U.N. approves first E.Europe Kyoto project CO2 cuts

LONDON (Reuters) - A United Nations panel has for the first time approved greenhouse gas cuts made by an eastern European clean energy project registered under the Kyoto Protocol, the panel said on Wednesday.

The Joint Implementation Supervisory Committee told a U.N.-sponsored climate change conference in Poland that it had verified reductions of over 330,000 tons of carbon dioxide made by a Ukrainian coal mine in the first half of this year.

The project traps atmosphere-warming methane gas emitted by the mine, which is over 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide, and converts it into energy.

Under Kyoto's Joint Implementation emissions trading scheme, companies can invest in clean energy projects in former communist countries or economies-in-transition, and in return receive offset credits which can be sold for profit.

The Ukrainian project is the first to be verified by the committee and will now receive offsets, known as Emissions Reduction Units (ERUs).

Kyoto credits generated from similar projects in developing countries currently price at around 14 euros ($17.69) each. (Reporting by Michael Szabo in London and Gerard Wynn in Poznan; Editing by Peter Blackburn)