Three Central and Eastern European countries have been recently
suspended from international carbon trading for violating Kyoto
Protocol emissions reporting rules. Bulgaria was suspended in June
2010 for seven months. Romania was suspended on August 27. The ban
will be lifted when Romania has rectified the breach, which is
anticipated to take at least six months.1 The UNFCCC
Compliance Committee preliminarily found Ukraine non-compliant with
guidelines for national inventory systems on August 25, a finding
that was upheld on October 12. The ban will likely remain in effect
until the middle of 2012.2
Suspension affects a country's ability to participate in
Kyoto Protocol's flexibility mechanisms. The Protocol set
quantified commitments for limiting or reducing anthropogenic
greenhouse gas emissions in 39 countries that are developed or in
transition towards a market economy for the 2008 to 2012 period. To
help achieve these commitments in a cost effective way,
