Hello and welcome to the Evolution blog-live from Copenhagen.

Observers and parties to the Kyoto Protocol today began to wrangle over the substance of several draft texts to be used as a new draft text for a new climate treaty. Leaked today was a draft that leaves out any details on how to fund adaptation and mitigation abatement strategies for developing countries. However, there is still much anticipation that senior level negotiators will finalize and provide additional details on the draft text that has been proposed thus far. 

Meanwhile in another capital, Senators Kerry, Lieberman and Graham have sent President Obama a letter signifying their commitment to creating a bill that will set the U.S. on a path towards reducing its emissions. Providing the White House with additional momentum before the President’s visit here next week, the trio outlined in their letter support for a ‘near term pollution reduction target in the range of 17 percent below 2005 emissions levels is achievable and reasonable, as is a long term target of approximately 80 percent below 2005 levels. The letter also lays emphasis on creating jobs, increased use of nuclear power and increased oversight over the carbon market.

Towards the end of the day, we witnessed the formal launch of the World Bank’s ‘Carbon Partnership Facility (CPF).’ Expected to reach an initial capitalization of EUR200 million in early 2010, it will develop programmatic approaches in developing countries. Eager to build upon its successes and pitfalls in carbon finance up to date and strong belief that the carbon market is a proven method for GHG abatement, the World Bank asked itself the following question before creating its next fund: how can the World Bank utilize carbon finance to support systematic approaches to low carbon growth?

Its answer is by moving away from a project by project method for carbon finance and instead towards a programmatic approach. It will first start with the POA modality under CDM: using POA will enable the Bank to scale up the CDM in project sectors and regions that has until now not been witness to the carbon market. By working with governments and regulatory agencies, the Bank is looking to invest in areas such as energy efficiency and urban transport that can cover an entire sector or a large group of entities that wouldn’t have been possible under a traditional CDM approach. The Bank is thus far working in Morocco and Brazil with solid waste management projects and in Vietnam with a small scale hydro program. The Bank also told the audience that it will be buying post 2012 through a pricing context that both buyer and seller will negotiate. However, it stated that long-term purchase contracts are difficult because of the current policy uncertainties in the market.