A Critical Conversation on Climate Change ... - Green Choices

284 development dialogue september 2006 – carbon tradingnologically novel in the Thai context. 132 Later on, the project developeralso noted that the project was sufficiently financially shaky thatit had to be put on hold in 2002.But even if that’s true, that wouldn’t prove that the project could be undertakenonly with carbon fi nance.No. And there’s a lot of evidence that, in fact, the prospective carbonincome of the project has no weight at all with the investors. For example,uncertainty about whether the project would ultimately be allowedto be registered with the CDM, or about whether the Thai governmentwould overcome its initially sceptical stance towards CDMprojects, does not seem to have had any effect on the project’s originalconstruction schedule. What’s more, Sarath Ratanavadi, managing directorof Gulf Electric, was quoted in the Bangkok Post on 13 June 2003as saying that Gulf Electric and EPDC ‘will go ahead with the 800 millionbaht project [Yala biomass] even without CDM’.What was DNV’s response to that?It protested that the project’s business-as-usual status ‘is not as obviousas asserted’ 133 and said it had consulted with EPDC about Sarath’sstatement.From a scientifi c point of view, that’s not terrifi cally convincing.No. For this project to be registered with the CDM would, in fact,probably be a net loss for climatic stability, since it would enable theJapanese government to write down its Kyoto commitment by half amillion tonnes of carbon dioxide without providing anything verifiablein return. Nevertheless, the controversy over Yala is representativeof the level of debate that still prevails in front of the UN committeesand panels responsible for overseeing the CDM.Well, if the project’s benefi ts for the climate can’t be verifi ed or quantifi ed, perhapswe should forget about looking at it as a carbon project and just view it asa standard development project with an unusual prospective source of funding.Does it at least provide some benefi ts for local people?Many local residents in fact quietly oppose the new development onAsia Plywood’s Yala site as being likely to reinforce local imbalancesof power over air and water quality. They’ve long felt animosity towardAP for causing pulmonary health and other problems throughsmoke and ash pollution of local air, water and land, and profess ‘notrust’ in the firm. Subdistrict officials even allege that the firm has notpaid its full share of taxes.