The BBC investigates the multi-billion dollar global market for carbon credits, run under the United Nations program designed to combat global warming: the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).
FIRST HALF
Under CDM, companies in wealthier nations are able to offset their carbon emissions by paying for projects in developing countries. The mechanism gives firms in developing nations financial incentives to cut greenhouse gas emissions. But, as the BBC’s Mark Gregory reports, in some cases carbon credits are paid to projects that would have happened without external funding.
Second Half
The BBC’s Business Correspondent, Mark Gregory, goes to Maine to compare and contrast the U.N. program known as CDM with RGGI, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. RGGI is a cooperative effort by Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states to combat global warming.
THE CHANGING WORLD is the sister documentary series of PRI's The World. Each week, we offer American radio listeners two in-depth documentaries from the BBC World Service that probe issues critical to our understanding of our evolving world.