In August 2015, the UNFCCC launched the fifth Regional
Collaboration Centre ("RCC") in Bangkok, Thailand, to
promote clean energy investment in the Asia-Pacific region. The
Bangkok RCC joins four other regional centers established by the
UNFCCC to support the Clean Development Mechanism
("CDM"), a market-based mechanism forming part of the
Kyoto Protocol that allows developed countries to offset their
carbon emissions by funding emission reduction projects in
developing countries. The CDM allows such projects to earn
certified emission reductions, thereby encouraging clean energy
investment.
The RCCs are designed to assist nations in identifying and
developing CDM projects while reducing investor risk and
transaction costs. The Bangkok RCC will partner with the Japanese
Institute for Global Environmental Strategies and collaborate with
the other RCCs in Togo, Uganda, Grenada, and Colombia. At present,
there are approximately 7,000 CDM projects in the Asia-Pacific
region, more than half of which are located in China. The new
center aims to source funding for roughly 300 projects a year, with
a focus on countries such as Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and
Vietnam.
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