Clean and sustainable? An evaluation of the contribution of the Clean Development Mechanism to sustainable development in host countries

This study evaluates the Netherlands Activities Implemented Jointly (AIJ) projects implemented under the Netherlands pilot project programme of 1994-2000 and examines the 'expected' contribution to sustainable development of the portfolio of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects the Netherlands is currently engaged in. In order to answer the key questions set out in this report, three approaches were used: (1) 'Policy and literature assessment': Before focussing on the AIJ and CDM projects themselves, the international policy context of the projects is explained by presenting the history of the international climate regime and the role of sustainable development in this. This evaluation is based on literature research and analysis of policy documents. (2) 'AIJ project appraisal': The evaluation of the results achieved by five AIJ projects, which represent 90% of the total AIJ investment of the Netherlands Government, is typically case-study based and draws on a number of research methods. A literature review was used to develop specific sustainability indicators. The assessment method applied is mainly based on CDM-specific criteria of sustainable development developed by various organisations and networks, such as the CDM Gold Standard. The indicators were measured by analysing the content of project documents, interviewing stakeholders in the projects and making site visits. The assessments were conducted jointly with research teams from the host countries. (3) 'CDM project appraisal': The evaluation of the expected performance of the Netherlands portfolio of CDM projects is based on various documents developed during the projects' design stages: PINs, PCNs and PDDs. For the assessment, a set of 44 representative projects were selected from the portfolio. These projects were also assessed in terms of how the CDM host country DNAs perceive their contribution to local sustainable development. The latter assessment is based on interviews with representatives of DNAs in countries in which the Netherlands is represented by an Embassy. Before focussing on the Netherlands portfolio of AIJ and CDM projects, Chapter 2 addresses the evolution of the climate regime and sustainable development. In Chapter 3, the emphasis is on the role and position of the Netherlands Government in this regard, and a brief comparison is made with the approaches followed by other donor countries. Chapter 4 presents the results of the ex-post assessment of the five AIJ projects studied. Chapter 5 summarises the ex-ante evaluation of the 44 projects in the Netherlands CDM portfolio, on the basis of information found in the project documentation and gleaned from the local DNA. Chapter 6 presents the main conclusions.