Publication

This paper reflects on the accomplishments, new challenges and the future of the clean development mechanism (CDM). The author argues that the CDM, designed within the framework of the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol, has proven to be more successful than many observers may have expected but that the political and regulatory premises upon which the CDM was designed and built have changed dramatically. As such, he argues, its orientation, role and functions must be revisited. New developments have given rise to a set of questions relating to possible ways to adapt the CDM to continue to increase its efficacy.