Carbon emissions trading is emissions trading specifically for carbon dioxide CO₂ or its equivalent CO₂e. It is calculated in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent or tCO₂e. Carbon trading currently makes up the bulk of emissions trading and is the central pillar of the Kyoto Protocol and other international agreements aimed at slowing climate change.

Carbon trading has both proponents and detractors but is increasingly coming in for criticism, not least because since its introduction CO₂ emissions have dramatically increased rather than decreased. The ‘for and against’ arguments are investigated in FERN’s “beginners guide to carbon trading,” which will soon be available, but they are very briefly summarised below:

• FOR: Using the market (carbon trading) to address the environmental crisis allows reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the most economical manner.
• AGAINST: There are hidden consequences to carbon trading. The creation of a new commodity and private property rights to the atmosphere has already led to billions of Euro being handed to large emitters in industrialised countries free of charge.
• AGAINST: Turning carbon into a tradable commodity is equal to passing control for the climate into the same hands that are destroying the climate. This has so far led to increased carbon in the atmosphere rather than reductions and a magnification of social equalities.

SinksWatch believes that carbon trading is a dangerous distraction from the important task of moving to a low carbon future and focuses its campaigns on looking for positive actions that the EU can take at home to ensure its carbon footprint is reduced and it achieves its stated aim of keeping climate change below 2°C.

For further please visit FERN’s carbon trading campaign, or read the following SinksWatch recommended analysis challenging the assumptions behind the carbon market:

Carbon Trading. Critical Conversations about Climate Change, Privatisation and Power. The Durban Group's comprehensive critique of carbon trading, published by the Dag Hammarskjold Foundation and edited by Larry Lohmann.

Carbon Trade Watch report Hoodwinked in the Hothouse

Carbon Trading - the different trades explained

Lessons from the European Union's flagship Emissions Trading Scheme

The Durban Call to Action, coming out of a meeting in 2004 in Durban, South Africa, attended by more than 30 organisations from 15 countries.

The Carbon Neutral Myth. Offset Indulgences for your Climate Sins

The Great Green Smokescreen. Carbon offset projects exposed on Channel 4 Dispatches programme. August 2007.