of total GHG emissions in 1990 and exceed the annualized 2.8 percent decline is emissions from 1990 to 2005, and the two rates were roughly matched in Lithuania and Russia. At the same time, the figure shows that overall GHG emissions fell just as fast rapidly in Latvia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, where there were no CDM or JI projects.

As mentioned, there are few agricultural or forestry projects in the region. In addition, there is little diversity in the types of projects Of the 17 projects classified as agricultural, 9 of the projects are based on improving the management of manure from livestock operations. This group of projects includes two of the Hungarian projects, three of the projects hosted by the Ukraine, as well as projects in Armenia, Estonia, Poland and Serbia. The projects are mostly organized around hog or dairy operations. The remaining 8 projects have to do with converting agricultural residuals to energy, mostly the remains from sugar beet or sunflower operations. This list includes three sunflower projects in the Ukraine, two projects in Russia and projects in Bulgaria, Hungary and Moldova.

The range of forestry projects in the region is also quite limited. Of the 25 forestry projects in the region, 21 have to do with converting forest residuals, mostly from sawmill operations, into energy. This includes all eight projects in Russia, four projects each in Estonia and Hungary, and projects in Bulgaria, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and the Ukraine.

Of the 461 active projects under the CDM and JI programs in ECA, only four projects were related to how land is used: two reforestation and afforestation projects in Moldova, and one project each in Albania and Romania. All four projects deal with the problem of restoring agricultural land that has been overgrazed or degraded by poor land management. All of the projects involve land that is publicly owned, either by the state or by local communities. Significantly, two of the projects are organized under the World Bank‘s first carbon financing fund, the Prototype Carbon Fund, while the remaining two projects operate under the World Bank‘s BioCarbon Fund.

# _Project markets outside the Kyoto mechanisms_

Not all projects designed to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture operate under the UN Framework. Voluntary markets offer an alternative way of financing agricultural land-use projects. Overall, these markets are small relative to regulated markets, including the CDM (recall figure 22). However, they are significant and collectively finance a greater volume of offsets than Joint Implementation.<sup>30</sup> Most voluntary market transactions originate in the United States, which is not a party to the Kyoto Protocol.<sup>31</sup> Projects traded in voluntary markets are not subject to the same types of review and public disclosure that characterize the CDM market; however the application of third-party standards is common. In their annual review of voluntary markets, Hamilton et al. (2010) estimated that over 90 percent of voluntary transactions in 2008 and 2009 adhered to third-party standards, but also counted 18 competing standards active in voluntary markets. Still, some third-party standards are more frequently used. Among 676 voluntary projects surveyed by Peters-Stanley et al. (2011), 38 percent of the projects used Verified Carbon Standards, 19 percent use Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standards, and another 16 percent used Climate Action Reserve standards.<sup>32</sup> In some cases, the types of projects financed by voluntary markets are similar to classes of projects eligible for financing under the Kyoto mechanisms. For example, in 2009 landfill and wind projects accounted for 39

> 30 Joint Implementation is a second project-based mechanisms established by the Kyoto Protocol for projects based in countries that have pledged reductions.

> 31 Hamilton et al. (2010) estimates that 56 percent of voluntary project transactions took place in the United States.

> 32 The Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standards are not used to quantify offsets; rather they are used to address sustainability and social impact.

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