Japan’s Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) has passed an important milestone as the first ever carbon credits have been issued under the programme for emission cuts achieved at two projects in Indonesia.

The first issuance was miniscule – credits were awarded for 40 tonnes of CO2e cuts achieved by introducing highly efficient refrigerators at two food storage and processing plants in Indonesia.

But the credit awards are a sign that the mechanism is maturing after nearly six years of preparatory work.

Japan has signed JCM deals with 16 nations including big emitters such as Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam, and it expects the mechanism to contribute up to 100 million tonnes of CO2e cuts by 2030.

It also provided some clarity on how the issuance process will work under the JCM, through which Japan has set up bilateral committees with each of its partner countries.

The Japan-Indonesia committee approved the issuance, but the actual credits were issued by the two governments separately, an official at Japan’s Ministry of Environment told Carbon Pulse.

Japan issued 31 JCM credits, of which the government will keep 27, while four went to Mayekawa, the company providing the technology.

Indonesia issued the other nine, the first time the country has ever issued carbon offsets. The government received five of them into its account in the JCM registry, while the project host, PT Adib Global Food Supplies, received four.

The private companies can use the offsets to meet voluntary targets domestically or sell them to interested buyers.

Whether the governments can use the credits towards their Paris Agreement targets remain subject to international negotiations.

By Stian Reklev – stian@carbon-pulse.com

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