The value of the carbon market was about $118-billion in 2008, which represented an 84% increase in the total value of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions traded in 2007, with the volume of GHG emissions reductions traded in 2008 reaching four-billion tons - a 42% increase on the volume traded in 2007, Imbewu Sustainability Legal Specialists consultant Marie Parramon said on Wednesday.

She added that despite a slowdown in the development of clean development mechanism (CDM) projects earlier this year, owing to the global economic crisis, an upscale in project development has resumed.

While CDM projects would not lead to quick money for developers, there were many advantages, such as attracting foreign investment, to developing these projects, she noted.

Further, there were also opportunities to access green or carbon finance, opportunities for technology transfer and potential additional revenues from certified emission reductions.

These projects not only had to be considered from a climate change perspective, but also from an economic point of view, said Parramon.

She explained that some countries could in future start implementing trade barriers on some products if these were not manufactured in an environmentally efficient way.

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