Is carbon trading panacea to climate change or justification to pollute?

I was attending a press conference about climate change a few days after the African Climate Summit and behind the corridors of the conference, someone uttered this sentence – “Carbon market is an ‘unknown animal’ who shouldn’t be taken lightly.”

With my curiosity, I inquired this man to speak up his mind about carbon markets and what he knows about it. His revelations was not just daunting but opens a possibility of a great scam propagated by the emitters hiding behind carbon markets.

For the most part he lamented about carbon markets arguing that it’s giving the emitters a green light to continue polluting the environment despite detrimental effects being felt across the globe and especially in Africa.

The top emitters in the world are the developed countries led by China, United States, India, Russia and Japan. All of which have the most stable economies and have sizeable GDP as well as enough resources to cushion themselves from effects of climate change.

In Africa, effects of climate change are felt far and wide. From depletion of pastures to destruction of agricultural land, Africa stands at the edge of more climate-induced devastation. Speaking of carbon markets as a way of compensate non-emitters is factually misguided pursuit.

According to United Nations Development  Programme (UNDP), carbon markets are trading systems in which carbon credits are sold and bought. Companies and individuals can use carbon markets to compensate for their greenhouse gas emissions by purchasing carbon credits from entities that remove or reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

It’s imperative to note that developed countries are drawing their energy from burning coal and petroleum products to fuel their economies. In Africa, they are being told to transition to greener energy. It’s not a bad idea but how can polluters give advice to non-polluters on how not to pollute? It’s an outright hypocrisy.

Developed countries have on several occasions promised to cut down emissions and to offer climate financing, most of which have not materialized. Thus, carbon markets are just but new avenues to justify pollution. It’s said “he who pays the piper calls the tune.” Loosely, he who buys carbon credits pollutes the planet. Emitters must cut down emissions not to hide behind carbon markets!