"The UN body in charge of managing carbon trading has suspended approvals for dozens of Chinese wind farms amid questions over the country's use of industrial policy to obtain money under the scheme... China has been the biggest beneficiary of what is known as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), a carbon trading system designed to direct funds from wealthy countries to developing nations to cut greenhouse gases...." [Dow Jones/Factiva]

FT writes that "...China has earned 153 million carbon credits, worth more than $1 billion and making up almost half of the total issued under the UN-run CDM in the past five years, according to a Financial Times analysis....Projects only qualify for credits if the applicants prove they would not have been built anyway, a condition known as 'additionality.'..." [Financial Times/Factiva]

AP adds that "...CDM officials raised questions after Beijing released a list in July of prices utility companies would pay for wind power.... The government set lower prices for wind power in some regions. That would help more projects qualify for CDM credits because they would need more foreign money to pay for construction. Beijing requires utilities to subsidize clean energy by paying more for wind power than for that from coal-fired generators...." [Associated Press/Factiva]