Regional Workshop on
Capacity Development for Clean Development Mechanism
January 16 -18, 2003
Phuket, Thailand
Final Report
submitted to
UNEP Collaborating Centre on Energy and Environment, Denmark
by
Asian Institute of Technology
Bangkok, Thailand
March 2003
1
Table of Contents
Title / PagesTable of Contents / 2
List of Abbreviations / 3
1 / Summary / 4
2 / Report of Discussion / 5
2.1 / Session 1: Introduction and Latest Development / 5
2.2 / Session 2: Status of the Project Implementation / 5
2.3 / Sessions 3 and 4: National Work Plan / 6
2.4 / Session 5: Common Activities/Requirements and Cross-cutting Issues / 8
2.4.1 / Common activities / 9
2.4.2 / Common Requirement for External support / 9
2.4.3 / Common requirements for Guidelines and training materials / 9
2.4.4 / Cross-cutting issues / 10
2.5 / Session 6: Identification and Scheduling of Potential Events / 10
2.5.1 / Potential AIT Activities / 10
2.5.2 / Scheduling of Events: / 10
2.5.3 / Key Recommendations / 11
Annexes
A / Agenda of Regional Workshop / 12
B / List of the Participants / 15
C / National Work Plans / 18
C1 / National Work Plan- Viet Nam / 19
C2 / National Work Plan - Philippines / 97
D / Presentation Slides / 150
D1 / Setting the Agenda of Regional Workshop / 151
D2 / Latest Development Influencing the Project CD4CDM / 153
D3 / Cambodia: Status of the Project Implementation / 157
D4 / Philippines: Status of the Project Implementation / 159
D5 / Viet Nam: Status of the Project Implementation / 164
D6 / Viet Nam: National Work Plan / 168
D7 / Philippines: National Work Plan / 172
D8 / Cambodia: National Work Plan / 180
D9 / Cambodia: Common Activities/Requirements and Crosscutting Issues / 185
D10 / Philippines: Common Activities/Requirements and Crosscutting Issues / 187
D11 / Viet Nam: Common Activities/Requirements and Crosscutting Issues / 191
D12 / Potential AIT Supports / 193
List of Abbreviations
AIT / Asian Institute of TechnologyCDM / Clean Development Mechanism
CD4CDM / Capacity Development for Clean Development Mechanism
COP / Conference of Parties
DNA / Designated National Authority
DOE / Designated Operational Entities
HMS / Hydro Meteorological Service
KP / Kyoto Protocol
LULUCF / Land Use, Land Use Change, and Forestry
NSS / National Strategy Study
NWP / National Work Plan
PREGA / Promotion of Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency and Greenhouse Gas Abatement
TOR / Terms of Reference
UCCEE / UNEP Collaborating Centre on Energy and Environment
UNDP / United Nations Development Program
UNEP / United Nations Environment Program
Report of Regional Workshop on
Capacity Development for Clean Development Mechanism
January 16 -18, 2003
Phuket, Thailand
1. Summary
The first regional workshop on Capacity Development for Clean Development Mechanism (CD4CDM) in Asia was held at Phuket, Thailand during 16-18 January 2003. This was jointly organized by Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand, and UNEP Collaborating Centre on Energy and Environment. The main objective of the workshop was the finalization of national work plans by sharing information and experiences and developing more concrete ideas. Building synergies, avoiding duplication of effort, and carrying out joint coordinated implementation of national activities were among the other objectives of the workshop.
In order to achieve the specified objectives, the workshop was divided into six sessions. In the first session, the participants were informed of the objectives, agenda and expected outcomes of the workshop. Furthermore, Dr. M.K. Lee, UCCEE, briefed the participants on the recent developments influencing the project.
In Session 2, representative of each country team presented the status of the project implementation in their own countries. During the discussion, the needs for formation of expert team for each task, securing high level political and bureaucratic support, and coordination with other projects for carrying out the CDM tasks in each country were emphasized.
