CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) makes use of free market mechanism to
combat carbon emission especially in under-developed countries
T he Clean Development Mechanism ("CDM") was established by the Kyoto
Protocol with the aims of encouraging emissions reductions in the developing
world and cheapening greenhouse gas mitigation for developed countries using
free market mechanism.
In November 2005 diplomats from
around the world will meet in Montreal to begin negotiations on a successor
agreement to the Kyoto Protocol. While the Kyoto agreement runs through
2012, governments are already focused on the period after 2012 because
effective limits on the emissions that cause global warming require a
long-term approach. Most of these gases are emitted from the energy sector,
where capital investments last for decades. Private firms are unlikely to
invest adequately in advanced technologies to cut their emissions unless
they believe that limits will become sufficiently strict as governments get
serious about slowing global warming.
There is no clear plan for Kyoto's
successor. The Kyoto agreement, itself, does not offer an effective
framework. The U.S. has pulled out and has yet to offer an alternative
strategy for slowing global warming. Canada and Japan have formally joined
the Kyoto treaty, but neither nation has yet offered a workable plan for
meeting its Kyoto commitments. Only the European Union is implementing a
scheme that will yield compliance with its Kyoto obligations. But a system
that attracts only Europe is unlikely to exert much leverage on global
emissions, as the EU accounts for only 15% of the world's total emissions.
Moreover, the limits on emissions enshrined in the Kyoto agreement exclude
developing countries, which account for nearly half of the world's GHG
emissions. (China alone is responsible for 12%.) Because they are more
populous, these countries' per-capita emissions remain much lower than that
of the industrialized world. Nonetheless, any viable strategy for taming
global warming must include a vision the eventual engagement of developing
countries.
Armstrong EcoNews
Editorial |
