Empowering communities? Local stakeholders’ participation in the Clean Development Mechanism in Latin America

• Published in: World development Vol. 114; pp. 254 - 266
• Main Authors: Benites-Lazaro, L.L., Mello-Théry, N.A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01-02-2019; Pergamon Press Inc
• Subjects: Central government; Clean Development Mechanism; Clean Development Mechanism (CDM); Climate change; Climate Policy; Closely held corporations; Cluster analysis; Community; Community involvement; Community participation; Companies; Consultation; Decision analysis; Decision making; Empowerment; Fairness; Governance; Guidelines; Interest groups; Kyoto Protocol; Latin America; Local authorities; Local communities; Measures; Multidimensional scaling; National guidelines; Participation; Rhetoric; Scaling; Stakeholder Theory; Stakeholders; Sustainable Development; Brazil; Mexico; Honduras; Peru; Latin America; Participation; Stakeholder Theory; Clean Development Mechanism (CDM); Kyoto Protocol; Sustainable Development; Consultation; Climate Policy; Governance; Latin America
• ISSN: 0305-750X; 1873-5991
• DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.10.005

•Local stakeholder participatory process in Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) was examined.•Participation process in CDM projects was implemented poorly.•Established stakeholder model for CDM can be improved by empowering local authorities.•Stakeholder theory provides a powerful rhetorical tool to legitimate company activities.
Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) requires local stakeholders to participate by sharing their comments on CDM activities. This stipulation aims at promoting social equity, a key element of sustainable development. We draw on the stakeholder theory to examine the local stakeholder participatory process in CDM in four Latin American countries – Brazil, Honduras, Mexico, and Peru. We analyze 625 projects using cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling. The results confirm that in countries that have put in place national procedures for stakeholder consultation, such as Brazil and Peru, the role of national institutions is highlighted. Conversely, in countries with no national government guidelines on local stakeholder participation, such as Honduras and Mexico, private companies dominate the local stakeholder consultation process. In all the four countries, we identify a lack of community involvement in discussions and deliberations on the potential benefits of CDM projects, and a lack of participatory decision-making mechanisms. The projects we analyzed demonstrate that companies use stakeholder participation concept merely as a rhetoric tool to legitimate company activities, ostensibly to create value for all involved, but in practice providing almost no participation to the local communities. The findings also suggest the importance of national legal requirements in ensuring broad engagement at the local level. The stakeholder model established for CDM can be improved in the new market mechanism under the Paris Agreement by empowering local authorities and by formulating guidelines in domestic legal provisions for participatory processes.