Carbon credits are no panacea

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.

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.

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.