Established by Article 12 of the Kyoto Protocol, evolved from a Brazilian proposal, and stipulated throughout the COP 3 negotiations, the clean development mechanism (CDM) is the only of the three mechanisms introduced by the Protocol that include developing countries.
Its two fundamental objectives are to advise the Climate Change Convention Annex I countries to meet their greenhouse gases emission reduction targets at a lower cost and, at the same time, help developing countries achieve sustainability. In summary, the CDM allows the implementation of projects in countries not included in the Convention’s Annex I to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, allowing for the creation of certified emission reductions (CERs), representative of credits.
The CDM is, therefore, the market instrument of the Protocol applicable to Brazil.