The UN has purchased 195,000 CERs for an average of $0.69 (€0.65) each from four companies that successfully bid in a tender seeking a total 350,000 credits.
The UN’s Office for Project Services (UNOPS) published the first results of the tender, saying it had paid the companies a total $133,919 for four lots of credits out of the nine types that it was seeking.
The average price paid for the units was roughly in line with current exchange-traded spot prices, but the individual contracts ranged from $0.28 to $0.96 per tonne.
The tender, which was launched on Sep. 8 by UNOPS, invited holders of CERs from various regions to submit bids, as well as those with CERs from LDCs, Gold Standard-certified credits and CERs with co-benefits relating to the health, safety and welfare of people living near the projects.
According to data, the UN bought:
– 15,000 “standard” CERs from Germany-based First Climate Markets AG for $4,242, or $0.28/tonne
– 30,000 Gold Standard-certified CERs from China-based Goldchina Consultancy International Co. for $28,666, or $0.96/tonne
– 75,000 South Asian-originated CERs from UK-based ClimateCare Oxford Limited for $46,296, or $0.62/tonne.
– 75,000 Latin American or Caribbean CERs from Germany-based Statkraft Markets GmbH for $54,714, or $0.73/tonne.
A UNOPS spokesman could not confirm whether purchase agreements covering the remaining five lots had been agreed, saying only that no information was currently available.
Those five lots, covering a total 155,000 CERs, sought the following quantities and credit types:
– 20,000 CERs from Africa
– 75,000 CERs from South-eastern Asia
– 20,000 CERs from Least Developed Countries
– 20,000 Gold Standard CERs from projects with additional documented co-benefits for women
– 20,000 CERs from projects with additional documented co-benefits in terms of improvements to health, safety and the welfare of local people
To be eligible, the CERs had to:
– Not have been grey CERs (those generated by HFC or other industrial gas destruction projects)
– Not have come from large hydro projects (those with capacity greater than 20MW), unless they meet the guidelines of the World Commission on Dams (external verification of compliance was required).
– Not have come from coal-based projects, for example coal mine methane
– Not have been generated earlier than 2012 and must have been verified and issued by the time of the purchase order
– Be cancelled within three weeks from the date of signing the contract. Proof of cancellation was required.
UNOPS did not clarify what would be done with the CERs but it is expected that they will be used to offset the carbon footprint of the UN and its various agencies and partners.
The agency earlier this week said it purchased more than 14,500 CERs in 2014 to offset its emissions, as well as additional offsets for its partners including the IMF, the UN Population Fund and the UN World Tourism Organization.
By Mike Szabo – mike@carbon-pulse.com
