Carbon Conservation: Climate Change, Forests and the Clean Development Mechanism

The report uses a case study of Costa Rica's JI pilot projects to identify challenges in quantifying and verifying carbon sequestration, such as baselines and leakage. It argues that the CDM must integrate strong environmental and social safeguards, including public participation and benefit-sharing with local communities, to ensure sustainable development. The author proposes a phased evolution for the CDM, moving from project-specific credits to national baselines, and suggests limiting the use of Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) to 1% of Annex I Parties' assigned amounts initially to prioritize domestic reductions.

• The report identifies four critical challenges for ensuring actual climate benefits in forest sequestration projects: additionality, quantifiability, verifiability, and durability.
• Quantifying carbon benefits is complicated by the difficulty of establishing baselines and accounting for 'leakage,' where project activities cause emissions to increase off-site.
• Costa Rica reduced uncertainty and transaction costs by expanding the 'system boundary' from individual sites to national baselines, specifically through its Protected Areas Project (PAP).
• To ensure durability, the report suggests 'ton-year' accounting, which equates one ton of emitted carbon with the product of one ton sequestered multiplied by the residency time of carbon in the atmosphere.
• The author argues that the CDM must mandate socio-economic benefits for local communities and indigenous peoples to ensure long-term project viability and sustainable development.
• To prevent the CDM from becoming a tool for the cheapest possible offsets that ignore environmental costs, the report recommends that the CDM have price-setting authority or use auctions.
• The report proposes that Annex I countries be limited to using CERs for no more than 1% of their assigned amounts initially to encourage domestic research and development of clean technology.
• The author suggests a five-phase evolution for the CDM, moving from site-specific projects to national baselines, and eventually to developing countries adopting full inventory and reporting obligations.
• Effective public participation in the CDM requires three components: access to information, participation in decision-making, and access to justice.

APA

Goldberg, D. M. (n.d.). Carbon Conservation: Climate Change, Forests and the Clean Development Mechanism. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/CleanDevelopmentMechanismText.pdf

Chicago

Goldberg, Donald M. Carbon Conservation: Climate Change, Forests and the Clean Development Mechanism. Center for International Environmental Law, n.d. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/CleanDevelopmentMechanismText.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Goldberg |first1=Donald M. |title=Carbon Conservation: Climate Change, Forests and the Clean Development Mechanism |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/CleanDevelopmentMechanismText.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{goldbergndcarbon, author = {Goldberg, Donald M.}, title = {{Carbon Conservation: Climate Change, Forests and the Clean Development Mechanism}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/CleanDevelopmentMechanismText.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }