Statement of Intent between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Russian Federation on Joint Implementation of Measures to Reduce Emissions of Greenhouse Gases, Moscow, 1996
Done at Moscow 16 July 1996
Primary source citation: Copy of text provided by the U.S. Department of State
The Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as “the Participants”),
Recognizing:
that enhancing environmental protection, and, in particular, controlling greenhouse gas emissions to limit potentially adverse climate change impacts, would be mutually beneficial;
that limiting the adverse impacts of climate change requires global actions to which the Participants can make significant contributions, and that the Participants have a mutual interest in working together in this area;
that the Participants proceed from the objectives, principles, and commitments of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC), and in particular, on the basis of equity and in accordance with the common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities of the FCCC Parties;
that each of the Participants will benefit from cooperation in the development, use and dissemination, including transfer, of technologies, methods, and processes leading to the reduction, limitation or cessation of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions in all relevant sectors of the economy, including energy, transport, industry, agriculture, forestry and waste removal;
that the Participants in fulfilling their FCCC commitments may implement policies and measures jointly with other parties and may assist other parties in contributing to the achievement of the objectives of the Convention;
that the Participants, will benefit from joint implementation of measures to reduce or limit emissions of greenhouse gases and to increase their absorption (hereinafter referred to as “joint implementation”);
that there is the potential for additional investment in environmentally, socially and economically sound development through private sector participation;
that many practices and technologies that limit greenhouse gas emissions also contribute to the control of local and regional environmental problems and that verifiable, cost-effective, world-wide greenhouse gas emission reductions may be achieved by encouraging such reductions, in countries where responsive solutions are available, through investment and possible financial and technical assistance from individuals and organizations in other industrialized countries;
and taking into account the decisions that were taken by the first FCCC Conference of the Parties held in Berlin from March 29-April 7, 1995, with respect to the pilot phase for joint implementation;”
Declare as follows:
The Participants intend to facilitate the development of joint implementation projects which would stimulate market deployment of modern greenhouse gas-reducing technologies, including: the use of low-emission fossil fuels; measures to improve efficiency in energy use and in the application of renewable energy technologies; increased diversification of energy sources; the

reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in all sectors, including the production, distribution and transportation of energy resources; conservation, restoration, and enhancement of carbon sinks in forest, agricultural, grazing and other lands; joint educational and training programs, and ­information-related programs.
The Participants invite other nations to endorse this Statement as an indication of the intention of their Governments to participate in sustainable development cooperation and joint implementation. This cooperation could contribute to the development of an accessible international joint implementation program which is sensitive to environmental, developmental, social and economic priorities. Such cooperation should encourage partnerships between the Participants, the private sector, non-Governmental and other organizations.
The participants intend that the forms of cooperation under this framework may include, but are not limited to, the following:
A. Adequate and mutually agreed cooperation between the project evaluation panel and secretariat of the U.S. Initiative on Joint Implementation (USIJI) and the Interagency Commission of the Russian Federation on Climate Change Problems (MKPK) in discharging the duties delegated to them by their respective Governments. These include project review, project evaluation, and issuance of official statements of acceptance for joint projects. Specifics of the procedures of coordination between the USIJI evaluation panel and secretariat and the MKPK are to be agreed upon. A description of the functions and organization of these bodies is provided in Annex I of this Statement of Intent;
B. Design of the program criteria to facilitate acceptance of joint projects consistent with the priorities of the United States of America and the ground rules of USIJI, as well as with the priorities of the Russian Federation and with the ground rules of the MKPK, for measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase absorption of carbon dioxide by various means, including joint implementation of such measures. The Participants’ domestic priorities may also include the issues of biodiversity conservation, ecosystem protection, reduction of local pollution, sustainable land-use practices, the opportunity to improve the economics of agriculture, and local participation in project planning and execution;
C. Timely review and issuance of official statements of project acceptance or status for projects involving partners in both countries, by the USIJI to MKPK or MKPK to the USIJI, including for those projects currently under consideration;
D. Identification and support of projects that potentially satisfy the criteria for joint implementation pilot programs established by the Participants;
E. Exchange of information on issues of common interest relating to joint implementation, including: the determination of greenhouse gas emission and absorption baselines for projects and countries; prospects for practical implementation of the Participants’ participation in the pilot and subsequent phases of activities jointly implemented under the auspices of the FCCC; the methods and mechanisms of monitoring and external verification of the achieved levels of greenhouse gas reductions and of the increase in their absorption; standardization of the methods and mutual reporting of the achieved levels of greenhouse gas emission reductions; methods for quantification of potential credits (in the future), consistent with the criteria for project selection in established national pilot programs for joint implementation;
F. Outreach and promotion of joint implementation, as well as of other sustainable development activities in the public, private, and non-Governmental sectors, including dissemination of information about the national criteria of the Participants for this sphere of activity, the availability of resources for giving technical assistance, workshops and conferences, and the use of information networks;
G. Support of the international pilot phase of joint activities at international fora, including at the FCCC Conferences of the Parties and meetings of the Conference’s subsidiary bodies. This pilot phase should:
• be open to all Parties;
• be voluntary and additional to the obligations of the Parties under the FCCC;
• be focused primarily on information exchange and the rapid development of effective international criteria for joint implementation.
