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Why CDM is important

CDM is important from an environmental, business and a national point of view.

From a national point of view CDM holds the potential to lead to significant investment, job creation and poverty alleviation in the developing countries, all of this in a way that assists these countries in achieving sustainable development. It is thus important for developing countries to set up effective structures to facilitate and regulate CDM in their countries in order to ensure that they get a fair share of the global investment that takes place under the CDM while at the same time meeting the demands of sustainable development. The order of investment that might occur can be illustrated by two estimates: the first is that the three flexibility mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol, of which CDM is one, could be worth as much as $ 20 billion per annum by 2020. The second is that the CDM can cause $ 24 – 37 billion to flow to developing countries by 2012.

From a business point of view CDM represents new opportunities for entrepreneurs in the developed world and a potential method to add an additional revenue stream to projects that will improve their viability and overcome potential barriers to market entry. By way of example, if a utility decides to retro-fit a coal-fired power station in order to make it more efficient, there is immediately the possibility that a CDM project may be done and that the resultant Certified Emissions Reductions may be sold in order to subsidize or even pay for the retro-fit procedure. CDM thus represents potential value to businesses as diverse as (amongst others) utilities, forestry companies, renewable energy producers, energy efficiency proponents, landfill operators, construction companies, mines, project financiers, petro-chemical companies and indeed any substantial users of energy.

To environmental NGO’s like entities aiming to combat desertification or deforestation, CDM might be a way to finance their activities and advance their aims.

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