Verification of outcomes from carbon market under the clean development mechanism (CDM) projects in landfills Silvia Stuchi Cruz a, * ,S ^ onia Paulino b , Delhi Paiva b a DPCT, University of Campinas, Brazil b EACH, University of S~ ao Paulo, Brazil article info Article history: Received 17 November 2015 Received in revised form 5 April 2016 Accepted 5 April 2016 Available online xxx Keywords: Co-benefits indicator Clean development mechanism Landfill abstract This paper addresses the issue of verifying the outcomes of using the Clean Development Mechanism e CDM e in landfills. Our research focuses on the S~ ao Paulo Metropolitan Area and outlines six CDM projects: Bandeirantes, S~ ao Jo~ ao, Caieiras, Itapevi, Pedreira, and Lara. Twenty-three indicators are pro- posed, organized into two dimensions: social and environmental. The process of constructing indicators was participatory. The Delphi technique was then applied leading to its validation by experts. The di- mensions were subdivided into five topics: participation, emphasizing the participation of associations and cooperatives surrounding landfills; the interface between agents involved, each with different in- terests; benefits, focusing on the implementation of CDM in the solid waste sector (especially waste pickers' cooperatives and technology transfer); environmental quality monitoring, highlighting the issue of odor; and gas emissions monitoring related to the efficiency of the biogas capture system. The aforementioned results corroborate the importance of the indicators developed based on interdisci- plinary and multi-agent approaches which take into account the different stakeholders. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in 1997 (Brazil, 1997) at the Third Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and came into force in 2005. This Protocol established that countries included in Annex I were forced to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 5% between 2008 and 2012, in relation to 1990 emission levels. In order to assist Annex I countries to comply with their GHG emission reduction targets, the Protocol established the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The CDM encompasses activities aimed at reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by establishing projects across a wide range of sectors, including landfill sites. Of the Brazil's total GHG emissions, considering the period 1970e2014, 460.5 MtCO2e are from the waste sector, which represents 1.9% of Brazil's emissions accumu- lated in this period. Another important fact (and worrying) is that in the same period, emissions from the waste sector jumped from 12 million tCO2e to 68.3 million tCO2e, that is an increase of approximately 450%, in a period of 44 years (SEEG, 2015). In line with article 12 of the Kyoto Protocol, these projects must also contribute to promoting sustainable development in host countries by generating social and environmental co-benefits. CDM encompasses both global issues linked to climate change and the promotion of development within the local context. Fig. 1 summarizes climate change policies in the global and local spheres in the waste sector within the Brazilian context. 1 Although CDM projects have this twofold goal, the United Na- tions Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has not established indicators to evaluate the co-benefits promoted. Ac- cording to the Marrakech Accords (Decision 17/CP. 7), the host country, represented by the Designated National Authority (DNA) and based on the rules and regulations of the CDM Executive Board, is responsible for determining whether a CDM project activity contributes to sustainable development (UNFCCC, 2001). Several studies focusing on the analysis of CDM results have demonstrated the difficulties e or even the failure e of GHG reduction projects in contributing to the promotion of local benefits * Corresponding author. E-mail address: silviacruz@ige.unicamp.br (S. Stuchi Cruz). 1 CIMGC e Inter-ministerial Commission on Climate Change: composed of nine ministries and coordinated by the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation, established with the goal of coordinating issues on climate change and. The CIMGC sets up criteria and takes decisions on Brazilian CDM projects. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Cleaner Production journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jclepro http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.04.022 0959-6526/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (2016) 1e12 Please cite this article in press as: Stuchi Cruz, S., et al., Verification of outcomes from carbon market under the clean development mechanism (CDM) projects in landfills, Journal of Cleaner Production (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.04.022