New study adds urgency to end UN carbon offsetting scheme

Carbon Market Watch urges the end of the UN's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) following a European Commission study by the Öko-Institut. The study indicates that 85% of analyzed projects and 73% of the potential credit supply from 2013 to 2020 are unlikely to provide real, measurable, and additional emission reductions. Such credits could potentially increase global greenhouse gas emissions by over 3.5 billion tonnes of CO2. The organization specifically warns against the aviation industry using these ineffective credits through the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) to avoid greenwashing.

• A European Commission study by the Öko-Institut found that 85% of analyzed projects and 73% of the potential supply of CDM credits from 2013 to 2020 are unlikely to achieve "real, measurable and additional" emission reductions. The use of these credits could result in an increase in overall greenhouse gas emissions exceeding 3.5 billion tonnes of CO2 between 2013 and 2020, which is nearly equivalent to two years of emissions in the EU Emissions Trading System.
• Previous evidence from a 2015 study indicated that the Joint Implementation offsetting system caused an increase in emissions of approximately 600 million tonnes.
• There is a risk that the aviation industry will use ineffective CDM credits through the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), which Carbon Market Watch argues would constitute greenwashing.

APA

Coiley, A. (2017). New study adds urgency to end UN carbon offsetting scheme. Carbon Market Watch. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2017/04/18/press-statement/

Chicago

Coiley, Andrew. New study adds urgency to end UN carbon offsetting scheme. Carbon Market Watch, 2017. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2017/04/18/press-statement/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Coiley |first1=Andrew |title=New study adds urgency to end UN carbon offsetting scheme |publisher=Carbon Market Watch |date=18 April 2017 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2017/04/18/press-statement/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{coiley2017new, author = {Coiley, Andrew}, title = {{New study adds urgency to end UN carbon offsetting scheme}}, publisher = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2017}, month = apr, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2017/04/18/press-statement/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }