Carbon markets are broken. Here are three ways we can start fixing them

illuminem summarizes for you the essential news of the day. Read the full piece on The Conversation or enjoy below:

🗞️ Driving the news: Carbon markets are under scrutiny due to their reputation for low-integrity offset projects
• An investigation found that 94% of credits from rainforest protection projects had no climate benefit
• The market's issues are attributed to invisible, unregulated commodities and projects that fail to provide promised benefits

🔭 The context: Deforestation credits, often based on faulty accounting, make up the majority of dubious credits 
• These issues, coupled with a lack of regulation and quality discernment by buyers, contribute to a market filled with "lemons"

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: The current practices in carbon offsetting are inadequate for meeting the urgent need to limit global warming to 1.5°C
• A significant reform in carbon markets is necessary to ensure high-integrity carbon removal and long-lasting solutions to combat climate change effectively

⏭️ What's next: The University of Oxford proposes three evidence-based principles to overhaul carbon markets: prioritizing direct emissions cuts, scaling up high-integrity carbon removal, and investing in long-lasting solutions
• These principles aim to guide purchasers and reform the market towards more reliable and impactful climate action

📈 One stat: Fewer than 4% of carbon credits are generated by projects that remove (and safely store) excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere

Click for more news covering the latest on carbon market