CDM and Sustainable Development in China

Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is an important element of the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change to reduce CO₂ emissions worldwide with enhanced cooperation between developed countries and developing countries. China has been the major economic beneficiary of CDM efforts, and CDM projects have helped expand regional cooperation on sustainable development practices in East Asia. This book evaluates the benefits and shortcomings of CDM projects by Japanese firms in China, offering analytical tools and in-depth case studies that show how CDM projects have enhanced Japan-China cooperation.

It also describes how Chinese and Japanese environmental policies on climate change have evolved since the Kyoto accords. In China, the pace of policy change has accelerated amid strengthening governmental and public concerns about the environment. China has pledged to dramatically reduce carbon intensity in coming years, but China’s status as a developing country under the Kyoto framework definitions is increasingly in question after years of rapid economic development and accumulation of massive foreign exchange surpluses. Meanwhile, the global consensus on climate change has faltered and a renewed commitment to the Kyoto Protocol remains elusive, spurring some countries–including Japan–to consider retreating from previous ambitious targets.

Kazuhiro Ueta is Professor, Graduate School of Economics and Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University. His areas of specialization include multi-level environmental governance for sustainable development, environmental economics and public finance.