The Clean Development Mechanism

This past semester, my last at Villanova Law, I took an International Environmental Law course. While enrolled in this course I wrote an article entitled, Sustainable Solutions: A Holistic Proposal for Clean Development Mechanism Reform.

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is a compromise under the Kyoto Protocol to reduce the price of meeting emissions caps by Annex I Parties (developed country members) as well as provide investment for non-Annex I Parties (developing and undeveloped members). It was very hard to get developed and less developed countries on the same page when negotiating the Kyoto Protocol. The position of the developed countries is 1) it is too expensive to make the emissions cuts required and 2) climate change is a worldwide problem and there are emerging economies that are not under caps and are pouring out greenhouse gasses, we need a way to get these countries under caps. They want them under caps for two reasons: 1) to solve climate change and 2) they think that non-capped countries will have an economic advantage.

Developing and underdeveloped countries on the other hand say to developed countries, "This is your fault, you clean it up. We are just starting to turn our lights on and you can't place expensive caps on us after getting rich on cheap dirty fuels for the past 100 years."



The CDM is the compromise between these two positions. Under the Kyoto Protocol the Annex I countries must reduce their emissions by a certain percentage. They can do this by taking action at home and because of the CDM they can also do it by creating projects in non-Annex I countries. It is generally less expensive to reduce emissions in less developed countries because their infrastructure can be out of date, therefore a cheap fix can reduce a lot of emissions. When these projects reduce emissions the Annex I country gets the credits and can put it toward their emissions reduction commitments.

The problems for the CDM lie in the fact that they are required to implement sustainable projects that are equitably distributed. The CDM has no mechanism for incentivizing these requirements. Therefore, the majority of projects are located where the most emissions are including China, India, Brazil and Mexico.


Also, renewable energy projects, which are more expensive to create are losing out super-pollutant reduction with few co-benefits. Sub-saharan Africa is not receiving much aid at all and is therefore falling even farther behind while investments are flowing into countries that are economically stable. The CDM also does not account for the social and environmental damage done when, under its auspices, hydrodams wipe out ecosystems or large corporations buy up swaths of land in exchange for very little.

A brilliant article that informs my article and frames a potential mechanism to incorporate sustainability and geographic distribution is, John Copeland Nagle's article: Discounting China's CDM Dams.


The commitment period for the Kyoto Protocol ends in 2012. If the climate regime is to avoid exacerbating inequities and taking the easy route for the sake of immediate gratification over sustainable solutions the CDM must be reformed. My article provides an introduction to the CDM and its role in the climate regime, looks at its successes and shortcomings and proposes two complementary reforms that would create a comprehensive and equitable solution.