Green Tips written by Green Tips , December 13, 2010
At the global level a similar market mechanism emerged in 1997, when the Kyoto Protocol laid limits on carbon emissions by rich nations. From these limits a carbon market was created that became international law in 2005, is now trading $165 billion/year at the EU Emissions Trading System, and is expected to become the largest commodity market in the world. The carbon market privatises the atmosphere of the planet, but favours the poor nations who have more rights to emit; as a result $50 billion has so far been transferred from rich to poor nations for productive projects that have allowed their economies to reduce carbon and leapfrog into clean development strategies, avoiding the heavy industrialization followed by rich nations.
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At the global level a similar market mechanism emerged in 1997, when the Kyoto Protocol laid limits on carbon emissions by rich nations. From these limits a carbon market was created that became international law in 2005, is now trading $165 billion/year at the EU Emissions Trading System, and is expected to become the largest commodity market in the world. The carbon market privatises the atmosphere of the planet, but favours the poor nations who have more rights to emit; as a result $50 billion has so far been transferred from rich to poor nations for productive projects that have allowed their economies to reduce carbon and leapfrog into clean development strategies, avoiding the heavy industrialization followed by rich nations.