Clean development mechanism (CDM) was included in the Kyoto protocol to support sustainable development in developing countries through technology transfer from developed countries along with the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. More than 1000 projects which were registered under CDM from India in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change have been reviewed. Through a CDM project, India as a developing country has enhanced the development of renewable energy projects with financial support through the sale of carbon credit.

Carbon markets are considered a key policy tool to achieve cost-effective climate mitigation1, 2. Project-based carbon market mechanisms allow private sector entities to earn tradable emissions reduction credits from mitigation projects. The environmental integrity of project-based mechanisms has been subject to controversial debate and extensive research1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, in particular for projects abating industrial waste gases with a high global warming potential (GWP).