ABSTRACT
In the ten years since the Kyoto Protocol was first signed in Japan, popular discourse around climate change mitigation has increasingly been dominated by the idea of carbon trading. In the annual meetings of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) the topic of trading is quite prominent in the agenda and dominates many of the side events. Yet this idea has developed into a lot more than just a conversational topic. In June 2006 the global carbon market for the Clean Development Mechanism passed the threshold of certifying one billion tonnes of emission reductions for distribution by the end of 2012.2 Despite a crash in April 2006, the European Unions Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) continues to expand with more projects and investors participating everyday.3 Yet for all its popularity, carbon trading remains a very technical and complex phenomenon for the great public, including many persons concerned
about climate change and our efforts to avoid a climate catastrophe. The purpose of this chapter will be to provide an overview and some minimal analysis to carbon trading, particularly as it exists within the context of the Kyoto Protocol. The purpose is not to make the audience an expert on this topic nor convince anyone of the merits or flaws of trading.4 Rather it is to make this topic a little bit more accessible and thus better allow readers to form their own opinions on our preferred approach to the climate crisis.
