Carbon Offsets Daily

According to a in the Guardian, controversy and criticism surround the UN’s (CDM). The CDM is a system established under the that gives industrialized nations the opportunity to earn CDM credits or certified emission reductions (CERs), by undertaking investments in emission reduction technologies in the developing world. The CDM is supposed to ensure that the projects meet the “additionality” criterion. That is to say, the emission reduction projects wouldn’t have been possible without the sales of carbon credits.

The article reports the findings of two Stanford University academics, David Victor and Michael Wara who claim that a large number of projects under the CDM are not “additional”. It also cites a study by the U.S. watchdog group, , which states that as many as 75 per cent of the registered CDM projects had been completed by the time they were approved. It seems that the crux of the problem is that a good part of the CDM money is being invested in projects that, as Victor puts it, “would be built anyway”.

The (GREENSX), which claims to be the first social stock exchange in North America, plans to launch what they are calling a new, “'Web 3.0 eBAY.COM AUCTION STYLED'” online electronic bulletin board and social network dedicated to Direct Public Offerings (“DPO”) and to the secondary market trading of SEC exempted Regulation A, SB-1, SB-2, small company offering registration (SCOR) shares and carbon trading under the United States Securities Act of 1933, with focus on small eco-friendly, socially responsible and sustainable businesses."

By autumn 2008 they should be live. Check them out .