ACCELERATING CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION EFFORTS THROUGH CDM PROJECTS AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER AS A MEANS TO ACHIEVING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE ASEAN REGION

Abstract

Deteriorating natural resource profiles and the presence of huge population pockets that need access to sustainable energy infrastructures make it necessary to review what catalyst measures and policies are needed to further accelerate climate change mitigation measures in Southeast Asia, and in a sustainable manner. Reviewing the Clean Development Mechanism as such a means, this study assesses, based on a review of the vast available literature on the subject, and more importantly, based on the experiences of CDM practitioners in the region, what drivers and reforms could encourage more CDM activity – with the objective that such would result in real and tangible sustainable development. The factors that contribute to delays in CDM and equally important, the ease with which these projects are executed, are likewise reviewed. Finally, the role that a regional approach can play is also considered, with the ASEAN presenting itself as possibly fulfilling a greater role in such collective efforts.

The thesis of this report is that ensuring the future increase in more performing CDM projects in the region can be an indicator of a seriousness to address climate change, to harness the power of the markets, and to achieve the objective of sustainable development through renewable energy projects, energy efficiency, etc. From the CDM experiences of a survey sample of 37 respondents from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam, we are faced with the reality that much more has to be done to push CDM to the next higher level where it will be relevant to the needs of developing countries. It also underscores that among the myriad reasons as to why CDM is becoming the long drawn-out process that it is, there is much merit to working more deliberately where one can be most effective.

In the context of this study report, this idea of working “where one can be most effective” is targeted to where the most control can be exercised: and this is the capacity of governments to act on and influence and improve their own host country landscape for CDM. This can be done by continuing the current efforts to build institutional capacity, identify where emission reduction potential is the highest, prioritize a country’s technological needs, and provide an investment climate and CDM infrastructure that will attract such investments.

To a large extent, governments have a big role to play in encouraging private sector take-up of CDM and providing the right environment that will help dismantle the barriers to CDM. In addition to grants, incentives, and subsidies, however, the political will to address the issues of climate change will have to be present. For Southeast Asia particularly, this will be led in large part by strong demands from populations and from civil society for its governments to do so. Completing the analysis for a much more relevant CDM that could address the issues faced by developing countries, the study provides a bird’s eye view of the general CDM climate in Southeast Asia, with the hope that it can provide valuable, compiled information to those parties that are thinking of exploring opportunities for development in the region.