Carbon markets take center stage at Climate Week as criticisms abound
“...there’s been a lot of negative press about the VCM, but the fact of the matter is it’s an incredibly important tool, and it’s not going away.” -Alexia Kelly, managing director of the Carbon Policy and Markets Initiative, High Tide Foundation.
Climate Week has again taken over New York City, and this year’s event has turned the spotlight on one of the climate sphere’s most controversial subjects: the voluntary carbon market, or VCM, where hundreds of millions of dollars change hands annually in the sale of carbon offsets.
Dozens of market leaders — including buyers, sellers and managers of offset portfolios — have descended on the city to network, attend talks and drum up new interest in the VCM. The PR blitz reflects both the promise of the VCM, as well as its continued struggle to gain legitimacy.
The Biden administration recently hatched a plan to use the VCM to supplement U.S. climate aid to developing countries. And Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo is set to headline a Climate Week panel Wednesday that will explore how it can contribute to the climate fight.
But those moves come amid growing skepticism of its utility.
Numerous studies and investigations have found the VCM is littered with projects that do little to actually address the issue of climate change. And critics have warned the sale of offsets may discourage polluters from directly reducing their own carbon emissions.
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