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Carbon Finance in Africa and Strategies Employed by Google

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Carbon Finance in Africa and Strategies Employed by Google
Carbon Trading: Strategies employed by Google Inc. and Carbon Finance in Africa
Group Members: Apoorv Agarwal Shreyendra Garg 09002033 09D02020 Manish Choudhary Shishir Gupta 09002019 09002015

Abstract
The market for trading allowances relating to the right to emit carbon dioxide or the Emissions Trading Market has expanded dramatically in the last few years and promises to continue to do so in the near future. It has an extremely high profile as it is intrinsically linked to worldwide efforts to address climate change. The key differences between the emissions market and the commodities markets are that it is a politically-generated and managed market and that the underlying is a dematerialized allowance certificate, as opposed to a physical commodity. Global warming is a high priority topic in any political index across the globe. Considerable efforts are being made in this direction, some of which include UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) - 1992, the Kyoto Protocol - 1997 and the Bonn Agreement - 2001. The New Oxford American Dictionary even chose ‘carbon neutral’ as word of the year for 2006. Many liken the practice of buying carbon credits to buying pardons from the Catholic Church in 16th century Europe. We believe that it is easier to assess our progress and achieve our goals if we attach a value to something. It was found that economists too think the same and they jumped at the opportunity to attach a monetary value to the environment issue at hand. The paper attempts to advise these nations so that they may design an innovative mechanism which enables them to benefit from their carbon offset potential and not just rely on the good will of other nations. The paper does a Case Study on Africa and its huge potential to take the initiative in designing such a market.

Introduction
Tradable carbon units are one of the most effective instruments in the battle for a better environment. What is a carbon unit you ask? A carbon unit is a


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