New Study on Hydropower in the CDM: Examining Additionality and Criteria for Sustainability

The document analyzes the risks associated with hydropower projects under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), noting that hydropower represents 30% of all registered CDM carbon offset projects as of September 2011. It argues that without effective criteria for additionality and sustainability, the CDM risks issuing credits for 'business-as-usual' projects and shifting mitigation costs to poor communities in the South. The study specifically focuses on China and India, which together hold 78% of registered hydropower CDM projects, as well as Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and the EU's application of World Commission on Dams (WCD) guidelines for projects selling credits into the European Emissions Trading Scheme.

• Hydropower is the most common project type under the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), accounting for 30% of all registered carbon offset projects, totaling over 1,000 projects as of 1 September 2011.
• Hydropower projects often cause severe negative impacts, including biodiversity loss, displacement of communities, and loss of agricultural land, which necessitates strict criteria to prevent substantial social and environmental harm.
• There is a risk that the CDM may generate credits from 'business-as-usual' projects that do not provide real emissions reductions, effectively transferring climate mitigation costs from Northern polluters to Southern poor communities.

APA

Haya, B., & Parekh, P. (2011). New Study on Hydropower in the CDM: Examining Additionality and Criteria for Sustainability. Carbon Market Watch. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/publications/new-study-on-hydropower-in-the-cdm-examining-additionality-and-criteria-for-sustainability/

Chicago

Haya, Barbara, and Payal Parekh. New Study on Hydropower in the CDM: Examining Additionality and Criteria for Sustainability. Carbon Market Watch, 2011. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/publications/new-study-on-hydropower-in-the-cdm-examining-additionality-and-criteria-for-sustainability/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Haya |first1=Barbara |last2=Parekh |first2=Payal |title=New Study on Hydropower in the CDM: Examining Additionality and Criteria for Sustainability |publisher=Carbon Market Watch |date=28 November 2011 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/publications/new-study-on-hydropower-in-the-cdm-examining-additionality-and-criteria-for-sustainability/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{haya2011new, author = {Haya, Barbara and Parekh, Payal}, title = {{New Study on Hydropower in the CDM: Examining Additionality and Criteria for Sustainability}}, institution = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2011}, month = nov, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/publications/new-study-on-hydropower-in-the-cdm-examining-additionality-and-criteria-for-sustainability/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }