Issuance fee
A fee, also known as the Administration Share of Proceeds, is charged upon issuance of CERs. The Administration Share of Proceeds is a charge of:
- USD 0.10 per CER issued for the first 15,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent for which issuance is requested in a given calendar year;
- USD 0.20 per CER issued for any amount in excess of 15,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent for which issuance is requested in a given calendar year (7/CMP.1, paragraph 37).
It is used to assist with the administrative expenses of the Executive Board and other bodies involved in the Protocol framework.
This replaces an earlier decision of the Executive Board which recommended that the Administration Share of Proceeds be set at USD 0.20 per CER issued (EB 21, Annex 26, paragraph 2).
The Executive Board has confirmed that issuance of CERs shall only occur once the Administration Share of Proceeds has been received in each year:
The Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol: ...
Decides ... that the issuance of certified emissions reductions ... shall be effected only when the share of proceeds to cover administrative expenses has been received (7/CMP.1, paragraph 37).
Registration fee
The registration fee is an upfront payment of the estimated amount of the issuance fee (Administration Share of Proceeds) for the first year of the project. The amount paid as a registration fee is deducted from the Administration Share of Proceeds that is due at the time of the issuance of the first year's certified emission reductions (CERs). This was decided at EB 6:
The registration fee paid will be deducted from the share of proceeds for administration due at issuance of CERs (EB 6, Annex 5)
and clarified further in the Guidance related to the registration fee for proposed clean development mechanism project activities:
The registration fee shall be deducted from the share of proceeds for administrative expenses. In effect, the registration fee is an advance payment of the SOP-Admin for the emission reductions achieved during the first year (EB 37, Annex 20, paragraph 6).
The Guidance related to the registration fee for proposed clean development mechanism project activities was adopted at EB 37, Annex 20. This version of the document is Version 2 and replaces Version 1 at EB 23, Annex 35.
The COP/MOP decided at its first meeting that the Executive Board could propose lower fees for small-scale CDM project activities:
The Executive Board, in proposing the share of proceeds to cover administrative expenses and registration fees to recover any project related expenses, may consider proposing lower fees for small-scale CDM project activities (4/CMP.1, Annex II, paragraph 21).
The Executive Board has confirmed that no registration fee is payable by projects with an expected annual emission reduction of less than 15 kilotonnes:
No registration fee has to be paid for CDM project activities with expected average annual emission reduction over the crediting period below 15,000 t CO2-equivalent (EB 23, Annex 35, paragraph 4).