Climate change, sustainable development, clean development mechanism in India.

Abstract

Climate change is regarded as the most convoluted problem ever faced by all the nations across the world. It has serious implications for a country like India which is already challenged by various development imperatives. Meanwhile, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) evolved as an effective solution for mitigating the impacts of changing climate while maintaining sustainable development of the host country. India is regarded as one of the most attractive destinations for CDM. Till date, India has the second highest transacted volumes of carbon credits in the world. This paper will argue that though India has achieved tremendous success in CDM market, it is not a successful climate change mitigation initiative for the country. This paper will look at the socio-economic component of sustainable development commitments of the CDM projects, since the goal of sustainable development lies at the core of this climate change mitigation initiative. This paper points out that to a great extent CDM projects in India arc unilateral. The increased unilateral approach of the country has resulted in limited success of critical CDM projects in areas like renewable energy and rural development. The current CDM projects in India are business-oriented and market-based. This raises a fear that, the future of CDM regime may become unambitious for the country. For CDM to be a win-win strategy either a bilateral or multilateral approach should be adopted or else more innovative options of domestic investment should be created. Moreover, it should be directed towards the betterment and development of rural communities and renewable energy sector which caters for sustainable development of the country.