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The Carbon Con: Investigating the True Cost of Carbon Offsetting
December 20, 2011 from Earth Focus

This original investigative report by The Ecologist Film Unit and Link TV's Earth Focus -- which is now leading to calls for an overhaul of how the UN does business -- shows the consequences of incentive programs like the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). A plant owned by India's energy giant Reliance Power is set to become the largest coal power project awarded carbon credits under the UN's CDM program, which lets industrialized countries offset their pollution by investing in greenhouse gas reducing projects in developing nations. This investigation shows what can, and does, go wrong. It documents the displacement of village communities to make way for plant construction; the exclusion of villagers from the decision making process; and the broken promises -- the benefits promised but never delivered to villagers like free education, employment and healthcare. Thousands of acres of forest land are being destroyed to make way for the plant. Critics say that the project sets a dangerous precedent because it shifts investment away from renewable energy and supports coal, an industry seen as a leading cause of carbon emissions. Campaigners are now calling for an urgent overhaul of the way the Clean Development Mechanism is governed.

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