Offsets: The fossil economy's new arena of conflict
Chapter 4 of Carbon Trading: A Critical Conversation on Climate Change, Privatisation and Power
first published 9 October 2006
Projects set up in the South to 'compensate' for continued fossil fuel use by the North are helping to dispossess ordinary people of their land, water air and futures. Chapter Four of the book, Carbon Trading: A Critical Conversation on Climate Change, Privatisation and Power, presents detailed case studies of projects that generate carbon credits by planting trees, burning methane from waste dumps, improving efficiency, promoting renewable energy and so forth, in ten countries: Guatemala, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Brazil, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
The current carbon 'offset' market, the chapter concludes, is not only structurally unable to help set the South on a lower-carbon path, but is increasing social conflict between rich and poor.