BANGKOK, June 26, 2009 – Jitendra J Shah (left), Acting Country Director, the World Bank, shook hand with Dr. Pongsak Angkasith, President of Chiang Mai University (CMU) after signing the agreement to purchase up to 500,000 tons of “carbon credits” from the new CDM program, managed by CMU’s Energy Research and Development Institute (ERDI). The new CDM program, the first of its kind in Southeast Asia’s first, allows many small clean energy projects to come together under the umbrella of a single broader program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Dr. Wannarat Charnnukun (second left), Minister of Energy, and Khun Sirithan Pairoj-Boriboon (second right), Executive Director of the Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization, presided over the agreement signing ceremony.