Recommendations for the review of the modalities and procedures for the Clean Development Mechanism

Carbon Market Watch argues that the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) requires fundamental reform to remain viable after 2020, specifically to move beyond 'pure offsetting' and ensure human rights protections. The organization recommends establishing a formal grievance mechanism, strengthening civil society participation, and introducing stricter additionality testing to exclude high-emission technologies like coal. It also calls for the removal of conflicts of interest within the CDM Executive Board and the introduction of liability rules for Designated Operational Entities (DOEs) to prevent the issuance of non-additional credits.

• The CDM currently lacks a formal grievance mechanism, leaving civil society with no means to raise concerns after a project is registered, which is critical given that over 8,000 project activities and PoAs are registered.
• Current stakeholder consultation processes are insufficient, as project documents are often unavailable in host country languages and comments for global consultations are only accepted in English.
• The CDM's 'technology neutrality' is criticized for allowing coal power plants to receive funding, and the document argues for a 'negative list' to exclude technologies with low additionality, such as HFC-23, nitrous oxide reduction from adipic acid, and large-scale coal and hydro projects.
• The mechanism is described as a 'pure offsetting mechanism' that is 'zero-sum', with estimates suggesting that non-additional offsets could lead to an increase in global emissions between 0.7 and over 3 Gt by 2020.
• There are concerns regarding conflicts of interest on the CDM Executive Board, noting that membership of a country on the Board increases the likelihood of that country's projects being approved.
• The independence of Designated Operational Entities (DOEs) is compromised because they are chosen and paid directly by project developers, creating pressure to approve projects to maintain business relationships.
• The document recommends that both 'E- policies' (climate-friendly support) and 'E+ policies' (support for emissions-intensive technologies) be included in additionality and baseline determinations to prevent over-crediting.

APA

Carbon Market Watch (2015). Recommendations for the review of the modalities and procedures for the Clean Development Mechanism. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/CMW_Position_CDM-review_final1.pdf

Chicago

Carbon Market Watch. Recommendations for the review of the modalities and procedures for the Clean Development Mechanism. 2015. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/CMW_Position_CDM-review_final1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Carbon Market Watch |title=Recommendations for the review of the modalities and procedures for the Clean Development Mechanism |date=November 2015 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/CMW_Position_CDM-review_final1.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{carbonmarketwatch2015recommendations, author = {{Carbon Market Watch}}, title = {{Recommendations for the review of the modalities and procedures for the Clean Development Mechanism}}, publisher = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2015}, month = nov, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/CMW_Position_CDM-review_final1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }