emissions amounted to 53.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.

Norway’s average annual cap under Kyoto is 50.1 million tonnes, meaning the country must pay for emission reductions abroad in order to comply.

Including the latest CER contracts, Norway to date has agreed to buy 9.3 million CERs for delivery through 2012 – or about 30 per cent of its purchasing needs, the ministry said.

Norway’s Finance Ministry has also entered into contracts to buy some 2 million CERs for delivery after 2012.