Gautam Jain and Ned Shell on the Promise of Carbon Credit Markets

Carbon credit markets have become one of the most hotly debated tools in the fight against climate change. Supporters call them essential to closing the gap between corporate climate pledges and what companies can actually achieve on their own. Critics call them a shell game that lets polluters buy their way out of real action.

But the debate is about more than just whether carbon credits can work; it's about the integrity of the markets designed to trade them. The promise of these markets is fairly straightforward. The complexity comes in determining whether the credits actually deliver the climate benefits they're supposed to.

New research from the Center on Global Energy Policy, supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, examines the state of one type of carbon trading: project-based carbon credit markets. The study looks at how these markets are regulated and how they might be scaled.

Today on the show, Bill Loveless speaks with Gautam Jain and Ned Shell about the state of project-based carbon credit markets, where they're headed, and what they're watching closely on the road to global rules under the Paris Agreement's Article 6.

Gautam Jain is a senior research scholar here at the Center on Global Energy Policy. He focuses on the role of financial markets and carbon markets in the transition to net-zero emissions—particularly in emerging countries. Gautam previously worked in the financial industry where he covered emerging markets as a portfolio manager and strategist for asset management firms and investment banks, including The Rohatyn Group, Barclays Capital, and Millennium Partners.

Ned Shell is director of public policy and climate finance programs at Bloomberg. He is also a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Prior to Bloomberg, he served as counselor to the under secretary for domestic finance in the U.S. Department of the Treasury and held roles at Bain & Company and the World Bank.

Credits: Hosted by Jason Bordoff, Bill Loveless, and Daniel Sternoff. Produced by Mary Catherine O'Connor, Caroline Pitman, and Kyu Lee. Engineering by Gregory Vilfranc.