Manual del Mecanismo de Desarrollo Limpio (MDL)

The document serves as a toolkit for civil society to navigate the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) under the Kyoto Protocol. It details the seven-step project cycle—from the creation of the Project Design Document (PDD) to the issuance of Certified Emission Reductions (CERs)—and highlights specific windows for public intervention, such as the 30-day public consultation period. The guide emphasizes the importance of 'additionality' and 'baselines' to prevent the issuance of false carbon credits and explains special project categories like small-scale activities, carbon sinks (afforestation/reforestation), and Programmes of Activities (PoA).

• The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) allows industrialized countries (Annex I) to invest in emission-reduction projects in developing countries to meet their Kyoto Protocol targets, with a specific mandate to promote sustainable development.
• A project is considered 'additional' only if the greenhouse gas reductions are lower than what would have been emitted in the absence of the registered CDM activity; non-additional projects generate 'false' carbon credits that can increase global emissions.
• The project cycle consists of seven steps: PDD preparation, approval from involved countries, validation and a 30-day public consultation, registration by the CDM Executive Board, monitoring, verification/certification, and potential renewal of the accreditation period.
• Public participation is primarily facilitated through the 30-day consultation period after the PDD is published on the UNFCCC website, where stakeholders can challenge a project's compliance with CDM rules.
• Carbon sink projects, specifically afforestation and reforestation, differ from standard projects because they remove CO2 for a limited time, leading to the creation of temporary (tCERs) and long-term (lCERs) credits rather than permanent ones.
• Programmes of Activities (PoA) allow for the registration of a coordinated policy or set of measures as a single CDM activity, which can then include an unlimited number of individual project activities.
• The accreditation period for standard projects is either 7 years (renewable twice) or 10 years (non-renewable), while sink projects have longer periods up to 60 years.

APA

Carbon Market Watch (2010). Manual del Mecanismo de Desarrollo Limpio (MDL). https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/CDM-Toolkit_Espanol.pdf

Chicago

Carbon Market Watch. Manual del Mecanismo de Desarrollo Limpio (MDL). 2010. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/CDM-Toolkit_Espanol.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Carbon Market Watch |title=Manual del Mecanismo de Desarrollo Limpio (MDL) |date=2010 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/CDM-Toolkit_Espanol.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{carbonmarketwatch2010manual, author = {{Carbon Market Watch}}, title = {{Manual del Mecanismo de Desarrollo Limpio (MDL)}}, institution = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2010}, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/CDM-Toolkit_Espanol.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }