Sustainability and climate impact of selected CDM projects : A compilation of seven student papers from a course in climate science and policy

P R E FACE This CSPR briefing is a compilation of seven course papers written in an advanced level university course called "Climate science and policy" led by the Centre for Climate Science and Policy Research (CSPR) in Norrköping. Madelene Ostwald, assistant professor at the centre, was the course leader. The students are all from different backgrounds and took the course as a Single Subject Course. The main examination in the course was to write a paper, assessing sustainable development and climate impacts for different Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects as well as to discuss this in relation to the methodological parameters in a CDM project; baseline, additionality, permanence, leakage and monitoring. The students chose themselves which project to assess as well as which aspects to focus on. Out of the seven assessed CDM projects, five are Afforestation/Reforestation projects, one of which is large-scale and the rest small-scale projects. Two biomass projects are also assessed, one small-scale and one large- scale. The editor for this CSPR briefing has been Lina Lundgren with assistance from Sabine Henders and Madelene Ostwald. IN T R O DU CT IO N The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was created in 1992 in order to address the threats of climate change. The main aim of the convention is to stabilize the concentration of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere on a level where no dangerous interference with the climate system should occur. The Kyoto Protocol 4, created in 1997 during a UNFCCC parties meeting, sets binding targets for the identified Annex I 5 parties to reduce GHG emissions. Although emission targets are set in the Kyoto Protocol, it is up to each individual country to decide how the reduction should occur. As a supplement to national measures in reducing emissions three market-based mechanisms were established: Emissions Trading, The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation (JI). The CDM focuses on projects in developing countries (see below for more details). These so-called flexible mechanisms were created to allow reducing emissions of GHGs in a cost efficient way, based on the assumption that one ton of emissions reduction has a global effect regardless of where it occurs - so it can be implemented where it is least expensive to reach the reduction (UNFCCC, 2008)