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Tropical hydropower in the clean development mechanism: Brazil’s Santo Antônio Dam as an example of the need for change

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  • Philip Fearnside

Abstract

When carbon credit is granted for projects that would occur irrespective of any subsidy based on mitigation of global warming, the projects generate “hot air,” or credit without a real climate benefit. This is the case for tropical hydroelectric dams, which are now a major destination for funds under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The countries that purchase the credit generated by dams can emit more greenhouse gases without their being offset by genuine mitigation. The limited funds available for mitigation are also wasted on subsidizing dams that would be built anyway. Tropical dams also emit substantially more greenhouse gases than are recognized in CDM accounting procedures. Tropical hydroelectric emissions are also undercounted in national inventories of greenhouse gases under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, giving them a role in undermining the effectiveness of as-yet undecided emission limits. Brazil’s Santo Antônio Dam, now under construction on the Madeira River, provides a concrete example indicating the need for reform of CDM regulations by eliminating credit for hydroelectric dams. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

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  • Philip Fearnside, 2015. "Tropical hydropower in the clean development mechanism: Brazil’s Santo Antônio Dam as an example of the need for change," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 131(4), pages 575-589, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:climat:v:131:y:2015:i:4:p:575-589
    DOI: 10.1007/s10584-015-1393-3
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. Fearnside, Philip M., 2016. "Environmental and Social Impacts of Hydroelectric Dams in Brazilian Amazonia: Implications for the Aluminum Industry," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 48-65.
    4. Benites-Lazaro, L.L. & Mello-Théry, N.A., 2019. "Empowering communities? Local stakeholders’ participation in the Clean Development Mechanism in Latin America," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 254-266.
    5. de Faria, Felipe A.M. & Davis, Alex & Severnini, Edson & Jaramillo, Paulina, 2017. "The local socio-economic impacts of large hydropower plant development in a developing country," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 533-544.
    6. Sabrina McCormick, 2016. "Renewable energy in the Brazilian Amazon: The drivers of political economy and climate," WIDER Working Paper Series 012, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    7. Julia Luz Camargos Mesquita & Jutta Gutberlet & Katiuscia Pereira de Araujo & Vanessa Resende Nogueira Cruvinel & Fabiano Harada Duarte, 2023. "Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Based on Social Recycling: A Case Study with Waste Picker Cooperatives in Brasília, Brazil," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-17, June.
    8. Song, Cuihong & Gardner, Kevin H. & Klein, Sharon J.W. & Souza, Simone Pereira & Mo, Weiwei, 2018. "Cradle-to-grave greenhouse gas emissions from dams in the United States of America," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 945-956.

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