The Executive Board of the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) held in Bonn, Germany approved on February 16, 2007 a methodology developed by Ricoh Co. and being used in Ecuadorian CDM reforestation projects. Ricoh Co. is a major Japanese manufacturer of office equipment and supplies, and this is the first time that a methodology for reforestation projects funded solely by a Japanese company has been approved by this United Nations body.

An Ecuadorian non-governmental organization (NGO) has been implementing the project on-site, but procedures required to register it as a CDM project and obtain certification from the UN body would typically be too demanding for a small NGO. In this case, it was support from an international NGO and collaborative partnership with a private company made everything possible. The project is being implemented in partnership with Ricoh and Conservation International, one of the world's leading environmental NGOs.

A "methodology" under the CDM is an explanation of how to quantify and monitor carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in CDM projects. Certification from the CDM Executive Board is required for a methodology to be adopted in a CDM project.

http://www.ricoh.com/environment/global/news/45.html
http://www.conservation.org/xp/news/press_releases/2007/032907.xml
- Ricoh Establishes Environmental Standard on Paper Products (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/db/390-e

Posted: 2007/06/04 01:17:35 PM
Japanese version

TAG Ecosystem , Manufacturing industry , NGO/Citizen , System/Law