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COP 27 agenda.


 US president Joe Biden’s climate envoy John Kerry is trying to marshal support from other governments, companies and climate experts to develop a framework for selling carbon credits to businesses. The proceeds could then fund clean energy projects. Under the plans, regional governments or state bodies would earn carbon credits by reducing their power sector’s emissions as fossil fuel infrastructure such as coal-fired plants are phased out and renewable energy use increases. Although the scheme would be voluntary, Kerry said he hoped the private sector could be «enticed» to the table because it would offer the most polluting companies a way to address their emissions.

According to people familiar with the matter, Kerry and the US administration want to unveil the idea at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt. UN secretary-general António Guterres described the report as a «chronicle of climate chaos». US officials hope that Kerry’s plan will combat global warming by unlocking «tens of billions» of dollars of private capital to fund the energy transition in developing economies. Using and trading carbon credits is unregulated and a controversial solution to global warming.

In theory, one credit represents one tonne of carbon avoided or removed from the atmosphere, but critics say they must consistently deliver the emissions savings they promise. However, the concept has boomed as companies and countries come under pressure to cut their emissions and meet net-zero emissions targets, which are legally binding under the Paris Agreement. Several industry groups are working to develop standards to bring more credibility to carbon credits. Regulators, including the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, have been asked to monitor the market. Carbon credits were not «the kind of thing you can have half-baked.

The rules matter, the details matter,» said one person familiar with the plans. A person familiar with the discussions said the US state department was planning to introduce a broad framework, but it would take additional time to develop the full details. «One of the things we’re looking at is the possibility of the private sector, in effect, being enticed to the table,» Kerry said last month. Funds could go «directly into closing down some coal plants and acquiring renewables, which is direct emissions reduction. »

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  1. Albert7 November 2022 at 15:11

    Carbon credits might not be the best things and are probably harder to enforce/check up on (to see if companies are really doing it on a regular basis) but what other solutions are there? We must start somewhere, no? It's already late in the game.

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