Page - (000235) - in Evaluating Climate Change Action for Sustainable Development

reductions.Within a carbon offset project, the project developer selects the clean cooking technologydesign, so this categoryhasbeeneliminated. In all, the far left column of the GACC’s conceptual framework translates intuitively into carbon offset project’s value chain, determining the categories of actors thatwe assessed for evidence of access to andgains associatedwith utilizing the carbonmarket. The second columnof theGACCframework, “components of enhanced liveli- hoods” includes the following categories: employment; income, technical and business skills; business and social networks; knowledgeof environmental health/ benefits; expandedaccess tohealthandcredit.Thesemi-structured interviewswith actors in the first column touched upon all of these elements of an enhanced livelihood, and aspects of these interviewswill be discussed in the case analysis. However, due tovariability in thecategories thatwere relevant for all actors in the value chain, the livelihood index we utilize here references those aspects of an enhanced livelihood that were pertinent in every single interview: steady and predictable employment; income for labor, enhancedopportunities engendered by skilled labour and enhanced opportunities engendered my managerial positions (i.e.positionswithsomedegreeofdecisionmakingpower).Theneedforexpanded access to capital and credit was not always a prerequisite for acquiring the new technology; in some cases, households were given the technology for free. The relationshipbetweenusers,borrowersand the local impactof integrating theminto theformaleconomythroughenhancedcreditoptions issignificantlycomplexthat it is the subject for another paper. The third column articulates varying “outcomes of enhanced livelihoods:” quality employment and/or entrepreneurship opportunities; increased income; increasedknowledgeandskills; increasedaccess to resources; andenhancedsocial capital through expanded social networks.Quality employment and entrepreneur- ship opportunities arguably encompasses other outcomes, such as increased skills and resources, increasednetworkingopportunities andenhanced social capital and status. Another outcomeworth further investigationwould be increased employ- mentchoices.Forexample inaddition to theoutcomes identifiedwithin theGACC framework,avoidedsacrificeswheremoneywasnot thepriorityoutcomewerealso positivelymentioned; i.e.“employmentwiththecarbonoffsetprojectenablesmeto work close tomyvillage, andwithout this job Iwould be forced to live far away frommy family. Pressed further, this particular interviewee admitted that he could earn a better income inVietnam, but the benefit of livingwith his family at home inCambodia andengagingwith theenvironment-developmentproject faroutweighed thepoten- tial increase in income.This typeofbenefit isnotclearlycapturedin theconceptual frameworkor the livelihoodindexas itcurrentlystands; further researchis required to establish howandunderwhat conditions carbonfinance can engender or hinder livelihoodchoiceswhere income is not the salient driving factor. Thus, the livelihood index offers a rough proxy as to the impact of a carbon financeprojectonlocal incomesandlivelihoodswithin theeconomythat surrounds the carbon finance intervention;while imperfect, the livelihood index can help to 12 Unpacking theBlackBoxofTechnologyDistribution,Development Potential. . . 219