During Sessions 3 and 4, representatives of country teams presented their national work plans. It was agreed to specify each activity to be undertaken along with a generic work plan of the whole project and also to specify the time frame and actor of each activity. It was suggested that the work plans should consider the coherence of each activity, consolidation of similar sub-tasks, prioritization of activities, modification of timeline for better planning and monitoring. Participants suggested the desirability of using a common format for progress and financial reports.
In Session 5, common activities, common requirements for external support, guidelines and training materials as well as cross-cutting issues among the three countries were identified.
During the last session the potential AIT activities to support the national teams were outlined. Besides assistance in preparing training materials and arranging
regional workshops, AIT, as the regional center of excellance could conduct other supporting activities, namely, training of trainers and special trainings based upon specific needs of participating countries subject to availability of funds. The workshop also agreed on schedules for organization of national and regional workshops during the first year of the project’s second phase.
Key recommendations of the workshop included conducting training programs on subjects of common interest to all national teams and special support to country team on specific need basis.
2. Report of Discussions:
The Regional Workshop on Capacity Development for Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) was held during 16-18 January 2003 at Holiday Inn Resort, Phuket, Thailand. The Agenda of the workshop is given in Annex A. This report presents the discussion of the regional workshop. The participants of the regional workshop were from the UNEP Collaborating Centre on Energy and Environment (UCCEE), Denmark, national focal point agency’s representatives and the AIT team. The list of the participants to the workshop is given in Annex B.
2.1 Session 1: Introduction and Latest Development (Chair: Professor Ram M. Shrestha, AIT)
Professor Shrestha, AIT, welcomed the participants to the Regional Workshop on Capacity Development for Clean Development Mechanism for CDM (CD4CDM). After a brief introduction of all the participants, he presented the objectives, agenda and expected outcomes of the regional workshop. The main purpose of the regional workshop was to finalize the national work plans for the next three years (Annex C provides the national plans for Vietnam and the Philippines) and to learn from the experience of each other.
Dr. Lee, UCCEE, then briefed the participants on the recent developments about the project including key decisions of COP8, Regional Centres meeting in Copenhagen (17-18 October 2002), current status of the project and coordination with other projects (presentation slides are given in Annex D).
2.2 Session 2: Status of the Project Implementation (Chair: Dr. M. K. Lee, UCCEE)
Dr. Ponlok, Cambodia, presented the status of project implementation in Cambodia and informed about Cambodia’s
accession to the Kyoto Protocol (KP) on 22 August 2002. He further informed that as Cambodia joined the project late it is still preparing its national work plan. It is benefiting from the plan prepared by Vietnam and the Philippines.
He stated that the Cambodian government is fully committed to the project but would require technical support from AIT/UCCEE much more than the other countries. Dr. Ponlok also underlined the usefulness of networking between the participating institutions, and Cambodia would benefit by this activity.
Dr. Yap, Philippines, explained the growing interest for CDM among developers of renewable energy projects. As a result, few projects are presently being developed as potential CDM projects in the Philippines. He also informed that a CDM Task Force composed of Department of Environment & Natural Resources, Department of Energy and Development Bank of the Philippines is being formed. He further informed that the President has already approved the KP and has forwarded it to the Senate for ratification. He also stated that the proceedings of the first national workshop under this project have already been prepared.
Mr. Nguyen Khac Hieu, Viet Nam, presented the status of project implementation in Viet Nam. He informed that Viet Nam would benefit from National Strategy Study (NSS) on CDM. He stated that because of complex official procedures, it would take a long time to establish new offices with powerful function such as the designated National CDM Authority (DNA). He informed that after their first national workshop, a technical expert team was formed to prepare the work plan. The work plan has been prepared. A copy of it was distributed to the workshop participants (See Annex C). He also informed that the English version of the proceedings of the first national workshop was available.
Issues Discussed:
Formation of expert team for each task and delegation of authority: The need for establishing national expert teams for carrying out the CDM tasks in each country was emphasized. The need for inclusion of a financial sector expert in the national expert team was also highlighted.
