ABSTRACT
Carbon markets have been the flagship policy to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions since the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. However, limited attention has been given to how carbon markets have evolved as institutions, especially in light of the shifting discourses and power dynamics following the Paris Agreement in 2015. Here, institutions refer to formal and informal rules that shape policies. This chapter examines the process of institutional change related to global climate policy and carbon markets, shedding new light on the dynamics of actors, their discourse, and powers. The UNFCCC Conference of Parties (COP) negotiations over Article 6 of the Paris Agreement on market mechanisms exemplifies the clash between the old discourse of maintaining economic competitiveness and the newer discourse to address the climate emergency. Our findings illustrate how hybrid climate institutions and fragmented carbon markets of the Paris era fail to align with the climate emergency discourse. The institutions are entrenched in sustaining discourse on maintaining competitiveness, their ideational power, and broader contexts, limiting radical change. We suggest that our climate futures should envision future carbon markets based on new institutions that prioritise sharing and collaboration over competition to address climate emergency.
