Carbon credits are no panacea

0
953
LinkedIn
Facebook
Twitter
Whatsapp
Telegram
Copy link

Climate change must be tackled with local laws, regulations and enforcement, argues Chandran Nair of think tank Global Institute for Tomorrow

This century’s greatest challenge is to understand how to mitigate climatic change. Years of effort and calls to action are finally resonating with the public consciousness, but there is still a glaring void: Humankind is facing the first truly global problem without a credible framework for fighting it.

Instead of putting in place appropriate local laws, incentives and enforcement mechanisms to tackle the problem, policymakers are being distracted by carbon credits in the belief that they offer some sort of panacea. The reality, however, is that carbon credits have the potential to create more problems than solutions.

Chandran Nair
Chandran Nair
Founder and CEO
Global Institute for Tomorrow

First and foremost, carbon trading does not reduce emissions but frees polluters of responsibility by allowing them to purchase credits elsewhere – typically in developing countries like India. By allowing polluters to believe they are doing good, carbon offsets encourage complacency.

You must be a subscribersubscribersubscribersubscriber to read this content, please subscribesubscribesubscribesubscribe today.

For group subscribers, please click here to access.
Interested in group subscription? Please contact us.

你需要登录去解锁本文内容。欢迎注册账号。如果想阅读月刊所有文章,欢迎成为我们的订阅会员成为我们的订阅会员

已有集团订阅,可点击此处继续浏览。
如对集团订阅感兴趣,请联络我们

Chandran Nair is founder and CEO of Global Institute for Tomorrow (GIFT), a Hong Kong-based think tank. He has extensive experience in environmental issues.

LinkedIn
Facebook
Twitter
Whatsapp
Telegram
Copy link