The Spanish government and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have signed an agreement under which Spain is contributing EUR 25 million to the Green Carbon Fund. The Fund is part of the Multilateral Carbon Credit Fund (MCCF) sponsored by both the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB).
The MCCF, launched in December 2006, consists of the Project Carbon Fund, and the Green Carbon Fund. The Project Carbon Fund has commitments of EUR 150 million from six countries and six companies, including a EUR 35 million contribution from Spain. The Green Carbon Fund is dedicated to Green Investment Schemes (GIS) and as of today has commitments from Spain and Ireland totalling EUR 40 million.
The Green Carbon Fund under the umbrella of the MCCF is in a unique position to facilitate and structure the government-government trade in Assigned Amount Units (AAUs) under Article 17 of the Kyoto Protocol. The selling country will agree to use the revenue from the sale of AAUs to support investments in climate-friendly projects, called “green” projects, beneficial for the environment and specifically oriented to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG). The MCCF aims to facilitating the “greening” of the AAU sale proceeds through co-financing the underlying projects with the EBRD and EIB.
The EBRD, owned by 61 countries and two intergovernmental institutions, aims to foster the transition from centrally planned to market economies in countries from central Europe to central Asia.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union’s long-term lending bank, promoting European objectives. Established in 1958, it operates within the 27 EU Members States and in more than 130 countries outside the EU. One of the EIB’s priority objectives is the protection and improvement of the environment, which accounted for 38% of EIB loans within the EU-27 in 2007.