December 2009

TA Advisory's December Newsletter is out
Read about ACF's conference on financial crisis and competition law, ECOP's briefing on emissions trading, and more here.

Hydropower project gets host-country approval
CaFiS, Inc. recently gained host-country approval (HCA) for SN Aboitiz Power Benguet, Inc.’s (SNAPB) Ambuklao Hydro Electrical Power Plant (AHEPP) project. The plant is built downstream of the Ambuklao Dam and extends in the Central Cordillera of Northern Luzon. Located in Bokod, Benguet and harnessing the Agno River’s potential, AHEPP has not been operational since 1999. The project involves building of a new intake and replacement of all major power components.
   AHEPP is projected to have an annual revenue of USD 2.8M from the Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) it can generate as a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project, according to the initial due diligence in 2007 and based on a price of USD 15 per tonne of CO2. CaFiS serves as AHEPP’s CDM project consultant.

Asia CDM business conference held
The Asia CDM Business Conference 2009, jointly organized by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Republic of Korea's Ministry of Environment (MoE), was held last 19 November 2009 at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel. Carbon finance solutions provider CaFiS, Inc., represented by its Managing Director, Alan Silayan, and Operations and Quality Manager, Leslie Gopalan, attended the event, which aimed to explore, identify and establish Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) business opportunities between Korea and the Philippines.
   The conference featured remarks and presentations by officers from the MoE and the DENR, as well as resource speakers from private companies from both countries. The discussions included the status of CDM activities, government policy and CDM potential in the Philippines, climate change policy in the Republic of Korea, and CDM experience and strategies in Korea, the Philippines and Asia.


September 2009

TA Advisory's September Newsletter is out
Read about CaFiS' mini-hydro power and biomass projects, the APEC Legal Services Initiative workshops and more here.

Post-2012 carbon market seminar held
The Department of Environmental and Natural Resources (DENR) recently led a capacity building seminar on the "Post-2012 Carbon Market" with the objective of "encouraging continuity for emission reduction projects after 2012," which marks the expiration of the Kyoto Protocol.
   According to Leslie Gopalan, who represented CaFiS, Inc. at the seminar, the discussions focused on the viability and validity of Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) and Verified Emission Reductions (VERs), which will outlive the Kyoto Protocol. He outlined some of the important points brought up at the seminar, such as:
• "That there is no reason to fear that carbon credits will suddenly be worthless overnight as there is still the push to reduce emissions to mitigate climate change and the existence of active carbon exchanges that match demand with supply using market forces;
• "That the uncertainty is only on the price of these credits post-2012, but then this is true for any commodity;
• "That there are already buyers for post-2012 "vintage" carbon credits who are willing to contract now for their purchase. First Climate is one of these companies who are actively buying up these credits;
• "That local financial institutions are encouraged to finance renewable energy projects and include ERPAs in the structuring and granting of loans."
   The main point was "that carbon credits are here to stay and there is no reason to be worried about the future value/viability of these credits," according to Gopalan.


July 2009

EC donates EUR1.25 Mn to WTO development programs
The European Communities (EC) has given a total EUR1.25 million assistance to two programs of the WTO targeted at building the trade negotiation capacity and protecting the development needs of developing and least developed countries.
   Specifically, the EC donated EUR1 million to the Doha Development Agenda Global Trust Fund (DDAGTF), for the financing of WTO technical assistance activities aimed at enhancing the ability of beneficiary nations to negotiate within the WTO. The EC has contributed to this fund over the last 7 years, with donations reaching an estimated EUR4.1 million.
   EUR250,000 was at the same time donated by the EC to the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF), to provide assistance to developing countries in advancing their expertise in and implementation of international sanitary and phytosanitary standards (SPS), which improves their capability to gain and maintain market access.
   The donations are part of the Aid for Trade strategy, which has the goal of supporting developing and least developed nations "to better integrate into the rules-based world trading system and to use trade more effectively in promoting the overarching objective of sustainable development," as stated by EC Ambassador Eckart Guth.

