Hemera/Thinkstock
DCL
Here's some confidence-building news from the already-criticized world of carbon offsets: through the UN, rich countries are about to fund 20 new coal-fired power plants in China and India—and if the applications are approved, the UN's Clean Development Mechanism will become one of the largest funders of new coal power plants.
The Guardian has the story and explains it all, but the justification is that the new plants would be more "efficient" than older ones, and would be paid for by carbon offsets that British and European companies bought instead of cutting their own emissions.
The rush by companies to take advantage of the UN's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) subsidies follows the successful application for credits by the Indian Adani coal group for two large power stations at Mundra in Gujarat, India. Adani will earn around
Others companies are now examining if they qualify. Eskom, the giant South African coal mining company controversially loaned
Here's the real crux of the problem: if Medupi is allowed to sell offsets, the Guardian continues, "It would be able offset all the emissions from a major new coal power station in the UK, effectively allowing the British government to meet its carbon-reduction targets by subsidising a plant in South Africa that would have been built anyway."
Check out CDM-Watch to learn more about criticisms of the Clean Development Mechanism from people who follow it regularly, and about what can be done to fix it.
