HOW TO ENABLE THE PRIVATE SECTOR TO MITIGATE?

The research paper examines indirect tools—capacity building and the creation of enabling environments—to remove non-financial barriers for low-carbon business activities in developing countries. It analyzes past experiences with the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), identifies gaps in current international climate finance, and provides recommendations for the post-2012 climate regime, emphasizing the need for demand-driven, coordinated efforts and a stronger focus on the core regulatory business environment.

• Capacity building for the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) has historically been supply-driven and plagued by donor competition and a lack of coordination, leading to overlapping programs.
• Effective CDM capacity building in Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and African countries requires a multi-tiered approach combining awareness raising, institution building, and concrete project development.
• The private sector is largely neglected as a direct target for capacity building within UNFCCC negotiations and implementation, with most business-related efforts limited to the CDM.
• Capacity building for businesses is most successful when combined with financing instruments, as seen in the performance of Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) and SME development.
• The 'enabling environment' for low-carbon business is often vaguely defined and primarily focused on technology transfer in negotiations, while in practice, international funding targets the investment climate and specific policies rather than the core regulatory business environment.
• There is a significant disconnect between existing targeted climate policies on the ground and the concept of Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs).
• Initial capacity building for new market mechanisms post-2012 is estimated to be costly, potentially ranging from 1 to 5 billion dollars, necessitating early coordination to avoid previous CDM mistakes.
• Capacity building for Programmes of Activities (PoAs) has shown a high correlation with actual project registration, particularly when focused on specific capacity needs and target groups.

APA

Stadelmann, M., & Michaelowa, A. (2011). HOW TO ENABLE THE PRIVATE SECTOR TO MITIGATE? Climate Strategies. https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/cs-capacity-building-uzh-final.pdf

Chicago

Stadelmann, Martin, and Axel Michaelowa. HOW TO ENABLE THE PRIVATE SECTOR TO MITIGATE? Climate Strategies, 2011. https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/cs-capacity-building-uzh-final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Stadelmann |first1=Martin |last2=Michaelowa |first2=Axel |title=HOW TO ENABLE THE PRIVATE SECTOR TO MITIGATE? |publisher=Climate Strategies |date=June 2011 |url=https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/cs-capacity-building-uzh-final.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stadelmann2011how, author = {Stadelmann, Martin and Michaelowa, Axel}, title = {{HOW TO ENABLE THE PRIVATE SECTOR TO MITIGATE?}}, institution = {Climate Strategies}, year = {2011}, month = jun, url = {https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/cs-capacity-building-uzh-final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }