Carbon Trading
a critical conversation on climate change, privatisation and power
development dialogue no. 48 september 2006
362 pages
What Next project publications
www.dhf.uu.se

The main cause of global warming is rapidly increasing carbon dioxide emissions primarily the result of burning fossil fuels despite international agreements to reduce such emissions. The trouble is that despite being aware of the serious situation, very few decision-makers are ready to tackle the problem at its roots. Instead of reducing the extraction of fossil fuels and searching for other solutions, current carbon-trading policies, in practice, favour the further exploitation of these fuels. Furthermore, new tree plantations, which are claimed as a means of mitigating the consequences of increased carbon dioxide pollution, often drive people out of their traditional living grounds and destroy biological diversity. This special report forms part of the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation's What Next project. It focuses on carbon trading and is intended to influence current climate politics.