What is a Carbon Neutral Transport Corridor? - Greater Mekong ...

Greater Mekong Subregion
Core Environment Program and Biodiversity Conservation Corridors Initiative
considerable emissions ‘embodied’ in the construction or demolition of such infrastructure or the
emissions that may arise as an indirect result of the project (e.g. fewer emissions being
sequestered due to deforestation) are rarely considered.
In order to tackle GHGs arising from regional initiatives in the GMS, where GHG reduction targets
are not mandatory as yet, a more holistic approach to carbon neutral projects is required. Any such
approach should set clear carbon reduction and offset targets at the outset in order to insure both
elements of the carbon neutral concept are considered.
1.4 Defining the boundaries of carbon neutral transport infrastructure
In order to propose the boundaries and salient features of a Carbon Neutral Transport Corridor in
the GMS, it is necessary to understand the various sources of emissions that could arise as a
result of a transport corridor and where the potential carbon savings could be achieved.
For the purposes of this paper, a theoretical transport infrastructure project is considered based
loosely on the East West Economic Corridor (EWEC) being established across Myanmar,
Thailand, Lao PDR and Viet Nam which consists of a number of transport projects being
implemented in different areas to create a unified ‘transport corridor’. The simplified life cycle of
each project would be as follows: the project’s life would begin at the stage where the concept of
the project was first developed and the technical design for the project was completed. The next
stages in the life-cycle would include construction and use of the road transport infrastructure.
Finally, the road and related infrastructure would be upgraded or replaced with newer or different
infrastructure.
An estimate of ‘whole life’ carbon for the infrastructure would need to consider GHGs emitted as a
direct result of the road project at each of the different stages of the life-cycle. However, some of
which may be resource intensive to measure and may not be significant over the lifetime of the
project. Further, apart from the direct emissions associated with the life cycle of the road
infrastructure project, the induced emissions arising as a result of the outcomes of a road project
(i.e. better connectivity) should not be discounted. These could vary from increased emissions from
the development that will accompany better transport links and access in the area to increased
emissions attributable to future investments that may occur in the region as a result of better
transport and trade connectivity.
Accounting for and measuring all the various sources of carbon that may be emitted as a result of
one project is beyond the scope of this approach, and in reality, may not be necessary. For the
GMS, it is important to consider all the significant sources of emissions within the boundaries of a
Carbon Neutral Transport Corridor and to understand which areas should be targeted in order to
achieve the greatest reduction in carbon emissions. Table 1 lists some of the main sources of
Draft Concept Paper – What is a Carbon Neutral Transport Corridor?
25 th November 2010
Page 4