Commitment of Government and involvement of high-level officials: The participants agreed on the need to secure high-level political and bureaucratic support in each country for this project. It was reported that in Cambodia the project has strong support of the Minister of Environment and in Vietnam of the Director General of HMS.
Facility of Intranet: Dr. Lee informed the participants that all materials from this project would be made available in the website www.cd4cdm.org, and if any national team would not like the material to be placed, they should inform UCCEE accordingly.
Specific needs: UCCEE should be informed of the specific needs of each country; if any technical assistance is required, specific arrangements could be made.
Establishing DNA: Establishment of Designated National Authority (DNA) is considered to be the most important part of the project. However, participants expressed that it was a complicated and time-consuming process in the light of recent ministerial changes in both the Philippines and Viet Nam.
Coordination with Other Projects: The participants agreed on the need to have strong coordination with other projects in this area e.g. PREGA, NSS and UNDP projects.
2.3 Sessions 3 and 4: National Work Plan (NWP) Presentation (Chair: Dr S. Kumar, AIT)
The Viet Nam focal point reported that it has planned to carry out six tasks during the second phase of project. Each task would be carried out by a team of four/five experts. One of the models being considered for DNA is the type of Global Environmental Facility operation in Viet Nam.
Dr. Yap presented the NWP of the Philippines. In line with the objectives of the CD4CDM project, the Philippines focal point has planned to carry out 5 tasks with several sub-tasks. For each task, objectives, indicators and proposed outputs were indicated.
Dr. Yap informed that the UNDP, through a Dutch government funding, is assisting the Philippines to prepare a report on DNA. In view of this, the Philippines work plan did not include establishment of DNA as an activity of their plan, but training of DNA staff has been considered. However, the workshop stressed the need to include this task in the work plan, given the critical importance of the activity in the project.
Mr. Sum Thy of Cambodia presented the tentative outline of the NWP for Cambodia. He informed that the draft work plan was in an early stage of preparation and would be presented and discussed in a national workshop to be held in March 2003.
Issues Discussed
National Workshops: A plan for holding a large number of national workshops in Viet Nam drew some attention and it was suggested to limit the number of workshops to a manageable level. Dr. Lee informed that the annual budget for national workshops for each country team was US$ 10,000.
Establishment of DNA: In the Philippines, a specific project for DNA has been initiated under a UNDP project and so a close coordination is desirable. For the DNA, a multi-agency board with permanent staff is an option being considered in the Philippines.
Philippines may have a separate CDM promotional office because of potential conflicts of interests if DNA is to promote CDM projects.
Specific Needs: The participants from Cambodia wanted information on the training materials and possible areas of assistance that would be available from UCCEE/AIT. Considering the status of the country’s development and energy use, it was requested to include LULUCF in the project even if the project is focusing on the energy sector.
Other Details:
1. It was suggested that, for better planning and to be useful as a monitoring tool, the preparation of the national work plan should consider the following:
(a) Coherence: Each activity has been planned separately and independently. But in reality, some activities would depend on others. This has to be seen for the overall plan and activity start and completion dates may have to be adjusted.
(b) Consolidation: Each task can have similar sub-tasks. It needs to be seen if such similar tasks could be carried out at the same time.
(c) Prioritization: Given the limited amount of funds and time frame not all activities perhaps could be carried out with the same level of focus. As the teams have an idea of funds now, they should try to allocate the resources and could decide how prioritization would be done.
(d) Task force teams: As a number of tasks are to be carried out, the focal points should identify the required teams and resources. The responsibility of each activity should be clearly indicated in the plan.
(e) Training of Trainers: It was pointed out that some participating countries might have to use local languages for training and capacity building. The time for the translation of materials into local languages needs to be taken into account at a planning stage. In this case, the concept of Training for Trainers could be useful. If there is the need for such trainings in more than one country, a common training program could be planned.
(f) Elaboration in the Work Plan: The work plan should clearly show the implementing agency for each activity and the assistance required (e.g. technical, consultation and training material).
(g) Modification in the Time Line: The second phase would begin March 2003 and end December 2005. Therefore, adjustment to the timeframe of activities should be made.