The Nordic ministers of energy and of the environment have decided to establish a common investment fund for Joint Implementation Projects in the Baltic Sea Region. The fund is one of the elements of the inter-governmental co-operation to establish a Testing Ground for implementation of the flexible mechanism under the Kyoto protocol in the Baltic Sea Region.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has proposed to allocate NOK 8.1 million to the investment fund in 2003. The Norwegian part is allocated over the budgets for 2003 and 2004. The Nordic Environmental Finance Corporation (NEFCO) will provide fund management services, and the fund will be open for all interested countries in the region.