Rigorous qualification process

Companies in developing countries ? including GCC states ? can register clean energy investments with the UN's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and claim credits for every tonne of greenhouse gas they keep out of the atmosphere. Any project must pass rigorous testing to be awarded credits and must also prove it would not have gone ahead without the boost in funding. It must then be accepted by the CDM executive board, a division of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The CDM scheme is part of the Kyoto treaty on global warming and is designed to encourage emissions reductions in developing countries not legally bound by the treaty to cut their carbon footprints. Companies in developed countries buy the credits to offset their emissions and stay within strict limits set by their governments.

The UN awards 374 million credits a year, with the vast majority going to projects in China, India or Brazil. Out of a total of 22 projects registered in the MENA region, only four have received credits. @Email:[e-mail]