What future for offset credits and carbon markets?

Carbon Market Watch expresses concern over the potential for continued offset credit trading in the L.6 text, arguing that offsets reduce the ambition of emissions caps and hinder the goal of limiting temperature increases to 1.5ºC. The author suggests that the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) structures should be repurposed as a channel for climate finance rather than an offset mechanism to support mitigation outcomes and avoid double counting.

• The use of offset credits is viewed as a mechanism that undermines the ambition of emissions caps, which is incompatible with the goal of limiting global average temperature increases to 1.5ºC.
• If carbon markets are used for compliance in the new agreement, they must operate under ambitious multi-year national carbon budgets with credits that are real, permanent, supplemental, verified, and free of double counting.
• The author proposes transforming the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) from an offset mechanism into a channel for climate finance, allowing wealthier countries to meet finance obligations and support mitigation in needy countries while reducing double counting risks.

APA

Watts, K. (2015). What future for offset credits and carbon markets? Carbon Market Watch. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2015/12/08/what-future-for-offset-credits-and-carbon-markets/

Chicago

Watts, Katherine. What future for offset credits and carbon markets? Carbon Market Watch, 2015. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2015/12/08/what-future-for-offset-credits-and-carbon-markets/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Watts |first1=Katherine |title=What future for offset credits and carbon markets? |publisher=Carbon Market Watch |date=8 December 2015 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2015/12/08/what-future-for-offset-credits-and-carbon-markets/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{watts2015what, author = {Watts, Katherine}, title = {{What future for offset credits and carbon markets?}}, publisher = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2015}, month = dec, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2015/12/08/what-future-for-offset-credits-and-carbon-markets/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }