A DANGEROUS OBSESSION

The document argues that carbon trading is an ineffective and dangerous approach to climate mitigation, failing to drive necessary emissions cuts or technological innovation. It highlights six central problems: inefficiency in driving reductions, failure to stimulate innovation, lock-in of high-carbon infrastructure, reliance on flawed offsetting, the risk of a financial bubble similar to the subprime mortgage crisis, and its use as a smokescreen for the developed world's failure to provide climate finance. The report recommends halting the global expansion of emissions trading and instead deploying direct tools such as carbon taxes, regulation, and public investment. It further calls for developed countries to reduce emissions by at least 40% by 2020 (excluding offsets) and provide at least 200 billion in annual public funds to developing countries by 2012.

• Carbon trading is failing to achieve promised emissions reductions and is not driving the technological innovations required for a low-carbon transition. The first phase of the EU ETS (2005-2007) is described as a failure, and the second phase (2008-2012) is predicted to have a similarly poor outcome.
• The mechanism of offsetting is characterized as fundamentally flawed and unjust, often failing to deliver actual emissions reductions and potentially locking developing countries into high-carbon development paths with negative local impacts.
• The complexity of carbon markets and the presence of financial speculators create a risk of a speculative commodity bubble, which could lead to a global financial failure comparable to the subprime mortgage crisis.
• Developed countries are using carbon market finance as a 'smokescreen' to avoid their UNFCCC commitments to provide new and additional financial support to developing countries, effectively double-counting offsets as financial aid.
• The report suggests that the UK and EU's promotion of carbon trading is driven by their own economic interests and the influence of industry and finance, making wholesale reform of these schemes unrealistic in the available timeframe.

APA

Clifton, S.-J. (2009). A DANGEROUS OBSESSION. Friends of the Earth International. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/dangerous_obsession_sum.pdf

Chicago

Clifton, Sarah-Jayne. A DANGEROUS OBSESSION. Friends of the Earth International, 2009. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/dangerous_obsession_sum.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Clifton |first1=Sarah-Jayne |title=A DANGEROUS OBSESSION |publisher=Friends of the Earth International |date=November 2009 |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/dangerous_obsession_sum.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{clifton2009dangerous, author = {Clifton, Sarah-Jayne}, title = {{A DANGEROUS OBSESSION}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2009}, month = nov, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/dangerous_obsession_sum.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }