While much work remains to be done for the US to get on track to meet its Kyoto commitments, the picture is not as dire as US negotiators would have you believe. Most importantly, it will not be improved by gutting the Kyoto Protocol in The Hague. It is becoming increasingly apparent that a CDM focused on large energy projects will leave Africa in the cold. A number of African nations e.g. Benin, Malawi, Eritrea, Swaziland and Cameroon might not expect to benefit from any large projects at all and in general large projects are likely to occur in those nations with abundant opportunities in energy investments and the greatest projected increases in energy demand. In fact an optimal development model for the African energy sector would rely heavily on decentralised forms of energy services with an integrated approach.
Communities clamoring for energy services are often remote and scattered.
A number of technologies which are suited to small scale decentralised applications have considerable potential in Africa and would also naturally qualify for the CDM because they are renewable. Such small technologies could lead to the development of domestic markets in renewable energy, will have significant advantages in employment creation and lessen the burden on the balance of payments by cutting fuel imports. For the CDM to be relevant to Africa's needs it must give an added boost to the dissemination of such technologies. Small projects are more vulnerable to the burdens of transaction costs than are large projects. Transaction costs must therefore not be allowed to outweigh the value of the CERs generated.