ABSTRACT
The ratification of the Kyoto Protocol led to the breakthrough of market-based instruments to fight climate change (McAfee 1999; Newell and Paterson 2010). International nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) allied in the Climate Action Network (CAN) initially criticized the market-based mitigation instruments of the Kyoto Protocol. Later on, many members of CAN subsequently adopted these instruments (Holz 2010; Unmüßig 2011; see also Bedall and Görg in this book). Currently, NGOs are taking on advisory, monitoring, and control functions in the further development of offsetting markets, and are even involved in the development of green financial products and designing emission reduction certificates for offset markets (Rest 2011: 87). These activities are primarily taking place on voluntary markets and, to a lesser extent, within the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). By drafting standards and safeguards for the voluntary market, NGOs are providing the opportunity to trade emission permits in the first place. These standards are a decisive factor in the development of voluntary carbon markets as they allow emissions reductions to be compared and quantified.
