The darker shade of green: When carbon markets meet poor governance
Weak rule of law, conflicts of interest, and high verification costs make Asia’s emerging carbon economy a conduit for shady deals
Kelly Ng
LAST October, Sabah state officials inked a controversial US$80 billion carbon trading deal that claims to safeguard over 2 million hectares of jungle in the Malaysian state from logging for the next century. Non-governmental organisations and journalists, however, raised many red flags, including how a significant proportion of the revenue was to go to a shell company in Singapore with no history in carbon trading.
Back in 2012, Cambodian rainforest activist Chut Wutty was shot dead by the military police in an internationally-funded conservation area in the Cardamom Mountains. Right before his murder, Wutty was reportedly taking 2 journalists to see large-scale deforestation that had taken place near a carbon credit-generating hydropower project.
Such stories tend to draw attention and make headlines because they are particularly egregious examples of abuse of the carbon markets. But market participants and industry watchers say there are many other stories that go untold.
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