After having looked at the relationship between the CDM and poverty issues, exploring the role that CDM institutions play with regard to the sustainable development goal as established by the rules of the convention, and having a quick look at three country cases, several conclusions can be drawn.
What is the capacity of the CDM to assist non Annex-I countries in achieving poverty alleviation' The CDM still has a low capacity to alleviate poverty.
Even though it has a great potential for reducing poverty, evidenced by its high involvement with energy generation and provision issues, it can be concluded that several issues related to the procedures that projects must follow can be an obstacle for delivering poverty reduction outcomes. These issues are the following (a) the lack of a standard definition of sustainable development criteria and the market based nature of the mechanism can result in the implementation of projects that neglect sustainability aspects, (b) the emission reduction goal is monitored, validated and certified while this is not the case for the sustainable development goal, and (c) a very demanding legislation can result in the hosting of a small number of projects like in the case of South Africa and to a certain degree of Argentina. These issues expose a major shortcoming of the CDM: while relaxing legislation with regard to sustainability can attract projects that neglect development issues, utilizing strong sustainability criteria might obstruct or reduce the flows of CDM projects into a country. Neither of these options presents satisfactory solutions to poverty problems.
If we consider all the conclusions drawn, it becomes clear that there are certain tensions that should be addressed for the CDM to acquire a higher capacity to alleviate poverty. At the level of the projects, research on the relationships between energy, poverty and the CDM is welcome in order to synchronise policies and procedures within this domain. The Indian situation presents a proper environment for doing field research. At the level of institutions and procedures, decisions should be taken concerning the definition of the sustainable development criteria that projects should meet. Adopting the SSN criteria and designing GS-PDDs instead of regular PDDs would be a desirable development. If parties have a problem with a standard definition they should at least notify the CDM Executive Board about what criteria they use. Furthermore, monitoring, validation and certification of all the three dimensions of sustainable development should be carried out in the same way the reduction of GHGs emissions is monitored, verified and certified. By not doing this, the sustainable development goal of the CDM is placed under the mitigation goal. The knowledge and dedication of civil society organisations like SSN could be used for this objective.
It would be a negative development for non Annex-I countries not to fully maximise the poverty reduction potential of the CDM. It would also be regretful for Annex-I countries to miss the chance of building more knowledge on development interventions that could enhance the regular development interventions via the ministries of development or multilateral organisations. But above all, in a time in which global institutions for global problems are certainly needed, it would be undesirable for all the parties, if one of the mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol does not fully deliver the desired outcomes.
BOX I: A meta-scientificMainly economic and political sciences are involved in the study of the CDM. This is no surprise considering the market based spirit of Kyoto and its huge political implications. Within the political side, studies of environmental policy are deeply concerned with the developments of the Kyoto negotiations. Scholars belonging to different disciplines but involved in the discussion on development and the environment are also participating in this discussion. Since the CDM is a mitigation activity, the scientific journal 'Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change' publishes works of scholars belonging to all these disciplines, but the discussion on the development side of the CDM is not as sharp as the discussion about policy and feasibility questions. Works about the CDM and its relationship with sustainable development are also coming from scientific journals within the realm of the environmental and development science: ' Journal of Environment & Development', ' Environment, Development and Sustainability' or 'World Development'. The discussion about the CDM and sustainable development is held in other forums though. In these forums scientists cooperate with governments and civil society organisations. For example, SSN combines the knowledge from NGOs with knowledge from scholars and funding from governments. The Dutch government has supported the idea of establishing the Matrix of criteria, which has been designed by scholars from the university of Rio the Janeiro, the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies and a South African Energy Consultant. SSN operates mainly in countries hosting projects, as well as other non-profit organisations like the Indonesian based NGO CDMwatch. Knowledge on the issue comes mainly from actors settled in this part of the world. The importance that the discussion on Climate Change has acquired in the last years, and the multidimensional consequences of the implementation of Kyoto (markets, politics, environmental and development issues), suggest that there is a lot to learn about the possibilities these issues offer for tackling problems within these dimensions of society. The fact that a very large group of non Annex-I countries is and will become involved with mitigation and adaptation activities, will expand the scope of the discussion on the tensions between the environment and development interventions. |
APPENDIX
Appendix figure 1: SSN Appraisal and Ranking Matrix Tool
Source: www.southsouthnorth.org
Appendix figure 2: Explanation of the social sustainable development indicators
-EMPLOYMENT (QUALITY) This indicator evaluates the qualitative value of employment, such as whether the jobs resulting from the project activity are highly or poorly qualified, temporary or permanent in comparison with BAU. Take temporary and permanent as qualifications for job quality. -LIVELIHOODS OF THE POOR POVERTY ALLEVIATION: This sub-indicator evaluates the project contribution to poverty alleviation. Poverty alleviation will be evaluated by calculating the change in number of people living above income poverty line compared to baseline. LIVELIHOODS OF THE POOR: Contribution to equal distribution and additional opportunity for disadvantaged sectors. This sub-indicator evaluates contribution of the project to equal distribution of wealth and opportunity, in particular marginal or excluded social groups. The indicator combines quantitative - changes in estimated earned income (normalised to the project's starting year) compared with the baseline - and qualitative assessment - improved opportunities. ACCESS TO ESSENTIAL SERVICES: (health, education, access to facilities, water, etc.) Access to essential services will be taken as an indicator of social sustainability, measured by the number of additional people gaining access in comparison with the baseline. Access must be directly related to the service and not a spin-off. -ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE CLEAN ENERGY SERVICES The CDM and JI provide an important opportunity to improve the coverage of reliable and affordable clean energy services, especially to the poor and in rural areas. Where of a relevant scale, security of energy supply (an indicator of a country's ability to generate the power that is needed for services and the economy in comparison with the baseline), should be taken into account. -HUMAN CAPACITYThis indicator is used to assess the project's contribution to raising the capacity of local people and/or communities to participate actively in social and economic development. It comprises three indicative sub-indicators: EMPOWERMENT: This sub-indicator evaluates the project's contribution to improving the access of local people to and their participation in community institutions and decision-making processes. EDUCATION/SKILLS: This sub-indicator is used to assess how the project activity enhances and/or requires improved and more widespread education and skills in the community. GENDER EQUALITY: This sub-indicator is used to assess how the project activity requires or enhances improvement of the empowerment, education/skills and livelihoods of women in the community. |
Source: SSN Matrix Tool
Appendix figure III: operationalisations of the country attractiveness for hosting
CDM projects
Source: Jung (2005, p3)
