Operationalizing Joint Implementation

Joint Implementation is considered by many participants in the international negotiations on a climate protocol to be an important economic instrument for the implementation of greenhouse gas obligations. Apart from a wide range of problems that still have to be resolved on the project level, the institutional and procedural design of such a mechanism is of vital importance. Because Joint Implementation has a "perverse incentive" to overstate results achieved by individual projects, careful reporting, monitoring and verification procedures are essential. Furthermore, the institutional structure must reconcile the sometimes conflicting demands of overall effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. This paper explores the possible design of a future international mechanism for Joint Implementation and makes recommendations with regard to the institutional and procedural requirements.

Hermann E. Ott:

Operationalizing Joint Implementation

Reflections on Some Organisational and Institutional Aspects

Wuppertal Paper no. 74 (June 1997)

Acquisition: Available as hardcopy, please contact pr@wupperinst.org