Who gives the letter of approval?
3/CMP.1, Annex, paragraph 40(a) requires that written approval be provided from each Party involved:
The designated operational entity shall:
- Prior to the submission of the validation report to the Executive Board, have received from the project participants written approval of voluntary participation from the designated national authority of each Party involved, including confirmation by the host Party that the project activity assists it in achieving sustainable development (3/CMP.1, Annex, paragraph 40(a)).
The CDM Glossary of Terms (Version 03) defines a "Party involved" as follows:
A Party involved is a Party that provides a written approval (CDM Glossary of Terms, Version 03).
In practice, there are usually two Parties involved (except in the case of unilateral CDM projects):
- the host Party (that authorises the participation of the host Party entity); and
- the Annex I Party (that authorises the participation of the Annex I entity).
Each project participant requires a letter of approval which they will need to obtain from the relevant Party involved.
For a Programme of Activities (PoA), it is possible that CDM Programme Activities (CPAs) will be located in different countries:
The physical boundary of a PoA may extend to more than one country provided that each participating non-annex I host Party provides confirmation that the PoA, and thereby all CPAs, assists it in achieving sustainable development (EB 32, Annex 38, paragraph 2).
In such a case, a letter of approval must be obtained from the DNA of each Party involved:
The coordinating/managing entity shall obtain letters of approval for the implementation of the PoA from each Host Party and Annex I Party involved in the PoA. Letters of approval shall be issued in accordance with the guidance provided by the CDM Executive Board (EB 32, Annex 39, paragraph 3).
A coordinating/managing entity may therefore need to obtain several letters of approval before registering a PoA.
However, a host Party's letter of approval for a PoA will cover all CPAs included under that PoA which are located within the territory of the party. It is not necessary to obtain a separate letter of approval for each CPA.
Similarly, only one letter of approval is required from one Annex I Party for the entire PoA. Registering a PoA therefore streamlines the domestic approval processes that must be undertaken for each CPA, which if registered as standard CDM projects would each require a letter of approval.
The requirements of and procedures for obtaining a letter of approval for a PoA are otherwise the same for any CDM project activity.