CLEAN DEVELOPMENT MECHANISM
AN EFFECTIVE TOOL TO SAVE OUR PLANET
VIMAL PRAKASH
ENGINEER-HSE, WELSPUN
ANJAR, GUJARAT
Email “ vimal4safety[at]gmail.com
Introduction
The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is an
arrangement under the Kyoto Protocol allowing
industrialized
countries
(called
Annex-I
Countries) with a GHG reduction commitment to
invest in projects that reduce emissions in
developing countries as an alternative to more
expensive emission reductions in their own
countries. CDM allows Annex I (industrialized)
countries to meet their emission reduction targets by
paying for GHG emission reduction in non-Annex I
(developing) countries. We can understand this
mechanism by an example.
Example: A company in Brazil (a non Annex I
country) switches from coal power to biomass. The
CDM board certifies that by doing this the company
has reduced Carbon dioxide emissions by 100,000
tonnes per year. So it is issued with 100,000 CERâ„¢s
(Certified Emission Reductions). Under the Kyoto
Protocol, the United Kingdom (an Annex I country)
has to reduce its green house gas emissions by 1
million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. If it
purchases the 100,000 CERâ„¢s from the Brazilian
company, this target reduces from 1 million
tonnes/year to 900,000 tonnes per year making
ABSTRACT
To make the life on Earth healthy and better from
this continuous and uncontrolled emission of
Green house gases (GHG) from ongoing
industrial activities in industrialized as well as
developing countries, several world wide agencies
are fighting for a long time. To overcome this
problem United Nation Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1997 in Kyoto,
proposed
a
flexible
mechanism
Clean
Development Mechanism (CDM) to reduce the
emission
of
Green
House
gases.
the goal easier to achieve.
The funding through the CDM will assist
developing countries in reaching their objectives
by
using
more
advanced
technologies,
equipments etc to reduce GHG emission. To
make a more clear view we have to understand
some terminologies used in CDM.
CER: CER or Certified Emissions Reductions are
a "certificate" just like a stock. A CER is given by
the CDM Executive Board to projects in
developing countries to certify they have reduced
green house gas emissions by one tonne of
carbon dioxide per year. Developed countries buy
CER's from developing countries under the CDM
process to help them achieve their Kyoto targets.
Baseline: A baseline for a CDM project gives the
greenhouse gases emissions that would have
occurred in the absence of the proposed CDM
project activity. If a project gets 20,000 CERâ„¢s it
means that its emissions are 20,000 tonnes of
carbon dioxide less than a reference point called a
baseline.
Eligible Projects for CDM
The CDM will include projects in the following
sectors:
¢ End-use energy efficiency improvements
¢ Supply-side energy efficiency improvement
¢ Renewable energy
¢ Fuel Switching
¢ Sinks projects (only aforestation &
reforestation)
x Agriculture (reduction of CH
4
and N
2
O
emissions)Page 47

Journal of HSE & Fire Engineering
Issue 2 March 2009
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In order to make small projects competitive with
larger ones, the Executive Board of CDM
established a fast track for small-scale projects
with simpler eligibility rules”renewable up to 15
MW, energy efficiency with a reduction of
consumption either on the supply or the demand
side of up to 15 gigawatthours/yr, and other
projects that both reduce emissions and emit less
than 15 kilotons of CO2 equivalent annually.
CDM Project Life Cycle
1. Project Design & Formulation
2. National Approval
3. Validation/Registration
4. Project Financing
5. Monitoring
6. Verification/Certification
7. Issuance of CERs
Project Identification & Formulation: A CDM
project must be real, measurable and additional.
To establish additionality, the project emissions
must be compared to the emissions of a
reasonable reference case, identified as the
baseline. The baseline methodologies are being
developed based on
¢ Existing actual or historical emissions;
¢ Emissions from a technology that represents an
economically attractive investment; or,
¢ The average emissions of similar project
activities under taken in the previous five years
under
similar
circumstances
and
whose
performance is
among the top 20% of their
category.
National Approval: All countries wishing to
participate in the CDM must designate a National
CDM Authority to evaluate and approve the
projects, and serve as a point of contact.
Validation/Registration:
A
designated
operational entity will then review the project
Design document and, after public comment,
decide whether or not it should be validated.
These operational entities will typically be private
companies such an auditing and accounting firms,
consulting companies and law firms capable of
conducting credible, independent assessments of
emission reductions. If validated, the operational
entity will forward it to the Executive Board for
formal registration.
Monitoring, Verification/Certification: Once the
project is operational, participants prepare a
monitoring report, including an estimate of CERs
generated, and submit it for verification by an
operational entity. The operational entity must
make sure that the CERs have resulted according
to the guidelines and conditions agreed upon in
the initial validation of the project. Following a
detailed review, an operational entity will produce
a verification report and then certify the amount of
CERs generated by the CDM project.
Conclusion
CDM has enormous potential to promote
sustainable development and increase foreign
investment flows to achieve our objective of
emission reduction of GHG. With thoughtful
planning and the development of a national CDM
strategy, it can also assist in addressing local and
regional environmental problems and in advancing
social goals. The CDM allows developing
countries to participate in the global effort to
combat climate change at a time when other
development priorities may limit the funding
available for GHG emission reduction activities.
The CDMâ„¢s
objective
of
advancing the
development goals of developing countries
recognizes that only through long-term sustainable
development will all countries be able to play a
role in climate protection.
Reference
1. UNEP Collaborating Center on Energy and
Environment, Clean Development Mechanism
(UNEP Collaborating Center on Energy and
Environment, Risø
National
Laboratory,
Denmark. August 2002) 32 p.
2. uneprisoepublications
3. cseindiaprogramme/geg/cdm_fa