Editing Kyoto Protocol (section)

===== "Green Investment Schemes" =====
The "Green Investment Scheme" (GIS) is a plan for achieving environmental benefits from trading surplus allowances (AAUs) under the Kyoto Protocol.<ref name="Definition of Green Investment Scheme (GIS)">{{citation
 | year=2011
 | title=Carbon Finance - Glossary of Terms: Definition of "Green Investment Scheme" (GIS)
 | author=Carbon Finance at the World Bank
 | publisher=World Bank Carbon Finance Unit (CFU)
 | location=Washington, DC, US
 | url=http://go.worldbank.org/HZGVW3QN20
 | archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20100817010146/http://go.worldbank.org/HZGVW3QN20
 | url-status=dead
 | archive-date=17 August 2010
 | access-date=15 December 2011
 }}</ref> The Green Investment Scheme (GIS), a mechanism in the framework of International Emissions Trading (IET), is designed to achieve greater flexibility in reaching the targets of the Kyoto Protocol while preserving environmental integrity of IET. However, using the GIS is not required under the Kyoto Protocol, and there is no official definition of the term.<ref name="Definition of Green Investment Scheme (GIS)" />

Under the GIS a party to the protocol expecting that the development of its economy will not exhaust its Kyoto quota, can sell the excess of its Kyoto quota units (AAUs) to another party. The proceeds from the AAU sales should be "greened", i.e. channelled to the development and implementation of the projects either acquiring the greenhouse gases emission reductions (hard greening) or building up the necessary framework for this process (soft greening).{{sfn|Carbon Trust|2009|p=25}}