Legal Aspects of Implementing the Clean Development Mechanism

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto protocol was received by most developing countries as an innovative mechanism through which they could achieve their different sustainable development goals. Years after its adoption however, only a few developing countries like India have benefited from the sustainable development gains offered by the mechanism. Nigeria like most other African countries remains one of those developing countries that have ratified the protocol but have not achieved much sustainability from it. This has been attributed to Nigeria s unpreparedness to host CDM projects and its perception by investors as one of the most unattractive CDM investment spots on earth. This work shows that for a developing country to be considered by prospective CDM investors as an attractive destination, the appropriate starting point is to create a legal framework which removes the identifiable barriers to CDM implementation . It outlines the transferable ideas in India s CDM legal framework that could be adopted in African countries like Nigeria.