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Carbon Trading: Shiver my Eco-Friendly Timbers, the Corporations Capitalized the Air

Updated: Jan 12

Written by Izzey S.


What is Carbon Trading? 

Carbon trading, or carbon emission trading, is the system of buying and sellings credits that allow companies or other parties to emit a certain amount of carbon dioxide. This trade leads to carbon accounting, which measures the carbon impact made by companies, individuals, and governments. 




Issues Regarding Carbon Trading


  • It’s Hard to Manage 

    • Anyone can make and buy a claim, which makes it hard to control supply and demand of it, as everyone wants to buy it at a cheaper cost. 


  • It Doesn’t DIRECTLY Reduce Emissions 

    • Companies are less likely to lower their personal emissions, as they can claim they’re carbon neutral by buying credits. 


  • Double Credits Cheat the System 

    • Through loopholes companies can, via technicalities, get double the carbon credits for a single project. For example, a company may get carbon credits for reserving lands of a national park. Then another company also claims credits for reserving the forests and stopping deforestation. 




Solutions to Combat Said Issues

There are some solutions to deal with these problems, one of them being implementing a carbon tax. That is, to put a price on those greenhouse emissions, encouraging consumers, businesses, and governments to produce less of them (because, you know, everyone cares about money). This new system would have several benefits: 

  • Incentivize Companies 

    • The incentive to save money would encourage companies, individuals, and policymakers to reduce emissions. 

  • In Tandem

    • They can work with other initiatives to amplify the helpfulness. 

  • And Even the Economists Approve! 

    • Economists agree with a carbon tax, though note that it would need to be high enough to actually be impactful. 


What YOU Can Do (૭ ｡•̀ ᵕ •́｡ )૭ 

Now, I just KNOW you’re wondering, ‘what can I do to help?’ And you can go and reduce your carbon footprint by eating more of them greens, i.e. eat one plant-based meal. Meat animals require more space and resources than plant foods, and they emit much more carbon emissions. Vegetarian diets can reduce up to 1.5 tons, while vegan diets can go up to 2.1 tons. Some ideas to start with are: vegetable stir-fry w/ tofu, salad w/ beans & tofu as protein alternatives, and Impossible/Beyond meat. 


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