Friends of the Earth Speak out Against Carbon Trading

It now seems that a new report from the Friends of the Earth say that “cap and trade” carbon markets have done very little to reduce emissions. They note that this is due to the fact that the scheme is plagued by corruption and inefficiency.

In the report, the Friends of the Earth say that, to date, the cap and trade carbon markets have done almost nothing, if not anything, to reduce emissions. The corruption and inefficiency of this plan has pretty much rendered it useless. As the world turns its eyes to the Copenhagen climate summit, Britain and other developed countries want to see carbon trading expand around the world. The carbon market, mainly based in Europe, was worth about $126 billion back in 2008. However, it is now predicted that it will grow too $3.1 trillion by 2020 if the global carbon market takes off.

The Friends of the Earth fear that the area has been hijacked by speculators on the financial markets. The author of the report, Jayne Clifton, says that the majority of the trade is carried out, not between the polluting industries and factories covered by the trading schemes, but by banks and investors who are looking to profit from the scheme.

The Friends of the Earth go on to claim that the first phase of the European emissions trading scheme, which was between 2005 and 2007, has failed. They go on to point out that it is very likely that the second phase, which takes place between 2008 and 2012, is very likely to fail as well. Thus, they are calling on the government to use more reliable instruments, such as carbon taxes, to help reduce emissions.