Developing countries have been reluctant to accept new commitments in the imple­mentation of the global climate agenda. This reluctance can be understood in the historical context of unequal development, national development priorities, capital shortages for new investments, and imbalances in terms of knowledge and national capacities to deal with the problem. CDM opens a window of opportunity for a stronger participation of developing countries in climate-related projects while also observing their immediate need to pursue development.

Biomass can deliver all major forms of energy, carbon is neutral if utilized on a sustainable basis, can provide a carbon sink, and contribute to large socioeconomic benefits. This makes bioenergy projects strong candidates for CDM projects. On the other hand, the need for a systems view in bioenergy solutions contrasts with the project focus of CDM. Unless well-designed development strategies and a strong multisector policy framework are provided, CDM bioenergy projects will not be able to contribute to a systems solution, or to sustainable development.

The bottlenecks for infrastructure project implementation in developing countries, including energy, are many and cannot be removed by CDM alone. Not least, the managerial and logistic requirements of bioenergy systems require moving from the technological approach often emphasized in the context of tech­nology transfer to a managerial approach that searches for models to develop local

knowledge and skills around bioenergy solutions. Again, a strong policy frame­work is essential to achieve such goals.

Since developing countries are very different in terms of economic development and institutional capacity, a differentiation of strategy for collaboration in CDM projects is justified (see Figure 12.3). While energy and climate policies are closely related, the focus in very poor countries should be on the provision of energy. In middle-income countries with emerging economies, the climate policy should be more strongly emphasized given that greenhouse gas emissions are increasing very rapidly in these countries. The strategy with poor countries should be to use the mechanism to form partnerships with the private sector and build technological and managerial capacity, thus enhancing development assistance programs. In emerging economies, CDM should be viewed in synergy with export policies aimed at the formation of new markets and technology dissemination, based on a policy frame­work to stimulate private investments in CDM projects (see also Silveira, 2005).

The CDM may help open an investment channel to develop bioenergy projects in developing countries, thereby providing an additional tool to foster wider acces­sibility to modern energy services in these countries utilizing indigenous energy sources. But the development of bioenergy systems in developing countries can also be considered in a broader context where developing countries become impor­tant producers of biomass to feed global systems, for example, in the production of forests and ethanol. Such an approach would require the recognition of the potential of developing countries as biomass producers, the opportunity to improve

energy supply security at a global level, and the key role that bioenergy global solutions may play in mitigating climate change.

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