Ground Level Assessment of Sustainability of Clean Development Mechanism Project in Maharashtra - Case Study

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) was developed as a way to help Annex I or the industrialized countries invest in projects in developing countries to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in compliance with the targets set by the Kyoto Protocol. This mechanism would also help developing countries, like India achieve sustainable development. India is one of the most popular developing country for CDM projects because of its GHG emission reduction potential, acceptable investment climate and CDM related organizational apparatus. Thus, India is the focus of this research paper. A case study analysis of one CDM project has been carried out based on the site visit information and actual data. The analysis is done by developing evaluative framework for ground level assessment of the CDM project. The actual site data is compared with the PDD of project in order to measure the actual developmental benefits delivered on the ground by the project. The research results indicate that environmental and social sustainability are more satisfactorily addressed than the economic sustainability of projects.