Disagreement over the use of offsets may be driven by genuine worries among developing
countries that developed countries are not taking on sufficiently deep emission reduction commitments. In light of the relatively low emission cuts proposed by the United States and some other developed countries, this is a legitimate concern. In addition, major developing emitters may be concerned that selling today’s emission credits generated from comparatively cheap mitigation action may leave them facing higher marginal cost in meeting commitments they may have to take on themselves post-2020. (Observers have called this the ‘low hanging fruit’
problem’ of mitigation.) Yet, it may be in the interest of many developing countries, and LDCs in particular, to seek a compromise that would allow for a broader use of offsets in exchange for higher than expected developed country commitments – a trade-off that Indonesia and Mexico, for instance, have suggested. Such a compromise might help promote core interest of LDCs, namely reducing future climate change impacts, preserving scarce international funds for adaptation expenses, and attracting investment for NAMAs.