A Comparison of Legal Frameworks for the Clean Development Mechanism in India and Brazil

According to the report “Benefits of the Clean Development Mechanism 2012” published by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change secretariat, Brazil and India, two of the most influential developing nations, have made very different experiences under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), with India hosting approximately four times more operational projects than Brazil and also obtaining twice the revenue from sales of carbon allowances in the primary market. Against that backdrop, the purpose of this article is to analyze and compare the legal frameworks of these two countries and suggest an answer for the identified disparity, considering rules on investment protection, as well as the domestic legal framework for implementation of the CDM.