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Amidst debates between the North and the South, Emission Trading (ET), Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and Joint Implementation (JI) were adopted as flexible mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol. These mechanisms allow developed countries to meet their emission reduction targets by investing in clean projects in other countries of their choice. The implementation of these mechanisms have however been faced with many problems which cast doubts on their efficacy as viable options for combating climate change. One main criticism of these mechanisms is that they lead to a trade off between sustainability and emission reduction. This paper examines the efficiency of these mechanisms in combating climate change. It reviews the main criticisms of the flexibility mechanisms in an attempt to answer the question whether the flexibility idea should still be retained as part of the post 2012 commitments. While arguing in favor of flexibility, this paper offers ideas on how their effectiveness can be enhanced in the post 2012 commitment period.

This paper explores the policy need and legal case for including social safeguards in a post-2012 agreement on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD). One serious charge laid against so called 'market-based' approaches to REDD is the potential for forest dwelling communities to be dispossessed from their land and to lose other rights afforded to them in international human rights law. Rather than criticise current REDD proposals as being inherently negative for forest dwelling communities, this paper asks firstly, whether REDD can potentially work in their favour and secondly, how such an opportunity could be realised in a future REDD agreement. After reviewing current REDD proposals and related threats, this paper argues for the inclusion of social safeguards within the post-2012 agreement on REDD. The primary cause of forest dwelling communities vulnerability is not REDD itself but the potential for REDD to operate in the absence of social safeguards. This paper presents four mutually reinforcing safeguards to protect forest dwelling communities in the context of a future agreement on REDD. This paper finds that a REDD market which requires minimum international standards of social protection is likely to benefit forest dwelling communities.

This paper reviews the policy and legal framework for the implementation of CDM projects in Uganda and its implications for climate change mitigation. It gives a background to climate change in Uganda and notes that climate change in Uganda can largely be attributed to unsustainable utilisation of the natural resources which has led to over exploitation and total loss of some of the natural resources. The paper reviews the international legal regime for climate change and its significance for climate change mitigation in Uganda and observes that Uganda has implemented the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol in accordance with the principles of common but differentiated responsibilities and the precautionary principle. This has for instance culminated in the carrying out of a National Inventory of Sources and Sinks of Greenhouse gases. The role of CDM in climate change mitigation is explored by examining the key CDM projects that have been implemented in Uganda. The key finding of the paper is that Uganda does not have an independent policy or law which deals with CDM and recommends that such policy and legal inadequacies should urgently be addressed.

Developing countries would be more likely to participate in any new international climate change agreement if they could earn and trade carbon credits from avoided deforestation, also known as 'REDD'. This paper argues that REDD should be included in any new agreement but, unlike the Clean Development Mechanism, its credits should be accounted for at a national-level, rather than on a project-basis. Experience with the Kyoto Protocol and development assistance over many decades shows that to have effective and sustainable environmental and development benefits, a national-based approach to REDD would be needed to transmit international financial incentives into national development planning. Indonesia is used as an example to show how a national-based approach to REDD could be effectively implemented in the country with the highest deforestation rate in the world. After a brief discussion of REDD and its status in the international climate change regime post-Copenhagen in Part I, Part II examines the different approaches to the scale of REDD being mooted in the negotiations for a new international agreement. Part III shows that many arguments against including REDD could be addressed with a national-approach. For remaining issues, particularly challenges in transferring profits from the sale of REDD-generated credits to local level incentives to protect forests, development lessons internationally and from Indonesia show that such transfers could be structured in an effective way not only to achieve environmental benefits, but also to achieve broader development and poverty reduction aims. These lessons, discussed in Part IV, further bolster the case for any post-2012 agreement to incorporate a national-based approach to REDD, integrated into national development plans.