Further, the assessment of individual projects for the international pilot phase is the responsibility of the individual Governments and/or the private entities involved;
H. Exploration of credible certification of emissions reductions, including the determination of reasonable greenhouse gas
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emission and absorption baselines at the project level;
I. Design of activities and projects implemented in accordance with this Statement of Intent, for the ­purposes of:
1 . Encouraging increased private sector involvement in sustainable development projects and joint implementation;
2 . Fostering the establishment of continuous financing vehicles and other mechanisms to assist private entrepreneurs to build successful enterprises that support joint implementation-related energy, industrial, transport and forestry sector projects;
3 . Providing information concerning additional sources of project funding and logistical elements that facilitate access to such sources; and
4 . Facilitating the exchange of information concerning arrangements of business agreements, joint ventures and licensing agreements among companies and enterprises in the Participants’ nations.
The Participants also intend that any project concerning joint implementation, or other joint activities and arrangements implemented pursuant to this Statement of Intent will be the subject of separate documentation on terms accepted by all parties to such activity. Furthermore, the Participants intend to include appropriate patent and intellectual property rights provisions, as well as provisions to protect business confidential information, in any agreements concerning individual projects. In the event that any activity involves access to patents or other intellectual property rights, or sharing or transfer of technologies pursuant to patents or other intellectual property rights, access to such information must be provided on terms which are consistent with the adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights.
The original text in English and in Russian of this Statement of Intent will be deposited at the U.S. Department of State and the Russian Federation Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Signed at Moscow, this sixteenth day of July, 1996, in duplicate.
For the Government of For the Government of
The United States of America: the Russian Federation:
[Signature] [Signature]
Annex 1
Responsibilities and Organization of the
Interagency Commission of the Russian Federation
on Climate Change Problems
and the U.S. Initiative on Joint Implementation
U.S. Initiative on Joint Implementation
The U.S. Initiative on Joint Implementation (USIJI) was announced and published as an element of President Clinton’s Climate Change Action Plan in October, 1993. Its final ground rules were published by the Department of State in the Federal Register on June 1, 1994. These ground rules establish the Evaluation Panel, name two co-chairs (Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency), and six other agencies as members (Department of State, Agency for International Development, Department of the Treasury, Department of Interior, Department of Agriculture, and Department of Commerce). The Evaluation Panel and the USIJI Secretariat serve as the government office for the U.S. with responsibility for project evaluation and issuance of official statements regarding joint implementation and project proposals.
The ground rules also charge the Panel with responsibility for reviewing and accepting or rejecting joint implementation project submissions within 90 days of the receipt of a complete proposal submission or resubmission. The criteria for evaluation of proposals also are specified in the ground rules.
Developers of joint implementation projects submit proposals to the USIJI Secretariat, which reviews the proposals for completeness in meeting its criteria. Technical review by experts is performed. Questions about the project baseline, greenhouse
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gas emissions or sequestration benefits, monitoring and other issues, information gaps in the proposal, feasibility of implementation of the project, and sources of potential financing are submitted to the proposers, who are asked to provide any additional information needed. The Secretariat prepares a proposal summary and recommendation, which is forwarded to a meeting of the Evaluation Panel, which makes decisions on each proposal. These decisions are communicated to the proposers by letter and to the public in an announcement ceremony.
USIJI will serve as the U.S. coordinator of cooperation with the Interagency Commission of the Russian Federation on Climate Change Problems.
Interagency Commission of the Russian Federation on Climate Change Problems
The Interagency Commission of the Russian Federation on Climate Change Problems (MKPK) was established in spring, 1994, by two special orders of the Government of the Russian Federation that appointed the MKPK chairperson and confirmed he composition of the MKPK regulations governing it.
A.I. Bedritsky, Director of the Federal Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring Service of Russia, was appointed chairman of the MKPK. The MKPK was composed of representatives of about 30 Russian Federation ministries and agencies (including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of the Economy, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Fuel and Energy, Ministry of Transportation, Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the Federal Forestry Service, the Water Management Committee, the Russian Space Agency, the Water Management Committee, the Russian Space Agency, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and natural Resources, the Federal Hydrometerology and Environmental Monitoring Service, the Russian Academy of Science, etc.)
The MKPK is tasked primarily as follows:
- coordinating the work of the Russian Federation ministries and agencies to reduce effects of economic activities on climate and to prevent adverse impacts of climate change on the economy and the environment;
- coordinating the activities of the Russian Federation ministries, agencies, and organizations to ensure fulfillment of Russia’s obligations under the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change with respect to stabilizing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at a level that would preclude a dangerous anthropogenic impact on the climate system;
- organizing and coordinating the Russian Federation’s activities as a participant in Convention bodies and in international cooperation on problems of climate change.
Within the aforementioned tasking, the MKPK handles the Russian Federation’s participation in joint activities by the Parties to the Convention. A special Working Group has been constituted within the MKPK to review project proposals for joint implementation of measures designed to limit or reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to increase absorption; this Working Group’s taskings include reviewing proposals for such projects, evaluating them, providing the necessary paperwork support during their implementation, and preparing the requisite informational materials about these activities. The MKPK takes the Working Group’s findings as a basis for deciding whether to approve project proposals, whether they need additional work, or whether to reject them.
The MKPK is the Russian Federation coordinator for issues of cooperation with the U.S. Initiative for Joint Implementation.

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