A new government ‘kitemark’ suggests that most carbon offset schemes are flawed, but fails to address the more fundamental problem of paying others to clean up after us, argues Kevin Smith

Putting a price on carbon and making the polluter pay makes sense, doesn’t it? Kevin Smith shows how carbon trading has been undermined to create big profits for transnational companies, and had no impact on climate change.

Tackling climate change is likely to be at the top of the agenda at this month’s G8 summit in Heiligendamm, Germany. But the emissions trading schemes promoted by G8 countries are deferring genuine climate action, while generating massive profits for the largest polluters. Kevin Smith investigates

If we want to curb climate change, carbon trading won’t do. From the Stern Review to Europe’s Emissions Trading Scheme, the aim of reducing emissions has been perverted by neo-liberal dogma and corporate self-interest.