V&M Do Brasil
Toyota Tsusho Corporation
IFC ­ Netherlands Carbon Facility (INCaF)
EcoSecurities

21,000,000

Conditional INCaF commitment to purchase five million tonnes of greenhouse gas emission reductions; total contract value is expected to be 15 million euros. Additional contract between Toyota Tsusho Corporation and V&M do Brasil.

A recent WRM report has assessed the FSC certification of V&M Florestal's tree plantations in Mina Gerais. The report documented several significant shortcomings, among them lack of a management plan for uncultivated areas ­ 45% of the plantation holding - and labour law violations, which the report concludes appear in stark contrast to the FSC Principles and Criteria. It remains to be seen whether the findings of this report, in the public domain while validation of the report is being undertaken, will be reflected in the final validation report.

143 Brazilian signatories call on CDM Executive Board to ban 'avoided fuel switch' projects
143 signatories from Brazil express their concerns about the World Bank’s use of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) to subsidise an unsustainable plantations industry in a letter to the Executive Board of the CDM. The letter calls on the Executive Board to accept the recommendation of its Methodologies Panel and exclude so-called “avoided fuel switch” plantation projects.
Letter in Portuguese
Letter in English
Explanatory Briefing

V&M do Brasil http://www.vmtubes.com.br

WRM report: http://www.wrm.org.uy/countries/Brazil/fsc.html

CDM Executive board rejects V&M do Brasil methodology AGAIN!
After the rejection of their first methodology in June 2003, V&M do Brasil submitted another methodology using a different approach. At its 23-25 February 2005 meeting, the CDM Executive Board took on its Methodologies Panel recommendation that this also be rejected. The desk reviewers say of the baseline methodology that it contains “large uncertainties and it is not transparent” and that the basis for determining the baseline and additionality is not appropriate nor adequate. Will V&M go for third time lucky? Hard to imagine, which will inevitably impact the controversial Plantar project given its similarity. And despite the CDM Executive Board baulking at the idea of excluding "continuation of current practise" projects, such as V&M do Brasil and Plantar's 'avoided fuel switch' projects, this thorough rejection may spell their end as CDM projects in practical terms. Full report of the Meth Panel and Executive Board meetings at www.unfccc.int; Read the FERN press release for more detail.

V&M do Brasil sees baseline methodology rejected for the third time.
At its July 2005 meeting the CDM Executive Board rejected the revised version of the revised version of V&M do Brasil's baseline methodology (see below and project pages for more detail).
Three proposed CDM sinks project methodologies were also rejected by the CDM Executive Board. SinksWatch welcomes these decisions. The proposed methodologies made it obvious that calculating verifiably the amount of carbon stored in the proposed sinks projects is a mission impossible.