Licence to pollute

When the first international treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions was signed in 1997, people thought the community of nations would take the issue seriously. We were in for a surprise: the treaty came with an " environmental" excuse for rich nations and their polluting corporations to start an absurd trade in the world's carbon-absorbing capacity. They discovered able partners in the developing countries, who sensed a business opportunity.

Despite its persistent refusal to take on any international emission reduction commitments, India emerged as a favoured carbon market destination. A friendly government, a " clean" and aggressive corporate sector, and a happy band of national as well as transnational " validators", consultants and project developers made India a paradise for carbon " offset" projects. With a record-breaking 450 projects queuing to sell credits in the Kyoto carbon market, which will allow extra fossil fuel emissions in developed countries, India has opened the door for bigger profits than any carbon consultant could have imagined.

All big Indian corporations are on board - disproving earlier apprehensions that the complex nature of the Kyoto carbon market would put them off. Carbon credits were found to boost companies' stock prices significantly, even in cases where carbon credit sales were not publicly recorded.

It is assumed in India that carbon offset projects are so environmental they do not need impact assessment. Information on projects is rarely available. Each time we have looked at claims made about these projects' benefits, we found differences between the claims and reality.

We do not object to trading. But trading at whose expense? How can the government of India accept proposals from chronic polluters? How is it ascertained that the project proponent has the will or capacity to ensure social and environmental wellbeing when the factory violates existing Indian legislation? How can a project be considered as " clean development" when it adversely affects the ecology of communities? How can projects be registered on the basis of incomplete and falsified project documents?

The carbon offset market is proving to be a win-win scenario for greenhouse gas emitters in both hemispheres. The polluting industries continue emitting toxic fly ash and carbon dust, their effluents pollute rivers and underground aquifers, yet they earn extra money through flimsy claims of sustainability and emissions reductions. And the buyers in developed countries get certified licences to pollute. Governments, intergovernmental forums such as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, NGOs and financial institutions oversee this merry process.

What happens to the people the carbon market is supposed to benefit? In India, Brazil, Uganda, South Africa, Chile and Thailand, people see their land taken away and destroyed for hydro dams and monoculture tree plantations, while liquid and gaseous filth continues to poison rivers and air. Glaciers continue to melt, flash floods wipe away villages and droughts and extreme temperatures create havoc with agriculture.

The real danger of climate change is offset by the illusion of the most absurd market human civilisation has seen. And that is bad for the climate.