Additionality of emissions reductions from clean development mechanism projects: issues and options for project-level assessments

摘要

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), provided for in the Kyoto Protocol, is designed to encourage project activities in developing countries that result in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions. To receive credit, emissions reductions should be additional to what would occur in the absence of the CDM. Establishing a workable way to judge whether reductions are additional to what would happen otherwise is a vexing challenge. The problems with project-level assessment in the AIJ phase have led to interest in simpler approaches for determining project additionality and baselines. Because a project-level approach takes each case separately, however, it affords greater opportunity than alternative approaches to ensure that emissions reductions are likely additional. This paper considers improvements to a project-level approach that could reduce the problems that have arisen in the past.