ANALYSING THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT CLAIMS OF THE CURRENT CLEAN DEVELOPMENT MECHANISM (CDM): A STUDY OF OFFICIALLY REGISTERED CDM PROJECTS

Objective: The objective of this research is to present an analytical framework for evaluating how Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) initiatives affect local air quality, the distribution of CDM benefits fairly, and the creation of employment. Methodology: The Kyoto Protocol introduced the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) for climate change mitigation.This method includes the CDM project Multi-Attributive Assessment,enabling industrialized nations to finance emission reduction efforts. As part of this initiative, cities use the CDP Online Response System to report climate hazards,actions,objectives,and emissions.Municipalities submit emissions data to CDP,delineating inventory boundaries and identifying emission sources, primarily focusing on Scope-1 and Scope-2 emissions. This study assesses 16 officially registered CDM projects to gauge their compliance with the twin goals of the Kyoto Protocol: reducing greenhouse gas emissions and advancing sustainable development in the host country. Result: The existing CDM portfolio has slightly impact on employment in host countries,according to an analysis of authorised CDM projects. Almost all (99%) of the CERs originate from initiatives with a grade of C or worse in terms of their potential to create new jobs. In reality, the average CER in the portfolio creates around 235 person months of new employment for A-rated projects, 3.5 for B-rated projects, and 0.1 for C-rated projects, for a total average of 2.3 person months of increased employment for every 1,000 CERs. Large-scale projects often exhibit a low average employment rate, and this phenomenon is primarily attributed to end-of-pipe trifluoromethane (HFC-23) division operations, which have little to no employment effect. Conclusion: The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) has had mixed results in encouraging sustainable development via its official programmes. Despite various projects generating capital, transferring clean technology,and improving host country living conditions,other issues persisted.Project additionality,equitable benefit sharing,and environmental integrity remain contested.