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Dante-Gabryell MonsonEvidence of serious flaws in the multi-billion dollar global market for carbon credits has been uncovered by a BBC World Service investigation.
grants funding economics worldpolitics article bbc environment energy politics business climate
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The credits are generated by a United Nations-run scheme called the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).
The mechanism gives firms in developing countries financial incentives to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
But in some cases, carbon credits are paid to projects that would have been realised without external funding.
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Peter Hughes
Page last updated at 23:28 GMT, Wednesday, 4 June 2008 00:28 UK
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The great carbon bazaar
By Mark Gregory
Business correspondent, BBC World Service, India
Pollution from energy plant
Companies in developing countries are paid to cut emissions
Evidence of serious flaws in the multi-billion dollar global market for carbon credits has been uncovered by a BBC World Service investigation.
The credits are generated by a United Nations-run scheme called the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).
The mechanism gives firms in developing countries financial incentives to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
But in some cases, carbon credits are paid to projects that would have been realised without external funding.
We've got a procedure that works
Yvo De Boer, executive secretary, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
The BBC World Service investigation found examples of projects in India where this appeared to be the case.
Arguably, this defeats the whole point of the CDM scheme, set up under the Kyoto climate change protocol, as these projects are getting money for nothing.
The findings reinforce doubts that the CDM is leading to real emission cuts, which is not good news for the effort to combat climate change.
And in one case a company is earning truly staggering sums of money from the carbon credits it is receiving - perhaps as much as $500m (£250m) over a period of 10 years - for a project it says it would have carried out without the incentive of the CDM.
Not watertight
The man in ultimate charge of running the Clean Development Mechanism insists it is fundamentally sound.
"We've got a procedure that works," says Yvo De Boer, the top official at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
He is referring to the elaborate registration process projects must go through to qualify for carbon credits from the CDM.
But even Mr De Boer accepts the system is not perfect.
"At the end of the day it's always a matter of judgement," he says.
"And -
Eldis CommunityEvidence of serious flaws in the multi-billion dollar global market for carbon credits has been uncovered by a BBC World Service investigation.
eldisnews carboncredits climatechange business environment energy CDM import:23_03_11
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