Implementing the Kyoto Protocol – Chances and Challenges for Transition Countries

From 21 to 27 August 2005, participants from a broad range of geographic and professional backgrounds convened by the shores of lake Baikal in Irkutsk, Russia, to attend the 2nd International Summer Academy ‘Energy and the Environment.’ Drawing on the recent ratification of the Kyoto Protocol by the Russian Federation, they addressed the opportunities and challenges arising for transition countries under the Protocol’s flexible mechanisms. These proceedings bring together the results of a close dialogue between participants and local experts during the Summer Academy, identifying obstacles to the implementation of the flexible mechanisms within existing economic, political and legal structures, and also highlighting the potential risks facing project partners and foreign investors. Together, the contributions to this volume canvas an interdisciplinary, practice-oriented survey of the market mechanisms underlying the incipient carbon market, and provide a timely and useful source of information for researchers and practitioners alike.