Marubeni, a Japanese trading company has sold 10,000 tons worth of greenhouse gas emission rights to another company. This is Japan's first major case of carbon-credit trading. NHK World explains that carbon trading allows companies that surpass their emission-cut target to sell that excess cut. They are using an Internet-based system providing information about companies' emission rights:
Marubeni Corporation used the Web site to sell 10,000 tons worth of carbon dioxide emission rights to a domestic power company. Marubeni acquired the emission rights by funding a South Korean chemical plant's reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon-credit trading is becoming an increasingly popular method for achieving emission-cut targets under the Kyoto Protocol.
Blogs I Like
- Ad B: Japan Navigator
- Adventures of a (Swedish) Salariman in Tokyo
- Amy: Blue Lotus
- Boing Boing: Wonderful Things
- Brendan: UNU OurWorld 2.0
- Hiroko & Rick: Itadakimasu
- Jared B: Tokyo Green Space
- Joan: Popcorn Homestead
- Jon: Toshogu or As I See Japan... From L.A.
- Justin B: The Rational Pessimist (Climate & Risk)
- Kat: Food Adventures in Japan
- Ken: KenElwood in semi-rural Japan
- Mari: Watashi to Tokyo
- MTC: Shisaku
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- P: Pacific Islander
- Peko Peko: Kyoto Foodie
- Richard H: Spike Japan
- Risa & Kirk: Savory Japan
- Robert: Pure Land Mountain
- Shizuoka Gourmet
- Ten Thousand Things
- Tom: Kitchen Garden in Japan
Links I Like
- News: About Sweden in English
- News: BBC
- News: Der Spiegel (Germany) in English
- News: Deutche Welle
- News: FT Asia (UK, EU)
- News: Kyoto Journal (Japan)
- News: NHK World Society & Others (Japan)
- News: People's Daily (China)
- News: Telegraph (UK)
- News: The Local (Sweden)
- News: Yomiuri Online (Japan)
- News: Yonhap (Korea)
- NGOs/News: Organic Consumers Association (US)
- NGOs: Amnesty
- NGOs: Consumers Union (US) Food
- NGOs: Consumers Union of Japan
- NGOs: Greenpeace
- NGOs: Greenz.jp
- NGOs: Japan for Sustainability
- NGOs: Japan Organic Agriculture Association
- NGOs: Japan Vegetarian Society
- Shops: Alishan Organic Center
- Shops: Eco to Waza (GreenJapan)
- Shops: Warabe Mura
- Stuff: Japan Probe
- Treehugger
4 comments:
Carbon credits don't reduce CO2 emissions at all. It's just an charade using bookkeeping to hide them. Bullshit if you ask me.
An ugly capitalist turn on a good environmental goal (reducing emissions). Hate the whole idea and don't think it should be taken seriously. Just an excuse to do nothing a bit longer and probably get a tax write-off while they're at it.
Well, the way I see it is a bit different. Companies should not only buy emission rights, but of course also invest in better technology that actually reduce emissions from their operations (factories, offices, transportation). Big companies with CSR reports will have to show that they are doing more than just buying emission credits.
What the carbon trading mechanism can achieve is similar to a tax. It means companies can invest in other projects, such as planting trees or helping other companies reduce their emissions. This is really helpful for getting companies in Europe to invest in developing country projects.
OK, a corporate tax would also achieve that, but how do you get companies to agree to that?
Another point is that we need strong environmental NGOs to act as watchdogs and actually keep pushing companies to go ahead and "walk the talk". Japan has some way to go in that respect.
I agree with what you said and conclude that I'm not very informed on the subject. What I said was a gut reaction to the idea that it's possible to "compensate for your own pollution" while doing nothing about it. If it helps the environment, then I can see why it's in place.
It seems preferable that governments, not just NGO's would watchdog industrial pollution, but so far they don't seem to be doing enough. I guess the business lobby is too powerful for them to tackle. Hope that changes as people demand more action on the environment.
By the way, thanks for so many informative articles lately.I'm trying to catch up in reading them. :)
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