Issuance process

The process for issuance is as follows:

A request for issuance is lodged with the Executive Board;
The Registration and Issuance Team (EB-RIT) performs an appraisal of the request for issuance;
temporary certified emission reductions (tCERs) or long-term certified emission reductions (lCERs) are issued into the pending account of the Executive Board; and
The focal point is notified that tCERs or lCERs have been issued in respect of the project activity.

Request for issuance

The issuance process for afforestation and reforestation (A/R) projects is initiated by the provision of the certification report to the Executive Board by the designated operational entity (DOE). The certification report serves as a request for issuance of tCERs or lCERs, as appropriate:

The certification report shall constitute:

Where project participants have chosen the tCER approach to account for nonpermanence, a request to the Executive Board for issuance of tCERs equal to the verified amount of net anthropogenic greenhouse gas removals by sinks achieved by the afforestation or reforestation project activity under the CDM since the start of the project activity;

Where project participants have chosen the lCER approach to account for non-permanence and:

Net anthropogenic greenhouse gas removals by sinks have increased since the previous certification report, a request to the Executive Board for issuance of lCERs equal to the verified amount of net anthropogenic greenhouse gas removals by sinks achieved by the afforestation or reforestation project activity under the CDM since the previous certification;

Net anthropogenic greenhouse gas removals by sinks have decreased since the previous certification report, a notification to the Executive Board of the reversal of net anthropogenic greenhouse gas removals by sinks that has occurred at the afforestation or reforestation project activity under the CDM since the previous certification (5/CMP.1, Annex, paragraph 36).

This decision applies to small-scale A/R (SSC A/R) projects also:

The modalities and procedures for afforestation and reforestation project activities under the CDM shall apply to small-scale afforestation and reforestation project activities under the CDM except for paragraphs 12-30 (6/CMP.1, Annex, paragraph 3).

Appraisal of a request for issuance

In considering requests for issuance, the Executive Board is assisted by a Registration and Issuance Team (EB-RIT), which prepares appraisals of requests for issuance submitted by DOEs to assess whether the verification and certification requirements are met and/or appropriately dealt with by DOEs. This process is set out in the Revised terms of reference and related procedures for a registration and issuance team (EB 29, Annex 14).

When a request for issuance is made, the secretariat identifies an RIT team. Any member that has a conflict of interest in relation to the assignment must notify the secretariat:

With the announcement of a request for issuance, as defined in the procedure "Procedures relating to verification report and certification report/request for issuance of CERs"5, the member will be informed and shall have a maximum of 1 day to indicate whether he/she has or not a conflict of interest which should be described. If a conflict of interest situation exists another person shall be assigned (EB 29, Annex 14, paragraph 28).

The RIT prepares an appraisal of the request for issuance, in accordance with the procedure set out in EB 29, Annex 14:

The appraisal shall indicate whether verification and certification requirements have been met and/or appropriately dealt with by the DOE and provide reasons in case these conditions are not fulfilled. The appraisal shall also cover whether additional guidance/clarification/revisions could avoid re-occurrence of the issues identified. The appraisal should assess in particular the application of both the monitoring methodology and the monitoring plan (EB 29, Annex 14, paragraph 29).

The appraisal must be submitted using the form CDM-ISSappr, within the relevant time period:

The member shall prepare an appraisal using the form "Appraisal of issuance requests (F-CDM-ISSappr)" and submit it to the secretariat within 6 calendar days through a dedicated interface on the UNFCCC CDM website (EB 29, Annex 14, paragraph 30).

The secretariat will prepare a summary note of the appraisal and forward it to the Executive Board for consideration:

The secretariat shall prepare, on the basis of the member's appraisal, a summary note of the request for issuance and forward this, together with the member's appraisal, to the Board within 3 calendar days of receiving the member's appraisal (EB 29, Annex 14, paragraph 32).

Process for issuance

Issuance of tCERs and lCERs is considered final 15 days after the date of receipt of the request for issuance unless a review of the proposed issuance is requested:

The issuance shall be considered final 15 days after the date of receipt of the request for issuance, unless a Party involved in the project activity or at least three members of the Executive Board request a review of the proposed issuance of CERs (3/CMP.1, Annex, paragraph 65).

However, tCERs and lCERs will not be issued until the Administration Share of Proceeds has been paid (EB 21, Annex 26, paragraph 4). For other project types, at this time the Adaptation Share of Proceeds would also be deducted. However, small-scale afforestation and reforestation (SSC A/R) projects are exempt from the Adaptation Share of Proceeds (14/CP.10, paragraph (d)).

Once issuance of CERs has been finalised, the Executive Board will instruct the CDM registry administrator to issue CERs for the project activity:

Upon being instructed by the Executive Board to issue CERs for a CDM project activity, the CDM registry administrator, working under the authority of the Executive Board, shall, promptly, issue the specified quantity of CERs into the pending account of the Executive Board in the CDM registry, in accordance with appendix D below (3/CMP.1, Annex, paragraph 66 ).

Notification of issuance

The RIT has confirmed in informal communications that the focal point will be sent an email message at the time that tCERs and lCERs are issued into the pending account of the Executive Board.

Once CERs have been issued, the rules for forwarding of tCERs and lCERs govern the process of transferring CERs from the pending account to accounts held by the Parties and project participants.

These rules apply to SSC A/R projects by reason of their application to A/R projects: