Acquisition of Technological Capabilities through the Clean Development Mechanism in India

NCAER, organised a one day workshop on the role of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in building technological capabilities in developing countries with a special reference to India. Mr Rajiv Kumar, Member Secretary of the National CDM Authority, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India was the Chief Guest and Dr Srikanta K. Panigrahi, Director General, Carbon Minus India (CMI), was the Guest of Honour. Thought provoking speeches by both of them set the tone for an engaging workshop.

The workshop was part of the NCAER- South Asian Network of Development Economics and Environment (SANDEE) project- Acquisition of Technological Capabilities through the Clean Development Mechanism in India. The objective of the workshop was to bring together stakeholders involved in CDM, to learn about their experiences in implementing the mechanism with a focus on creation of a knowledge base, and discuss the future of the mechanism.

CDM was established in 1997 under the Kyoto Protocol with an objective to facilitate technology transfer by financing emission reduction projects that use green technologies not available in host countries. Currently, CDM is imperilled- carbon prices in the CDM market have been falling drastically, signalling the potential death of the instrument. Policymakers and climate advocates alike increasingly question its continuing value. Some however argue that CDM is a valuable tool that should be retained with appropriate reforms and scaled up to enhance its cost-effectiveness and to promote, global climate change mitigation. There is thus a strong need to analyse the role of CDM in the climate change regime. During the workshop various stakeholders, policy makers, representatives of CDM implementing companies, and advisors shared their ideas and experiences in implementing the Kyoto Protocol tool, particularly in knowledge creation, transfer, dissemination and diffusion.

The workshop also included presentations by representatives of industry, nongovernment agencies and academics. Dr Aradhna Aggarwal, Senior Fellow NCAER and Project Leader for SANDEE presented research findings from the on-going study titled, “Acquisition of Technological Capabilities through the Clean Development Mechanism: Some quantitative explorations”. This empirical study is the first of its kind on the subject and evoked keen interest among the participants. The workshop brought forth serious concerns on the usefulness of this tool in building capabilities in green technologies among Indian firms.