Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

CDM Projects under the Kyoto Protocol: A Methodology for Sustainability Assessment – Experiences from South Africa and Uruguay

Environment, Development and Sustainability volume 9, pages 33–48 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol, industrialised countries may finance greenhouse gases mitigation projects in developing countries. The Kyoto Protocol explicitly requires that the CDM shall assist developing countries to achieve sustainable development. However, a clear definition of sustainability for CDM projects is still debatable. MATA-CDM (Multi-Attributive Assessment of CDM Projects) is an approach that facilitates a quantitative assessment of potential projects regarding their contribution to sustainable development. This paper presents applications of MATA-CDM in two different countries. In South Africa, the application was done mainly for academic and demonstrative purposes, whereas in Uruguay it was implemented together with the responsible Designated National Authority (DNA). The work in both countries included the selection of sustainability criteria and measurable indicators. Experts weighted the criteria using personal interviews and a multi-stakeholder workshop. This method was applied to three potential CDM projects in South Africa and one in Uruguay. Results show that under the conditions of this study, the MATA-CDM approach yet fails to yield a perfect quantitative overall sustainability assessment of CDM projects but that several findings could be useful to further develop the approach with the aim to translate the vague term sustainable development to a mainstream project level. Valuable experience was in particular collected with different stakeholder processes to perform criteria weighting.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

£ 29.95

Price includes VAT (United Kingdom)

Abbreviations

AHP:

Analytic Hierarchy Process

CDM:

Clean Development Mechanism

DNA::

Designated National Authority

MATA-CDM::

Multi-Attributive Assessment of CDM Projects

MAUT::

Multi-Attributive Utility Theory

UCC::

Unidad de Cambio Climatico (Climate Change Unit)

UNFCCC::

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

References

  • Bolloju N., 2001, “Aggregation of analytic hierarchy process models based on similarities in decision makers’ preferences” in Elsevier Science B. V. European Journal of Operational Research 128: 499–508

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bossel H., 1999, Indicators of Sustainable Development: Theory, Method, Application, A Report to the Balaton Group International Institute for Sustainable Development Winnipeg

    Google Scholar 

  • Evaluating Projects that are potentially eligible for Clean Developemnt Mechanism (CDM) funding in the South African context: A case study to establish weighting values for sustainable developement criteria.Environment and Development Economics10(5), 631–649

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • CDM-Connect: 2002, Discussions on Sustainability Assessment of CDM Projects, World Business Council for Sustainable Development, https://www.cdm-connect.org

  • Calagua: 2002, Project Idea Note: Small Plant for Electricity Generation from Rice Husks, Bella Unión Artigas, Uruguay

  • Directorate of Global Climate Change and Ozone Layer Protection: 2002, Approval Criteria for CDM Project, draft for Discussion by the Government Committee on Climate Change, Pretoria, South Africa

  • Factor Consulting + Management AG, Dasag Energy Engineering Ltd: 2001, Small-Scale CDM Projects Opportunities and Obstacles, Zurich, Switzerland

  • Forman E., Peniwati K., 1998, “Aggregating individual judgments and priorities with the analytic hierarchy process” in Elsevier Science B. V. European Journal of Operational Research 108: 165–169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gutzwiller L., 2001, Energy Recovery from Landfill Gas in Eastern Gauteng, South Africa, Diploma Thesis for W19 Fachhochschule Zürich, Switzerland

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirst J., Fecher R., 1998, Developing AIJ criteria and institutions for South Africa Energy & Development Research Centre University of Cape Town

    Google Scholar 

  • INGEI 1998, Third National Inventory of Greenhouse Gases, Ministerio de Vivienda Ordenamiento Territorial y Medio Ambiente Montevideo, Uruguay

    Google Scholar 

  • Meadows D., 1998, Indicators and Information Systems for Sustainable Development, A report to the Balaton Group The Sustainability Group Hartland Four Corners

    Google Scholar 

  • Millet, I.: 1997, ‘The Effectiveness of Alternative Preference Elicitation Methods in the Analytic Hierarchy Process’, Journal of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis, 6, 41–51. Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, School of Business, Erie

  • Morrison A.M., Singh V., 2001, An LCA Evaluation of Ferrochrome Production Processes CSIR Process Technology Centre Pretoria, South Africa

    Google Scholar 

  • MVOTMA, 2002, Estudio de apoyo a la aplicación del Mecanismo de Desarrollo Limpio del Protocolo de Kioto en Uruguay, Ministerio de Vivienda Ordenamiento Territorial y Medio Ambiente Montevideo, Uruguay

    Google Scholar 

  • National Strategy Study NSS: 2003, National Strategy Study for the Application of the CDM in Uruguay Ministerio de Vivienda, Ordenamiento Territorial y Medio Ambiente Montevideo, Uruguay

    Google Scholar 

  • National Strategy Study NSS: 2002, South African National Strategy Study on the Clean Developoment Mechanism, prepared for the South African Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism & The World Bank, Johannesburg, South Africa

  • Resource Recovery Systems (RRS): 2002, Electricity generation from methane from anaerobic digester gas, Detailed Project Proposal for Johannesburg Climate Legacy, Midrand, South Africa, 2002

  • Saaty T.L., 1980, The Analytical Hierarchy Process McGraw-HillNew York

    Google Scholar 

  • Saaty, T.L.: 1986, ‘Absolute and relative measurement with the AHP’, Socio-Economic Planning Sciences 20(6), 327–331. Graduate School of Busines, Univ. of Pitsburg

  • Saaty T.L., (1987). The Analytical Hierarchy Process – What it is and how it is used Mathematical Modelling 9: 161–191

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scholz, R.W. and Tietje, O.: 2002, Embeded Case Study Methods: Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative Knowledge, Sage Publications, Inc

  • Spalding-Fecher R., Clark A. and James B.: 2002, ‘Economic assessment and development evaluation of climate change mitigation projects in South Africa’ in O. Davidson and D. Sparks (eds.), Developing Energy Solutions for Climate Change: South African Research at Edrc Energy and Development Research Centre, University of Cape Town, pp. 20–43

  • State Ministry for Environment: 2001, National Strategy Study on the Clean Development Mechanism in Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia

  • Sutter C. 2003, Sustainability Assessment of Energy related Projects under the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol Dissertation submitted to the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Switzerland

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas F., Ulrich S., Schlenzig C., 2001 Ranking Methodologies for Sustainable Development and CDM Project Checklists Start-up Clean Development Mechanism in ACP Countries (CDM-SUSAC) Stuttgart, Germany

    Google Scholar 

  • Thorne, S. and Raubenheimer, S.: 2001, Sustainable Development (SD) appraisal of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects – experiences from the SouthSouthNorth (SSN) project, Cape Town, South Africa

  • Triantaphyllou, E.: 2000, Multi-Criteria Decision Making Methods: A Comparative Study (Applied Optimization: Volume 44). Kluwer Academic Publishers, November 2000

  • UCC: 2003, Propuesta de criterios de desarrollo sostenible para la aprobación de proyectos en el marco del Mecanismo para un Desarrollo Limpio Unidad de Cambio Climatico Montevideo, Uruguay

    Google Scholar 

  • UNFCCC: 1997, Kyoto Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, New York, United Nations

  • UNFCCC: 2001. The Marrakech Accords + the Marrakech Declaration, New York, United Nations

  • Villavicencio A.,: 2002, The Sustainability of the Zafrana Project, UNEP Collaborating Centre on Energy and Environment University of Risoe Denmark

    Google Scholar 

  • World Commission on Environment and Development WCED: 1987, Our common future, Oxford University Press, p. 47

  • Winkler H., Spalding-Fecher R., Sathaye J., Price L., 2001, Multi-project baselines for potential Clean Development Mechanism projects in the electricity sector in South Africa. Research by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory(LBNL) Berkeley CA

    Google Scholar 

  • WWF: 2003, The Gold Standard: Quality Standards for CDM and JI Projects, Draft Version, WWF International

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Physics, Department of Environmental Sciences, ETH Zurich, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland

    Renat Heuberger, Christoph Sutter & Dieter Imboden

  2. Life Cycle Engineering, Department of Engineering and Technology Management, University of Pretoria, 0002, Pretoria, South Africa

    Alan Brent

  3. Climate Change Unit, Ministry of Housing, Territorial Regulation and Environment, Montevideo, Uruguay

    Luis Santos

Authors
  1. Renat Heuberger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alan Brent
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Luis Santos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Christoph Sutter
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Dieter Imboden
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Renat Heuberger.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Heuberger, R., Brent, A., Santos, L. et al. CDM Projects under the Kyoto Protocol: A Methodology for Sustainability Assessment – Experiences from South Africa and Uruguay. Environ Dev Sustain 9, 33–48 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-005-9002-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-005-9002-7

Key words:

Search

Navigation