Two graphs and a photo

In 2008 the value of the carbon market increased by 84 percent to $118 billion.

That it did so during the financial meltdown is all the more extraodrinary. This must be good news, right? All that money changing hands must mean that something is being done to address climate change, mustn’t it?

Er no. During 2008, the concentrationg of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increased by 2.28 parts per million.

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So what is carbon trading for, if it isn’t to reduce carbon dioxide emissions?

The carbon traders’ latest wheeze is to trade the carbon stored in forests. But this would only make things worse (at least for everyone who isn’t a carbon trader and who cares about what sort of a planet their children might inherit). The recent fires in Australia have claimed more than 180 lives. By any stretch of the imagination they were a disaster. The fires have released more than one-third of Australia’s yearly CO2 emissions.

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That speck infront of the smoke is a Boeing 737, by the way.

Now imagine what the climate impact would be if the carbon that had been stored in these forests and plantations had been traded. Trading allows emissions to continue elsewhere. So, the climatic impact of the fires would be up to twice as much as when the carbon stored in the forests is not traded.