The UNFCCC Compliance Committee recently suspended Greece from trading carbon credits under the Kyoto Protocol. The Committee determined that Greece does not reliably observe and measure greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as required by Kyoto. This marks the first time that a country has been sanctioned under the UN system for inadequate GHG reporting.

Greece is now ineligible to participate in the Kyoto Protocol’s flexibility mechanisms, meaning it cannot buy credits to meet its own emissions targets or sell credits from domestic projects that generate excess emissions allowances.

According to the Greek newspaper Kathimerini, Greece must “develop a new system of measuring emissions and submit it to the panel within three month. If approved, Greece will then effectively be under the supervision of a team of experts . . . to ensure that it sticks to the scheme.” The team of experts working on this case consists of Paul Filliger (Switzerland), Matej Gasperič (Slovenia), Teemu Oinonen (Finland), Erda Lin (China), Héctor D. Ginzo (Argentina), and Jose Ramon T. Villarin (Philippines)

This decision was not entirely unexpected. EU Environmental Commissioner Stavros Dimas, a Greek national, noted in January that “Greece is the only country in the European Union not to have convinced the United Nations that it has a credible system” to measure emissions. Nonetheless, the decision has “shamed Greece on an international level” according to Dimitris Karavellas, the head of the WWF Hellas.

By applying these sanctions, the UN Compliance Committee has taken a critical step towards ensuring the legitimacy of the emissions data reported under the Kyoto Protocol. One of biggest criticisms of emissions trading and carbon offset programs is the lack of transparency for the monitoring, reporting, and verification of emissions data at all levels. By not wavering in its commitment to protect the Kyoto mechanisms, the UN has signaled that it recognizes the concerns and possesses both the means and ability to address them.

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