Reap what you sow: participation in a global carbon market should be limited to countries with ambitions climate targets

Carbon Market Watch asserts that international carbon markets require high ambition and demand to function effectively. Drawing on the Kyoto Protocol experience where weak targets in Russia and Ukraine created 'hot air' credits that undermined emissions trading, the author advocates for eligibility criteria based on stringent targets and the principle of supplementarity, where market units only supplement domestic ambition.

• The author argues that participation in international carbon markets must be limited to countries with mitigation targets aligned with the 2°C target, as markets cannot function without sufficient ambition and demand for units.
• Experience from the Kyoto Protocol demonstrates that weak targets for economies in transition, specifically Russia and Ukraine, led to the accumulation of billions of carbon credits known as 'hot air', which damaged the environmental integrity and economic viability of emissions trading.
• To maintain environmental integrity, the document proposes that eligibility for carbon markets be based on high ambition and the principle of supplementarity, meaning market units must only be used in addition to domestic ambition.

APA

CMW (2014). Reap what you sow: participation in a global carbon market should be limited to countries with ambitions climate targets. Carbon Market Watch. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2014/11/25/reap-what-you-sow-participation-in-a-global-carbon-market-should-be-limited-to-countries-with-ambitions-climate-targets/

Chicago

CMW. Reap what you sow: participation in a global carbon market should be limited to countries with ambitions climate targets. Carbon Market Watch, 2014. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2014/11/25/reap-what-you-sow-participation-in-a-global-carbon-market-should-be-limited-to-countries-with-ambitions-climate-targets/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=CMW |title=Reap what you sow: participation in a global carbon market should be limited to countries with ambitions climate targets |publisher=Carbon Market Watch |date=25 November 2014 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2014/11/25/reap-what-you-sow-participation-in-a-global-carbon-market-should-be-limited-to-countries-with-ambitions-climate-targets/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{cmw2014reap, author = {CMW}, title = {{Reap what you sow: participation in a global carbon market should be limited to countries with ambitions climate targets}}, publisher = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2014}, month = nov, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2014/11/25/reap-what-you-sow-participation-in-a-global-carbon-market-should-be-limited-to-countries-with-ambitions-climate-targets/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }