Can pollution really be traded like oil, wheat, or gold? In this episode, Kate Foronda takes you inside the complex world of carbon credits — where one ton of emissions becomes a tradable unit on global markets.

We’ll explore: 

• How carbon credits work, from cap-and-trade systems in the EU ETS, California, and China, to voluntary offsets verified by standards like Verra and Gold Standard.
• Real-world examples, including Standard Chartered’s forest credit deal in Brazil’s Acre state, cookstove projects in Kenya and Uganda, Shell’s forestry offsets in Peru, and Delta Airlines’ offsets in Liberia. 
• The speculative side of carbon markets: hedge funds bundling credits, and crypto experiments like the Toucan Protocol and KlimaDAO, which collapsed when low-quality credits flooded the system.
• Updates from NYC Climate Week 2025, where initiatives like the Carbon Data Open Protocol (CDOP) and VCM+ coalition aim to bring integrity and standardization to these markets.
• Why critics call the system “carbon colonialism” — with the Global South supplying offsets while corporations in the Global North keep emitting.

From phantom forests to blockchain tokens, carbon credits show both the Circuit — a structured market that could finance real climate solutions — and the Circus — speculation, greenwashing, and global inequity.

Listen now! 🎧

@Katsiaryna (Kate) Foronda 

foronda.us 

Tune in now to discover what’s ahead in the Circus & Circuit of global trade!