CNBC on carbon dioxide rip-offsets: Shams and scams and dubious truth

Carbon Hunters: The Word of Carbon Trading Explained - CNBC

As corporations, governments and consumers hunt for ways to reduce and offset their greenhouse gas emissions, a whole new breed of businessman has been born. Welcome to the world of the Carbon Hunters. They are scouring the planet in search of new ways to capture carbon; lassoing every dime they can, often with shams and scams that make our heads spin. They then are trading the resulting – and often lucrative – credits.

Many believe carbon trading is a process vital to stopping climate change. And just as many are skeptical. What’s not debatable is that carbon offset trading is emerging as one of the century’s biggest business, political and environmental stories. But behind the carbon credits on an airline ticket, shares in a tree-planting scheme or a project that will supposedly suck carbon out of the air, lies a tale of dubious truth which can bring disaster to both the poor and the investors and people in the developing world.