Emission Trading: Ethical or Unethical

Abstract

For several decades, the economic, environmental and health effects from Green House Gases (GHGs) have been closely studied and debated. Currently, nations are pursuing alternative strategies in their quest to cut down the level of GHG emissions and meet national targets. Aldo Leopold’s land ethic specifies that “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, beauty, and stability of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.” As a result of increasing awareness about Global warming, the concept of carbon credits, an outcome of the Kyoto protocol, came into existence. “Kyoto Protocol” has served the idea of saving the planet earth from the global meltdown. The Cap-and-Trade systems for greenhouse gas emissions are an important part of the climate change policies. But concerns have been raised on a variety of ethical grounds about the use of markets to reduce emissions. The question arises that is it really ethical to trade carbon credits in market and allow the industries to emit as much as their buying or borrowing power and capacity allows? This article is an attempt to examine the ethical question of the responsibility of business organizations to respond to climate change.

Keywords: Kyoto Protocol, GHGs, Cap-and-Trade, Carbon Credits, Commoditization

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