LONDON - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) have launched a carbon fund for rich nations to invest in clean energy projects in Central and Eastern Europe.
Rich states will be able to put the resulting greenhouse gas emission cuts -- in units called carbon credits -- towards their own pollution targets under the Kyoto Protocol.
The joint initiative, which resembles similar funds overseen by the World Bank, will be open to shareholder nations of the EBRD and EIB -- including European Union member states and others.
Luxembourg was the first to pledge backing but it did not disclose how much money it would contribute.
The EBRD and EIB promote sustainable economic development in Eastern Europe and elsewhere, and will be able to co-invest in the projects. "The EBRD and EIB together have a unique knowledge of the region, as well as a private project financing expertise in a region which has the potential to become one of the largest exporters of carbon credits due to its current high energy and carbon intensity," the EBRD said in a statement issued late on Sunday.
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
