IFC signs carbon credit deal with rain CII Carbon

Mumbai, Mar 17 (UNI) International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has signed its first carbon delivery guarantee agreements in India and Sub-Saharan Africa.

In India, IFC signed a deal for 8,50,000 carbon credits from Rain CII Carbon (India) Limited (formerly Rain Calcining Limited), an IFC client for over 15 years and now the largest merchant of calcined coke in the world with production in India and United States.

In South Africa, IFC's agreement covers up to 9,00,000 carbon credits from Omnia, one of the country's leading fertiliser producers. IFC said in a release here.

In Rain's case, the Indian Company used IFC financing to install waste heat recovery facilities that help eliminate its dependence on fossil fuels for power generation and generate carbon credits as a result. The new carbon finance product is expected to give companies selling carbon credits chance to access a wider range of potential buyers by mitigating country and project risk, it will thus help to boost the carbon market in these regions.

Under the new carbon delivery guarantee, IFC will facilitate delivery of carbon credits from companies in developing countries to buyers in developed countries. IFC will act as an intermediary, selling companies' credits in the market and passing an attractive price back to the projects. Clients profit from IFC's AAA credit rating by gaining access to markets and benefit from full price transparency. For buyers in developed countries, IFC also eliminates the risk of not receiving the promised carbon credits.

''IFC is in a unique position to help clients maximise the benefits of the carbon credit market, given our experience in the carbon market and our financial strength,'' IFC Executive Vice President and CEO Lars Thunell said in the release. ''We are eager to work with companies in developing countries who want to undertake climate friendly projects and commercialise carbon assets,'' he added.

Under the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol, companies in developing countries could qualify to sell carbon credits, known as Certified Emission Reductions, in global commodity markets when they reduce their output of environmentally harmful substances. The process aims to decouple economic growth from an increase in the greenhouse gases that cause global warming.

IFC has been active in the carbon market since 2002, largely through the IFC-Netherlands Carbon Facility and the Netherlands European Carbon Facility. IFC purchases emissions reductions in developing countries on behalf of the Dutch government, which, in turn, uses the emissions reductions to comply with its Kyoto Protocol commitment.

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