Essential information on carbon trading

The Climate and Capitalism website has brought together a range of information on carbon trading from The Corner House, which they say is the best source of analysis and comment on global carbon trading. There's some good stuff here to help us understand emissions trading, just as the Labour government is trying to push through its Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). The arguments against emissions trading need to be made loudly and by mass organisations like unions and political parties, otherwise the corporates will succeed in framing the debate around market mechanisms rather than real public solutions like free and frequent public transport. See also Europe's ETS delivers windfall profits to polluters and The fine art of greenwashing From Climate and Capitalism (17 June 2008): (1) Carbon Trading: Solution or Obstacle? More and more commentators now recognize that carbon markets are not helping to address the climate crisis. But more discussion is needed of: how carbon markets damage more effective approaches; whether carbon markets could ever work at all; and why carbon trading has been successful in political terms despite failing in climatic terms.

Continue