A comparative assessment of the clean development mechanism and Alberta's carbon offset system

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atmire.migration.oldid5113
dc.contributor.advisorBankes, Nigel David
dc.contributor.authorJanmohamed, Salimah Fidahussein
dc.contributor.committeememberMascher, Sharon Lorene
dc.contributor.committeememberLucas, Alastair Richard
dc.date.accessioned2016-11-15T17:43:02Z
dc.date.available2016-11-15T17:43:02Z
dc.date.issued2016
dc.date.submitted2016en
dc.description.abstractThis thesis is an assessment of Alberta’s Carbon Offset System (ACOS) using the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) as a comparator. ACOS is a hybrid policy, having features of both command-and-control and market based instruments. The objective of implementing ACOS within Alberta’s overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions mitigation strategy is to provide a cost-effective alternative for regulated facilities to meet their emissions reduction obligations. Offsets generated pursuant to the ACOS are permitted as equivalent alternatives to actual emission reductions under the Specified Gas Emitters Regulation (SGER). The integrity of the emissions intensity limits within the SGER is dependent on the ability of ACOS to generate real, permanent, additional and verifiable offsets that can be substituted for actual emission reductions without any net loss to the environment. The aim of this thesis is to draw lessons from fifteen years of CDM’s “learning by doing” experience and to make recommendations for the reform of the ACOS. This thesis highlights the urgent need for cross-disciplinary and empirical research on the workings of the ACOS; it also highlights the fact that cost-effectiveness is an illusion and the concept of neutrality upon which carbon offsetting is premised needs to be reconsidered as the process of commodification does not result in offsets that are perfectly substitutable with actual emissions reductions. Proposals for reforming the ACOS include imposing limits on the use of offsets, recommending market oversight for offset trades that are currently traded over-the-counter, narrowing the scope of ACOS to a single gas system and enhancing the verification process by eliminating conflict of interest dilemmas.en_US
dc.identifier.citationJanmohamed, S. F. (2016). A comparative assessment of the clean development mechanism and Alberta's carbon offset system (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/24666en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/24666
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11023/3455
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisher.facultyGraduate Studies
dc.publisher.facultyLaw
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.publisher.placeCalgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subjectLaw
dc.subject.classificationCarbon offseten_US
dc.subject.classificationGreenhouse gas emissions mitigation strategyen_US
dc.subject.classificationRegulatory instrumentsen_US
dc.subject.classificationMarket-Based Instrumentsen_US
dc.subject.classificationCommand-and-control instrumentsen_US
dc.subject.classificationHybrid policy instrumentsen_US
dc.subject.classificationCarbon offset systemen_US
dc.subject.classificationComparative assessment of carbon offset systemsen_US
dc.subject.classificationClean Development Mechanismen_US
dc.subject.classificationSpecified gas emitters regulationen_US
dc.subject.classificationClimate change and emissions management acten_US
dc.subject.classificationEnvironmental integrityen_US
dc.subject.classificationAdditionalityen_US
dc.subject.classificationBaselineen_US
dc.subject.classificationPolicy instrumentsen_US
dc.subject.classificationCarbon offsettingen_US
dc.subject.classificationCommodification of offsetsen_US
dc.subject.classificationAlberta carbon offset systemen_US
dc.titleA comparative assessment of the clean development mechanism and Alberta's carbon offset system
dc.typemaster thesis
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgary
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Laws (LLM)
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrue
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