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Climate change technology inaccessible for poor nations

By Michael Mazengarb - posted Friday, 9 December 2011


The Clean Development Mechanism was created as part of international climate change agreements under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and was eventually incorporated into the Kyoto Protocol. It has overseen the delivery of over 3,500 clean technology projects in developing countries since its inception.

The intention of the Clean Development Mechanism was to provide flexibility in how nations go about achieving reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions. It allows developed countries, like Australia, to accumulate emissions offsets, created by the completion of infrastructure projects in developing nations. These offsets can be used as an alternative to domestic emissions reductions required under the Kyoto Protocol.

Offsets are the primary focus of the Clean Development Mechanism, but the effect it has had in driving technology transfer cannot be understated. A great number of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects have occurred as a result of the Clean Development Mechanism and it would be difficult to argue that this has not been a good result. It has helped increase the capacity for developing countries to generate and use energy in a sustainable manner.

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However, the design of the Clean Development Mechanism has also resulted in the greatest value being found by completing projects in the richer of the developing nations. These nations are India and China, and to a lesser extent Brazil and Mexico. Based on the design of the Clean Development Mechanism, this outcome could have been predicted.

The design of the Clean Development Mechanism provides little incentive to enter into such projects in the least developed nations, as they would not generate the necessary offsets to make the investment in a project worthwhile. To generate emissions offset certificates, you first need to find emissions capable of being offset.

But why even consider a project in a struggling small Pacific Island state when they have almost no greenhouse gas emissions that are easy to reduce? Why would a developed nation consider sponsoring a project to construct a solar power station in any of the underdeveloped African nations when they lack the network infrastructure to support it?

It would be like establishing a car dealership in a town with no petrol stations. It makes little economic sense and the projects would not have the necessary support to succeed over the long term.

Instead, the best value in development projects is found by approaching one of the rapidly emerging nations. The big emitters turn to China (host of 46 per cent of clean development projects) and India (more than 20 per cent), whose economic and emissions growth already outstrips those of most developed nations, to host clean technology projects that can generate the offsets they desire.

Additionally, the required infrastructure necessary to support renewable electricity generation projects already exists in these nations.

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And so, the Clean Development Mechanism drives development in the fastest growing nations, whilst remaining inaccessible to the least developed nations, those who need development assistance the most.

Lacking an incentive to provide the fundamental infrastructure required to support electricity generation and consumption, the Clean Development Mechanism ensures development assistance is focused on the emerging nations, at the detriment of development in the poorest of states.

Compounding the issue regionally is the fact that between them, Australian and New Zealand have instigated just four projects within the Asia Pacific region. Despite being regional economic powers, they have largely ignored an ideal opportunity to provide what would effectively be subsidised foreign development assistance to our Asia Pacific neighbours.

Given the mutual benefits gained by completing projects under the Clean Development Mechanism, there does not appear to be any clear reason behind Australia’s lack of participation in this regard. However, this situation may be very different within the next few years.

As lobbyists and policy-makers meet in Durban to conduct the next stage of the climate change negotiations, designs for a new Technology Mechanism will be brought to the table. It is likely that this new mechanism will work to match developing communities with a diversity of projects and funding, based on determined needs.

To overcome the shortfalls of the Clean Development Mechanism, those charged with the implementation and oversight of the Technology Mechanism must be given a mandate to prioritise projects that seek to build the accessibility and reliability of energy supplies in the least developed nations.

It may seem counter-intuitive to push for increased access and consumption of energy in the name of climate change mitigation. However, it must be acknowledged that such access is a prerequisite to all economic and social development that all nations have a right to pursue.

Global development and energy consumption are unavoidably linked. To kick start nations on to a path of economic development it will require the delivery of new energy sources. We have the opportunity, the technology and the moral responsibility to set these nations off on the right path towards sustainable development.

If we are to demand that developing nations build their economies without the reliance on fossil fuels that we in the developed world have enjoyed, we must be the ones to assist them in this endeavour.

Like telling a loyal hound not to eat the sausages off the barbeque when your back is turned, the temptation to ignore calls not to turn to cheap fossil fuels to power new development is irresistible. We know this because we have already succumbed to it. We must act proactively to provide the alternatives, so that fossil fuels will longer appear as the ideal fuel of choice for emerging nations.

We need to ensure that clean technologies are an accessible option for the least developed nations and must work to break down the established barriers to access to clean energy sources.

We need to deploy the essential support infrastructure, in the form of electricity networks, energy efficient manufacturing equipment and the ability to replace household fuel consumption with electric alternatives. Doing this in conjunction with the deployment of renewable technologies would make possible to ensure developing nations associate economic progress with sustainable development.

In essence, we must be sharing the lessons learnt in our past, to ensure the nations of the future avoid the well-trodden path to environmental destruction, previously paved by the developed world.

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About the Author

Michael Mazengarb is a student at The Australian National University and a member of the Global Voices Australian Youth Delegation to the UN negotiations in Durban this week.

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

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