Shearman & Sterling has advised AES Tietê S/A on the sale of 400,000 emission reduction credits to be generated under the UN Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism regime. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development is purchasing these credits as trustee of the BioCarbon Fund.

AES Tietê S/A is generating the credits from an approximate 13,900-hectare reforestation project using native species around 10 reservoirs created by its hydroelectric plants in the State of São Paulo, Brazil.

Emission reduction credits certified under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism regime are freely tradeable and may be used to satisfy emission reduction targets under the Protocol itself and in the European Union under certain circumstances.

The Shearman & Sterling team in the firm’s London office was led by Environmental Counsel Mehran Massih.