Carbon market fans applaud as Rome burns

Source: nicmcphee / Flickr

By David Callaway, Callaway Climate Insights

The resolution of Article 6 at the UN summit will make carbon markets more dangerous, not less, argues Mark Hulbert.

(Mark Hulbert, an author and longtime investment columnist, is the founder of the Hulbert Financial Digest; his Hulbert Ratings audits investment newsletter returns.)

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (Callaway Climate Insights) — An emerging narrative in the wake of COP26 is that there was at least one issue area in which major progress was made towards mitigating climate change.

The reference is to the carbon offset market. This market, which exists under the rubric of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, is where countries and companies can go to purchase credits to offset their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These credits allow them to continue emitting GHG while nevertheless claiming progress towards meeting their carbon reduction goals.

Many defend the carbon trading market by arguing that it will ultimately play a crucial role in keeping the climate from overheating. They contend that the profit motive will attract large amounts of financing from Wall Street to invest in new and innovative carbon reduction technologies. . . .

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