DUSHANBE, October 23, 2008, Asia-Plus — Ratification of the Kyoto Protocol will give Tajikistan an opportunity to Tajikistan to enhance its hydropower sector on its own, Homidjon Orifov, secretary of the national committee for large dams within the Ministry of Energy and Industries (MoEI), said in an interview with Asia-Plus.
“It is obvious that it is more profitable fro Tajikistan to build large hydropower electric stations (HPS) such as Roghun HPS without drumming up foreign investments,” said Orifov. “Some 2.5 billion US dollars are now needed to complete construction of the Roghun HPS and income brought in by the station over the first 15 years of operation is expected to amount to 3.6 billion US dollars; if Tajikistan builds the station on its own, the income will remain in Tajikistan.”
According to him, certain financial infusions in construction of the Roghun HPS could be made by advanced countries through buying Tajikistan’s unused quotas of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. “These funds could be spent for construction of hydropower facilities in the country,” the expert said.
The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The major feature of the Kyoto Protocol is that it sets binding targets for 37 industrialized countries and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on December 11 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005. 182 Parties of the Convention have ratified its Protocol to date.
Under the Treaty, countries must meet their targets primarily through national measures. However, the Kyoto Protocol offers them an additional means of meeting their targets by way of three market-based mechanisms: emissions trading, the clean development mechanism (CDM); and joint implementation (JI). The mechanisms help stimulate green investment and help Parties meet their emission targets in a cost-effective way.
Under Article 17 of the Kyoto Protocol, emissions trading allows countries that have emission units to spare – emissions permitted them but not “used” – to sell this excess capacity to countries that are over their targets.