More Aid for Trade, not protectionism, says ADB president
At the Second Global Review of Aid for Trade held in Geneva, Switzerland, Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Haruhiko Kuroda stressed the need for increased trade-led development assistance to ensure long-term growth and recovery from the global economic crisis. Kuroda also cautioned against protectionist measures that certain countries might take in the face of falling global demand.
   "Rebalancing growth toward greater domestic and regional demand is an important key to the region's recovery. This will foster increased intra-regional trade, help the region recover faster and strengthen Asia's approach to open regionalism. Aid for Trade is also vital for economic recovery and for long-term development and structural change," Kuroda said during the gathering that brought together heads of the WTO, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, as well as other top trade and development officials.
   ADB reported the Asia-Pacific region's mixed trade performance, with its 22 least developed economies still only accounting for 0.3 percent of the world's exports, which has barely changed in the last 25 years. Worse, the economic crisis has sharply reduced the region's exports, and while up to 6 percent growth is expected in 2010, rising poverty will still be a major concern even after the global economy recovers from the crisis.
   The Aid for Trade program, started in December 2005, supports capacity-building of developed countries to boost trade and economic growth and to reduce poverty.

Trade and climate debate heats up
Climate policy has become such a pertinent issue in international trade, sparking many questions on whether the two can actually go hand in hand. Here's an excerpt of a recent New York Times editorial on the matter:
   When leaders of the world's richest nations and the big developing countries agreed at the Group of 8 summit this month to restart global trade negotiations, they sent a powerful signal about the need for concerted action to deal with the world's economic emergency.
   It was disturbing, however, that they could not agree on a common strategy for reducing the greenhouse emissions causing global warming. Trade and climate policy have become increasingly entangled. A failure to agree on how to address global warming could undermine half a century of opening world trade... read the full article.


June 2009


TA CaFiS at Climate and Clean Energy Week
Carbon finance solutions provider TA CaFiS, Inc. participated in this year’s Climate and Clean Energy Week organized by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The events, held at the ADB Headquarters in Manila on 15 to 19 June 2009, included the High-Level Dialogue on Climate Change in Asia Pacific and the 4th Asia Clean Energy Forum. The talks brought together climate change policy leaders to discuss various aspects of climate change and plans for the Asia Pacific region. CaFiS, specializing in carbon asset generation and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), saw Climate and Clean Energy Week as a good opportunity to enhance its network and bring together CDM clients with potential investors.

CaFiS team (L-R): Operations and Quality Manager Leslie Gopalan, CDM Technical Advisors Jewella Vinson and Sari Simon, and Managing Director Alan Silayan.

ADB to double clean energy investment target in Asia
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced its plan to increase its clean energy investments from the previous $1 billion target to $2 billion per year, as part of its initiative to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Asia. The new target will take effect starting 2013.
   "While $2 billion annually is a significant commitment, this represents only a fraction of the region's financing needs in the area of clean energy. But we expect that this contribution will catalyze significant additional resources from the private sector, carbon markets and other sources," ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda stated during the Climate and Clean Energy Week at the ADB Headquarters.
   Climate and Clean Energy Week was held last 15 to 19 June 2009 and was attended by carbon finance solutions provider TA CaFiS, Inc.

Indicators show signs of US economy slump easing
Bloomberg, on 18 June 2009, reported the rise of leading US economic indicators in May for a second consecutive month, a promising sign that the recession could end soon. The leading index showed a 1.2 increase after gaining 1.1 percent the previous month (April)—"the best back-to-back performance since November-December 2001," according to the New York-based Conference Board. Bloomberg surveyed 55 economists during the first week of June and cited a projection of an average 1.2 percent growth rate for the US economy in the second half of 2009, after dropping 2 percent in the second quarter. Estimates ranged from a 0.5 percent decline to a 1.8 percent gain.

Japan makes first donation to food safety facility
The World Trade Organization (WTO), early this month, announced Japan's first financial contribution to the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF), a programme that supports projects aimed to help developing countries analyze and implement international sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures on food safety and animal and plant health.
   With its donation amounting to US$ 278,368, Japan joins 12 other donor countries that include Canada, Switzerland, Germany, and the United States. The STDF is an initiative jointly organized by the WTO, the World Bank, the World Health Organization, the World Organization for Animal Health, and the Food and Agriculture Organization.
   Last December, TA Advisory's Managing Director Anthony A. Abad delivered a lecture during the workshop on the WTO SPS measures held in Tokyo, presenting an overview of the measures and a framework for food safety regulations. Read about it here.

TA Advisory's June newsletter is out now
Read about the IPBA's session on anti-dumping, the Senate's approval of the competition bill and more here.

UNFCCC holds Climate Change Talks
Bonn, Germany is currently hosting the UNFCCC Climate Change Talks, which started Monday, 01 June 2009 and will proceed till Friday, 12 June 2009. The talks include the thirtieth sessions of the UNFCCC Convention subsidiary bodies, SBSTA and SBI, the sixth session of the AWG-LCA and the eighth session of the AWG-KP. Included in the agenda is the discussion of the negotiating texts on further emission reduction commitments for Annex I Parties of the Kyoto Protocol.


March 2009

International Conference on Competition in Hamburg on 26-28 April 2009
The Bundeskartellamt (or the Federal Cartel Office, an independent higher federal authority in Germany tasked to protect competition) will hold the 14th International Conference on Competition on 26-28 April 2009, the first to be held in Hamburg. The Conference will take an overall theme of "Dominant Companies - The Thin Line between Regulation and Competition Law." The Conference, which has been organized by the Bundeskartellamt every other year since the early 1980s, is a highly renowned event in the international realm of competition law. The participants from different countries are invited from the fields of competition law practice and jurisprudence, academe, politics, business and international organizations to discuss competition issues of international importance.

UN Climate Change Conference to be held in Copenhagen on December 2009
The year 2009 will be topped off with the 15th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark on 7-18 December 2009. The goal of the Conference is to establish a global climate agreement to take effect after 2012, when the first commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol lapses, effectively deciding the future of the carbon market post 2012. The Conference proposed outcome is to provide clarity on four key issues: first, clarity on the emission reduction targets that industrialized countries will commit to; second, clarity on the nationally appropriate mitigation actions that developing countries could undertake; third, defining stable and predictable financing to help the developing world reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the inevitable effects of climate; and finally, identifying institutions that will allow technology and finance to be deployed in a way that treats the developing countries as equal partners in the decision-making process.
   Participation in the Conference is restricted to duly nominated representatives of the parties of the UNFCCC, observer States, accredited observer organizations and accredited press/media.

WTO works to mitigate impact of economic crisis on trade
World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Pascal Lamy remarked that the WTO will soon be "issuing periodic reports on global trends in international trade and trade policy developments as part of our surveillance mandate. These reports will be factual and we hope will facilitate discussions among members on how to better cope with this crisis," in his speech at the United Kingdom's Department for International Development in London on 22 January 2009.

Asia CDM market grows; CaFiS, Inc. gears up for 2009
Asia's emerging dominance in the global carbon market is evidenced by its rapid growth of nearly 200% from 2006 to 2007. Currently, 65% of the total Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) registered projects is from the Asia Pacific region, representing roughly 80% of all preliminary Carbon Emissions Reduction (CERs) traded in the global carbon market.
   CaFiS, Inc. and other players in the field gear up for 2009, starting off the year with CDM project development with Mariwasa Siam Ceramics, Inc. and Pan Century Surfactants, Inc. Various project opportunities abound, in consonance with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Lito Atienza's declaration that the Philippines would forge ahead with climate change projects and commitments by aggressively pursuing CDM projects. The Philippines is currently ranked 8th globally in terms of CDM projects.

WTO launches new database on Regional Trade Agreements
The WTO announced, in its press release on 14 January 2009, that it has launched a new database on regional trade agreements (RTAs) which contains all the notifications, links to the content of the relevant RTAs, legal provisions and information on the WTO's assessments of the RTAs. The full database may be accessed though the WTO's official website, www.wto.org.

Abad delivers lecture on WTO SPS Measures in Tokyo
Anthony A. Abad delivered a lecture during the Workshop on World Trade Organization (WTO) Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures held in Tokyo, Japan on 9-12 December 2008. Mr. Abad presented an overview of the WTO SPS Measures and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreements as a framework for food safety regulations.
   Officials of various relevant ministries from different countries in Asia participated in the Workshop to discuss the dynamics of international food safety regulations, especially in relation to the WTO SPS and TBT agreements and related agreements and international standards. The main thrust of the Workshop was to discuss trade in agricultural products in the Asian region, its impacts and the role of the WTO SPS Agreement, to share experiences of Asian countries in SPS measures to further facilitate cross-border trade, and to enhance regional cooperation in this field.
   The Workshop was divided into 6 sessions: International Framework for Food Safety System; SPS Related Topics (I); SPS Related Topics (II); Food Safety Compliance and Roundtable Discussions; Sharing Experiences in SPS Measures; and Japan's Contribution to SPS Area and Evaluation. During each session, participants were able to obtain additional information specifically on the international framework for food safety, including Codex, SPS requirements on farming, issues on traceability, and the main activities of the WTO and food standards. Roundtable discussions were also held, discussing the impact of private food safety standards in global trade with food and agricultural products, including the sharing of experiences in SPS measures by China, Viet Nam, and Japan.
   The Workshop was sponsored and organized by the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), in cooperation with the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN).

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