Abstract
The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) was adopted as one of the greenhouse gas mitigation measures in the Kyoto Protocol. Apart from promoting environmental sustainability and other ecosystem benefits, the CDM projects also ensure the transfer of technologies and sustainable growth in the host country through prioritizing projects such as clean energy production and conservation as well as waste treatment. China and India together account for over 70% of the CDM projects in the pipeline. Meanwhile, China and India are the most environmentally polluted countries in South Asia according to current statistics. This demonstrates that a multitude of CDM projects in these countries are not yielding corresponding benefits especially in protecting and sustaining ecological treasures. Using comparative analysis, this article discusses the progress made in China and India in terms of policy development and highlights the policy implementation challenges hindering CDM projects from achieving clean and green development. The article shows that although both countries have taken positive stepsthrough the adoption of enabling policies and institutional structures, the twin-forces of incoherent policies and poor institutional designs are impeding the success of CDM projects. This article contends that China and India must share their best practices in the areas of environmental protection and CDM governanceto guarantee that CDM projects lead to ecologically sustainable development. Lastly, the article emphasizes how potential policy and institutional reforms to the existing environmental and CDM regulatory mechanisms in China and India would remedy identified deficiencies to achieve the intended sustainable targets sought by the CDM.

I. Introduction

Climate change is considered as one of the most severe threats to humanity and sustainable development. It raises considerable legal challenges when issues of economic growth and ecological sustainability are examined. Emissions from fossil fuel, land-use change, and agriculture have led to increases of several greenhouse gases that are driving climate change. Climate change and ecological sustainability are therefore closely linked and indivisible. There is a general consensus that the effects of climate change on humans, the environment, and ecological processes are negative. Some of these effects include extreme weather conditions, reduced agricultural crop yield and aggregate food production. As one of the three pillars of sustainable development, ecologically sustainable development has been conceptualized as the process of “using, conserving and enhancing the community's resources so that ecological processes, on which life depends, are maintained, and the total quality of life, now and in the future, can be improved.” Martin and Sutton define the concept as “the maintenance of life support systemsand the achievement of a natural extinction rate.” Ecologically sustainable development therefore advances “economic and social improvement that achieves ecological sustainability while striving to meet society’s other needs.” Based on this concept, governments are to develop and implement national legislation, policy, and programs for the protection and conservation of the natural environment. Fleming et al contend thatecological sustainability should be pursued for the benefit of both humans and the millions of other species on the planet. This implies that economic development should not be pursued at the expense of the environment and therefore, a sustainable solution should be found for climate change.

Addressing climate change and its adverse effects requires stabilizing greenhouse gas (GHG) emission in developed countries and promoting sustainable development, particularly in developing countries. The international community therefore adopted the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol in 1992 and 1997 respectively. To guide developing countries toward green growth so that they do not repeat the unsustainable development pathway trekked by developed countries, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) was adopted as one of the GHG mitigation measures in the Kyoto Protocol. The CDM contains clear and binding obligations for industrialized countries to reduce their overall emissions by an average of 5% below 1990 levels during the initial commitment period of 2008-2012. The CDM was set up with the embedded assumption that it will create win-win opportunities for both developed and developing countries to promote ecologically sustainable development while mitigating climate change. Apart from pursuing environmental sustainability and other ecosystem benefits, the CDM projects also ensure the transfer of technologies and sustainable growth in the host country by prioritizing projects such as clean energy production and conservation as well as waste treatment.

Recent statistics from the CDM database show that China and India dominate the CDM project pipeline. The two countries together account for over 70% of the CDM projects in the pipeline. They have been successful in supplying over 80% of global certified emission reduction credits (CER). Interestingly, the consumption of fossil fuel in China and India are similar, with coal accounting for 70% and 63%, respectively, of their total energy consumption. Despite dominating the CDM project pipeline, China and India are the most polluted countries in South Asia according to 2017 statistics. This implies that the successes of these two countries in attracting CDM projects have not been transformed into environmental sustainability. For example, three of the ten most polluted cities in Asia are located in China and the other seven cities are in India. Further, in 2015, the largest number of deaths attributable to pollution occurred in India and China, with an estimated 2.5 million and 1.8 million deaths, respectively. This is a clear demonstration that despite the plethora of laws and policies as well as a multitude of CDM projects in these countries, there are no corresponding benefits to the protection and sustenance of their environment and associated ecological treasures yet.

This article therefore utilizes a comparative analysis to explore the progress made in China and India in terms of the implementation of CDM projects and environmental protection. It also examines the policy implementation challenges hindering CDMs project from promoting green and clean development. The article argues that, to guarantee that CDM projects leads to “clean and green growth” or ecologically sustainable development in the beneficiary countries, the countries should set clear environmental protection standards and define their sustainable development priority areas. The article is therefore underpinned by the assumption that for CDM projects to deliver sustainability results, it is important for the host countries to have a coherent and robust environmental protection and climate change regulatory frameworks. The article is divided into four sections. Following this introduction, section II discusses the international framework governing the CDM emphasizing its contribution to environmental protection and ecological sustainability. Section III examines the environmental protection regulatory frameworks and the implementation of the CDM projects in China and India. It focuses on how CDM projects enhance environmental protection, particularly in advancing clean and green growth in both countries. Section IV draws the analysis together and concludes the article.