Analyzing the environmental injustices of carbon offsetting : the limits of the California-REDD+ Linkage

Abstract

Emissions from greenhouses gases (GHGs), especially carbon dioxide (CO2), have driven anthropogenic climate change. In response, global policymakers have promoted carbon trading and its subset, carbon offsetting, as approaches to lower these emissions by commodifying GHG reductions for market exchange. Recently, the US state of California has sought to incorporate carbon offsets from a “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation” (REDD+) program in the state of Acre, Brazil, into its own carbon trading scheme. Using a theoretical framework drawn from Marxist Political Economy, I argue that the “California-REDD+ linkage” is an ineffective and unjust method of climate change mitigation, because it prioritizes economic growth over substantial and equitable emissions reductions. By interrogating the environmental and social credibility of REDD+ offsetting, this thesis exposes the limits of market-based environmental strategies to mitigate climate change in a fossil fuel-powered capitalist society.