Has the international climate regime promoted climate justice? Evidence from Clean Development Mechanism projects in China

Climate justice has provided a normative justification for international climate change policy, but how it is to be pursued and transmitted in policymaking and policy implementation remains controversial. This study builds a theoretical link between the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), an international carbon trading scheme, and local sustainable development in China. This article uses a panel data set of the attributes of 4,429 CDM projects hosted in China from 2004 to 2015, together with socio-economic factors at the provincial level. The study’s findings support the contention that the dual objectives of carbon emission reduction and sustainable development benefits cannot be fulfilled simultaneously, though technology may remedy this trade-off, and the effect of the CDM on local sustainable development varies across Chinese regions. This article helps elucidate the localizing process of climate justice and contributes to justice theories and the literature while aiding public managers and practitioners in international climate governance. Key policy insightsEmission reductions for investment countries of CDM were achieved at the expense of local SD benefits in China. CDM exacerbated the differences among Chinese regions in achieving SD goals due to uneven economic and social conditions.Technology innovation can remedy the negative impact of CDM, governments thus should attach importance to technology and use CDM projects to accelerate technological transfers and innovation.Local governments should be encouraged to formulate and use local policies and processes to guide actions on CDM and to ensure their consistence with the prospect of the international mechanism by including the essence of justice.Developing countries should improve their institutional or organizational capacity to promote sustainable social development and to better tackle climate change.Investment of CDM projects or other international mechanisms should expand the budget expenditure, not limited to simple carbon trade, for improving the climate adaptation capacity of developing countries.