Joint Implementation (JI) has been defined in the Kyoto Protocol as one of the major 'flexible mechanisms' by which to tackle issues of climate change under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). There exist many challenges to the initiation of Joint Implementation. These include the lack of well-defined national and international frameworks by which to identify and invest in qualified projects, lack of clear understanding of the options available for commercial firms under JI, the requirements for obtaining government authorisation for investments under JI, the means to accredit, verify and monitor the environmental benefits of investments, and a poor understanding of how the benefits of those investments could be credited.

The aim of this JOINT project was to research and develop a well-defined framework for private electricity and combined heat and power (CHP) companies from the EU to work with their counterparts in the Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) to identify commercial projects that result in measurable, quantifiable greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction.

The project operated from the bottom up. Each country had a "country team" comprised of a UNFCCC government focal point, industry and energy/environment experts. JOINT was further organised into five "working groups". Working groups draw upon experts from government, industry, finance and energy/environment. The working groups generated specific information and inputs for the entire project. Their work was fed to the country teams, reviewed, commented upon, and refined with local input. In this way, JOINT addressed five working areas, which covered a wide range of issues key to Joint Implementation:

1. Project Identification

2. Baselines, economic cost-benefit analysis

3. Project Finance

4. Project Accreditation Verification & Monitoring (AVM)

5. Institutional Issues

Working group 4 on AVM was led by ZEW. The main conclusions can be summarised as follows: For the design of AVM a balance must be maintained between the efforts to assure environmental integrity up to a certain degree and keeping the burden on participants willing to invest in JI projects as low as possible (small-scale projects). In the absence of a binding compliance regime incurring penalties for non-compliance, the AVM procedure should be oriented towards the suggested CDM project cycle. Credits have to draw their credibility out of the verification process which has to be based on strong and detailed procedures. Within the JOINT context the process of accession could be used for an issue linkage in order to establish such a JI framework with a strong compliance regime between EU and the CEE countries. This would also give the opportunity for an early start of JI, prior to 2008.

For further information see http://joint.energyprojects.net