Greenhouse gas (GHG) projects reduce the accumulation of GHGs in the atmosphere that can cause climate change. These actions are undertaken to create tradable credits to offset emissions from companies or countries.

This course provides in-depth training on the process of GHG accounting at the project level for forest and other land use activities focusing on reforestation, forest management and avoided deforestation projects as well as being relevant to revegetation and agricultural soil carbon projects.

The course includes a step-by-step process of undertaking project-level GHG accounting for land use projects based on ISO 14064-2 and the WRI/WBCSD GHG Protocol for Projects. The course presents a universal and comprehensive understanding of accounting requirements consistent with international GHG programs such as the CDM.

Throughout the course illustrations and examples are provided from existing GHG programs that include forest and other land use projects. The course also provides a summary of the main GHG accounting standards and GHG programs that allow for land use projects, including:

• the Clean Development Mechanism and Joint Implementation
• the New South Wales Greenhouse Gas Reduction Scheme
• the Verified Carbon Standard (formerly "Voluntary")
• the Climate Action Reserve
• the Australian Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI)
• the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme
• the Alberta-based Credit Offset System
• the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
• the American Carbon Registry

As such this course provides a universal platform in understanding the issues and potential accounting aspects relevant to emerging climate change mitigation programs, both regulatory and voluntary.

This course includes quizzes and exercises to help you learn to apply key lessons. A Certificate of Participation is included in the course.

A Certificate of Proficiency is available for an additional fee and requires the passing of an exam after completion of the course.

Key concepts covered include:

• Introduction to land use project accounting
• Defining the project
• Establishing the baseline scenario and selecting relevant GHGs
• Quantifying emissions and removals
• Monitoring, documenting and reporting
• GHG accounting standards and programs

Who should attend:

Anyone with an interest in understanding GHG accounting for forest and other land use projects, in particular project developers, auditors, program administrators and investors.

Approximate number of working hours to complete: 16 to 20

Course Developer and Instructor: Penny Baalman

Availability: Runs quarterly - March, June, September, December

351 CDM/JI: Navigating Kyoto Project Mechanisms

This course will provide a thorough overview of the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism and Joint Implementation procedures and requirements.

The central feature of the Kyoto Protocol is its requirement that countries limit or reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. To help countries meet their emission targets, and to encourage the private sector and developing countries to contribute to emission reduction efforts, the Protocol introduced three market-based mechanisms:

1. International Emissions Trading
2. The Clean Development Mechanism, and
3. Joint Implementation

International Emissions Trading allows industrialized countries to trade emission allowances (i.e., credits), while the Clean Development Mechanism and Joint Implementation allow a country, firm, or individual to implement an emission-reduction project in another country and earn saleable emission reduction credits, which can be bought and sold or used by countries towards meeting their Kyoto targets. The Clean Development Mechanism and Joint Implementation are often referred to as the Project based mechanisms.

This course will take a comprehensive look at the project based mechanisms, how they work, what is involved in implementing a project, and include some real life examples and interviews with project developers.

Upon completion of this course you will be well prepared to implement, review, or contribute to a CDM or JI project. In addition to teaching you both the fundamentals of these two project-based mechanisms and some of the lessons learned, this course will also provide you a wealth of reference material to begin working in the field.

Course Lessons

This course can be taken as separately as a CDM only track or a combined CDM and JI track.

This course was jointly developed by the GHG Management Institute and the World Bank.

Approximate number of working hours to complete: 16 to 20

Course Developer: Stephen Seres and the World Bank Institute

Course Instructor: Stephen Seres

Many governments, companies and other organizations are taking action to manage their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, a cause of climate change. Projects can reduce or avoid GHG emissions that cause climate change. These actions can reduce the overall emissions of a company or create tradable credits to offset emissions in order to become carbon neutral. Coal mine methane (CMM) projects are an important source of offsets. There are a number of GHG accounting standards for a variety of offset programs. This course provides guidance so you can navigate these programs as well as comprehensive and detailed technical instruction on accounting for GHG reductions, project emissions, and displacement at CMM projects, which will help your organization:

• Understand coal mining as it relates to CMM emissions
• Recognize methods of CMM extraction and opportunities for methane mitigation
• Identify end-use options for CMM and methods for calculating resulting GHG emission reductions and project emissions using various methodologies
• Document and report CMM emission reductions as prescribed by different methodologies
• Utilize effective monitoring and recordkeeping procedures at a CMM project, facilitating verification and production of fungible offset credits

There are a wide variety of GHG programs that include CMM projects as emission reductions and thus provide some guidance on CMM GHG accounting. For instance:

• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
• Guidelines for National GHG Inventories by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
• Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects
• Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX)
• Greenhouse Gas Services (GHGS)
• The Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS)
• California Climate Action Registry (CCAR)

The CMM-related guidance provided in these programs ranges in terms of purpose, scope, and specificity. This course draws on all of these resources and provides comprehensive guidance specifically on how to account for and document GHG reductions, project emissions, and emission reductions as a result of displacement of more carbon-intensive energy sources.

This course includes examples, quizzes, and exercises to help you learn and apply the material. A Certificate of Participation is included as part of the course.

A Certificate of Proficiency is available for an additional fee and requires the passing of an exam after completion of the course.

Key concepts covered include:

• GHG standards and programs
• CMM GHG project accounting using CDM, GHGS, and other methodologies
• Defining a CMM project
• Establishing the baseline scenario and selecting relevant GHGs
• Quantifying emissions and removals
• Monitoring, documenting and reporting

Who should take this course:

Anyone with an interest in understanding GHG accounting for CMM projects, in particular project developers, consultants, auditors, program administrators and investors.

Course Developer: Raymond C. Pilcher, Charlee A. Boger

Availability: Runs quarterly – January, April, July, October