TAKING ACTION ON SUPPRESSED DEMAND

The document examines how 'suppressed demand'—the unmet desire for products or services due to barriers like low income, poor infrastructure, and high technology costs—disadvantages low-income countries in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Current CDM methodologies typically use 'actual consumption' as a baseline, which results in lower certified emission reductions (CERs) and makes projects less attractive to investors. The brief advocates for using 'desired consumption' as the baseline to reward avoided pollution and promote sustainable development. It highlights the outcomes of CMP7, which requested the CDM Executive Board to accelerate the implementation of guidelines on suppressed demand, particularly for LDCs, Small Island Developing States (SIDS), and African countries, while calling for increased capacity building and skills enhancement in these regions.

• Suppressed demand occurs when a desire to consume a product or service is not met due to barriers such as low income, poor infrastructure (e.g., inaccessible electricity grids), and technology barriers like high initial costs for efficient appliances.
• The distribution of registered Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects is skewed toward advanced developing countries, with LDCs and African countries having the lowest number of projects; China dominates the Asian and Pacific region.
• Current CDM methodologies disadvantage low-income countries by using 'actual consumption' (constrained consumption) as the baseline for calculating carbon credits, which results in lower quantities of CERs and makes projects unattractive to investors.
• Accounting for suppressed demand by using the difference between 'desired consumption' and 'intervention consumption' would increase the number of carbon credits, rewarding avoided pollution and supporting sustainable development in poor communities.
• The CMP7 outcome welcomed the CDM Executive Board's work on suppressed demand guidelines and requested the acceleration of their implementation, prioritizing LDCs, Small Island Developing States (SIDS), and African countries.
• To realize the potential of suppressed demand guidelines, the document calls for fast-tracking capacity building through skills enhancement, institutional strengthening, and systems development for LDCs and African countries.

APA

Climate and Development Knowledge Network (n.d.). TAKING ACTION ON SUPPRESSED DEMAND. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/CDKN-policy-Paper_190612.pdf

Chicago

Climate and Development Knowledge Network. TAKING ACTION ON SUPPRESSED DEMAND. n.d. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/CDKN-policy-Paper_190612.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |title=TAKING ACTION ON SUPPRESSED DEMAND |url=https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/CDKN-policy-Paper_190612.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climateanddevelopmentknowledgenetworkndtaking, author = {{Climate and Development Knowledge Network}}, title = {{TAKING ACTION ON SUPPRESSED DEMAND}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, url = {https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/CDKN-policy-Paper_190612.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }