Second German-India Carbon Bazaar Proves Popular

May 2010 -The second German-Indian Carbon Bazaar took place in New Delhi from 10-11 May. Following the huge success of last year’s event, more than 800 people attended the forum to hear all about the latest trends in the carbon market and to establish contact between buyers and sellers of CERs.

Well-Established CDM Market

India has huge potential when it comes to CDM projects. The Indian carbon market is extremely well established, mainly thanks to the fact that its players are highly knowledgeable, there is a stable legal framework in place and English is the official business language. The country managers designated under the CDM/JI-Initiative concentrate largely on promoting the CDM for small and medium-sized business and on opening up new sectors for CDM use. The initiative is primarily designed to accelerate technology export and investment from Germany, and to foster the development of programmes of activities (PoAs). This year’s Carbon Bazaar included a conference, business-to-business meetings and consultations between the German and Indian governments. At a one and a half-day conference, participants talked in particular about current policy trends such as opportunities for Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs), Programmes of Activities (PoAs) and the outlook for the carbon markets beyond 2012. Practical problems involving concluding transactions and the potential for CDM projects among SMEs and in promising sectors in India were also addressed. The event was opened by Shri J.M. Mauskar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, and Franzjosef Schafhausen, Deputy Director General Environment and Energy at the German Environment Ministry.

Promising Business Contacts

Once again, project developers and investors took the opportunity for direct business-to-business talks. More than 50 project developers had registered for the conference in advance. Project notes and detailed Project Design Documents (PDDs) were sorted and presented by sector, CER volume and status, and could be discussed there and then. Shows of interest were announced on the spot, so that more than 100 bilateral talks were held on specific transactions. The investment sector was represented by NEFCO (Nordic Environment Finance Corporation), the Danish Embassy, Shell Trading, Tata Capital and Invest India. The government-level consultations went very well. German Environment Ministry representative Franzjosef Schafhausen led numerous talks with Indian delegates. The consultations focused for the most part on future cooperation in the energy and climate change sectors, but also on intensifying existing CDM cooperation between India and Germany. In light of its huge success, thought is now being given to making the Carbon Bazaar an annual event.

Point of Contact:

Dr. Dieter Mutz
Director, Advisory Services in Environmental Management (ASEM)
Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
B-5/2, Second Floor, Safdarjung Enclave
New Delhi - 110 029, India
E-Mail: dieter.mutz@giz.de
Internet: www.cdmindia.in; www.cdmindia.com