[p2p-research] P2P Carbon trading - stage one

[Robin]

Interesting spam here. I think you can expect more like this.

I have done extensive research on carbon trading when it was just
starting, early 2000s and published a bunch of articles in Dutch
press, including the main business newspaper.

For anyone interested in this sort of material, find some critical
info here: http://www.carbontradewatch.org/

Personally I think that if you want to commodify the air/ or the
'right to pollute', it would only make sense if each person in the
world would get an equal right to Co2 emission, based on what is
sustainable (around 90% less than what we pollute now). Fair
distribution you might call it. Then, let the trading begin (and the
money flows North to South).

But unfortunately the allocation per state has (already!) been done
with the trade-agreement Kyoto Protocol, on basis of how much each
(Northern) state was polluting already.

On Wed, Nov 18, 2009 at 5:24 AM, J. Andrew Rogers
<reality.miner at gmail.com> wrote:
> One thing that makes me highly skeptical of most carbon offset sites is that
> there never seems to be a way for normal individuals that have substantial
> carbon sequestration capacity to sell offsets.  At the end of the day, it
> always seems to be about funneling money to anointed parties rather than
> creating a genuine market for carbon sequestration.

Carbon offset projects can also damage communities. There are many
examples of this:
http://www.carbontradewatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=319&Itemid=36

>From the conclusion of the article linked above:

"The emerging global carbon offset market has created a lucrative new
commodity while essentially distracting from the real and difficult
steps needed to avert the climate crisis. In hundreds of locations
around the world, polluting private companies are building up new
profit centres to capture green finance. These carbon projects are
subsidizing some of the most polluting companies in the world.

The reality of these projects is startling. Even renewable projects
that look the best at the outset are rife with conflicts. A brief look
at market fundamentals suggests why such conflicts are almost
inevitable. The most reliable providers of offset credits will
inevitably be big, highly-capitalized firms or agencies in a position
to hire carbon consultants and accountants, liaise with officials, or
pay the fees needed for UN registration.

These projects are not set up to deal with the real complexities and
intricacies of communities and livelihoods. They require enormous
quantities of resources in terms of land, water, and machinery and do
not benefit the local communities or ecology. They generally take
place in regions where people have little political power, engendering
a deeper North–South divide."

Robin

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Life happens at the level of events, not of words