Carmen Bunzl - Universidad Pontificia Comillas

Chapter 1. Introduction 19
use were the largest sectors not included. Transportation remains a major
challenge as its emissions continue to grow strongly despite continuing policy
measures.
4.2.1.2 The Clean Development Mechanism
The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is a market-based trading
mechanism created by the Kyoto Protocol with the purpose of assisting:
- Developed (Annex I) countries in achieving their quantified emissions
reduction commitments; and
- Developing (Non-Annex I) countries in achieving sustainable
development.
Industrialized countries pay for projects that cut or avoid emissions in poorer
nations – and are awarded credits that can be applied to meeting their own
emissions targets. The recipient countries benefit from free introduction of
advanced technology that allow their factories or electrical generating plants to
operate more efficiently – and hence at lower costs and higher profits.
Greenhouse gas emissions of developing countries are growing, especially in
the case of enormously populous states such as China and India; with the
contribution of CDM based projects, future emissions will be lower than they
would have been otherwise.
The mechanism is meant to work bottom-up -- to proceed from individual
proposals to approval by donor and recipient governments to the allocation of
"certified emissions reduction” (CER) credits. Countries that earn these CERs
may then apply them to meeting the country’s emission limits, may "bank"
them for use later, or may sell them to other industrialized countries under the
Protocol's emissions-trading system. Certifications are issued by the CDM
Executive Board (CDM EB).
Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería ICAI Carmen Bunzl Boulet Junio 2008