ENVIRONMENT

Talks under way to help fund Purple Line

NAREERAT WIRIYAPONG

The Finance Ministry has started talks with the Japan Carbon Finance Ltd (JCF) to sell carbon credits from Bangkok's new Purple line to help raise funds to repay costs of the new rail project.


Pongpanu Svetarundra, the director-general of the Public Debt Management Office, said selling carbon credits from by the Purple Line would help boost returns for the 23-kilometre rail line.


The Japanese Bank for International Co-operation, the parent of JCF, is lending 64 billion yen to Thailand to help finance the Purple Line.


''We have been in the discussion with JCF to turn the Purple Line into a clean development mechanism (CDM) project,'' Mr Pongpanu said.


''This could be the first CDM infrastructure project in Thailand,'' he added.
The Purple Line is one of nine new light rail projects planned for Bangkok. Contractor bids are scheduled to be accepted in August.

The CDM is a concept under the Kyoto accord that allows industrialised countries to invest in emission-reduction projects in developing countries as an alternative to cutting emissions in their own countries. Doing so allows countries to cut their ''carbon footprint'' cheaper when compared with projects in developed countries.

JCF was established in December 2004 to purchase carbon credits generated from CDM projects.

The institution is in talks with 30 CDM projects around the world, including the Purple Line, according to Joichi Kimura, director-general of the carbon finance department of JCF.

Mr Kimura said that talks about purchasing carbon credits from the Purple Line was still at an early stage.

''We still need some more clarification about the rolling stock specifications and technology the project will use,'' he said.

''But there is the possibility for such an agreement as a mass transit project such as the Purple Line could generate a large amount of credits.''

According to the World Bank, the global carbon market is projected to reach $92 billion this year, up from $64 billion in 2007, with traded volume of 4.2 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent, a 56% rise from a year earlier.

By Bangkok Post On 25 July 2008

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