HT: The department of Duh.
Via The Guardian:
A U.N. panel which supervises trade in carbon offsets under the Kyoto Protocol is probing tweaks to the rules as there is evidence of attempts to make excessive profits, its vice-chair Lex de Jonge said.
Rich countries can meet their binding caps on greenhouse gas emissions by funding emissions cuts in developing countries under the Kyoto Protocol's clean development mechanism (CDM) through a currency of carbon offsets.
The scheme has attracted speculators who establish projects in developing countries to generate offsets and then sell these on to companies and countries in the West.
Some participants were excessively focused on profits, straying from CDM rules in the process, said de Jonge, who is also a Dutch environment ministry official....
"This is a billion-euro market and attracts people not only interested in the environment but in the money"
