Publication - 11 December, 2008
The Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) was created to aid clean development by allowing wealthy nations to invest in the developing world as a way to cut their greenhouse gas emissions and claim credits against their own emission reduction targets.It is intended to help the developing world leapfrog dirty development and avoid dependence on coal and other fossil fuels. According to the rules governing the CDM, projects must promote fair geographic distribution and should lead to the transfer of environmentally safe and sound technology. CDM projects must be cost effective and also contribute to sustainable development.Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), the process of capturing, transporting and storing CO2 from coal fired power stations, does not meet any of these criteria, yet some governments continue to push for its inclusion.