Challenges in Mitigating Climate Change and Achieving Sustainable Development

Writer: Dr. Neem

Published: Jun 06, 2021

Lira Luz Benites-Lazaro, Célio Andrade, in Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences, 2019 Sustainable Development Cobenefits CDM projects need to deliver benefits in terms of climate change mitigation and aiding host countries to achieve their sustainable development goals. However, it is the responsibility of project host countries to ensure that the latter requirement is met. In response to criticisms that CDM projects make a low contribution to sustainable development, the CDM Executive Board developed an online tool where project developers can showcase the sustainable development cobenefits of their projects (UNFCCC, 2018b). Nonetheless, this is insufficient. Since cobenefits are not audited posteriori, as is the case with CERs, host countries are not very strict in terms of what is claimed as cobenefits in project design documents when it approves CDM projects. Therefore, it is crucial that both CERs and the delivery of cobenefits are audited.