NEFCO to purchase carbon credits for Norway

The Ministry of Finance has signed an agreement with the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation, NEFCO, to purchase carbon credits in the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol (2013-2020). Through this agreement Norway will purchase up to 30 million credits from stranded UN-approved projects facing a risk of discontinuation due to the low CER prices.

As outlined in the Revised National Budget, the Government emphasized that the credit procurement will support the development and legitimacy of the international market for carbon offsets. Due to the situation in the market, with a huge oversupply of credits and low prices, this implies that the program will only procure credits from existing projects facing a risk of discontinuation and from new projects. The program will rely on the UN-approval of carbon credits and on the guidelines for the program in the first Kyoto period.

NEFCO is an international financial institution owned by the five Nordic countries. NEFCO mainly finances environmental-related projects and investments, in order to generate positive environmental effects for the Nordic region. It's Carbon Finance and Funds department operates globally, and has assets under management including carbon finance facilities, climate guarantees and technical assistance products totaling EUR 230 million.