While there is an urgent need to curb planetary heating, growing reliance on this innovation is problematic, to say the least.
With carbon trading, companies are rewarded for releasing less GHGs. Such companies can sell their extra carbon credits to other companies that are exceeding their credits, who must thus pay to release more GHGs.But carbon trading promoters tend to under-price credits for carbon trading to gain more acceptance and support.
Thus, CO2e has become the “universal” measurement unit for carbon trading, functioning like a common currency. Due to the complex and changing properties of gases, CO2e estimates have been subject to many revisions. Thus, instead of cutting GHG emissions, companies can buy carbon credits, fostering an illusion of progress.
Predictably, most major emitters prefer the cheaper option of carbon trading over such transformative investments. These projects are supposed to compensate for the harm caused by GHG emissions, ostensibly offsetting companies’ adverse environmental impacts.ADVERTISEMENT