COP21 media briefing: what role for carbon markets?

The briefing argues that carbon markets have historically failed to increase climate commitments and have often undermined emissions reductions through 'hot air' loopholes. It recommends that the Paris agreement prevent double counting, ensure that international trading is supplementary to ambitious domestic action, and restrict market mechanisms to countries with adequate carbon budgets. The text notes a shift from a single global UN-led market toward a fragmented landscape of national and regional initiatives, while advocating for a transition from carbon offsets toward direct financial support for climate actions in developing countries.

• Carbon markets have not resulted in higher climate commitments; instead, cap-and-trade systems have been oversupplied and offsetting mechanisms have lacked environmental quality, contributing to a trajectory of approximately 3ºC of warming.
• The Kyoto Protocol's offsetting mechanisms may have significantly overestimated emissions reductions, with one estimate suggesting up to 70% of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) credits from 2013 to 2020 were not real reductions, and Joint Implementation (JI) offsets increasing global emissions by 600 million tonnes of CO2.
• There is a divergence between industrialised and developing countries regarding international trading: only Switzerland, New Zealand, and partially Norway indicated market use in their INDCs, while countries like Albania, Barbados, Togo, Cabo Verde, Ghana, Mexico, and Uganda expressed interest in using markets or generating offset credits.
• The global carbon market landscape is becoming fragmented, moving away from a single UN framework toward various national and regional initiatives, such as China's planned 2017 national market and the linking of markets in California and Quebec.
• To protect the environmental integrity of the Paris treaty, the document recommends avoiding double counting, ensuring international trading is supplementary to domestic goals, and replacing carbon offsets with financial support for developing countries.

APA

Carbon Market Watch (2015). COP21 media briefing: what role for carbon markets? https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/COP21-media-briefing_final.pdf

Chicago

Carbon Market Watch. COP21 media briefing: what role for carbon markets? 2015. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/COP21-media-briefing_final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Carbon Market Watch |title=COP21 media briefing: what role for carbon markets? |date=December 2015 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/COP21-media-briefing_final.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{carbonmarketwatch2015cop21, author = {{Carbon Market Watch}}, title = {{COP21 media briefing: what role for carbon markets?}}, institution = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2015}, month = dec, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/COP21-media-briefing_final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }