A recent enforcement guide from INTERPOL has focused on the risk of crime within the global carbon trading markets. According to INTERPOL, it is the intangible nature of these markets that puts them at risk of fraudulent exploitation.

Carbon trading is the world’s fastest growing commodities market, with its current value estimated by the World Bank at around $176 billion. Carbon trading differs from traditional markets in that there are no physical commodities, only ‘credits’ for offsetting the output of carbon dioxide, and it is this unquantifiable market, combined with the large amounts of money invested and a lack of oversight, which makes it vulnerable to fraud.

The INTERPOL Guide to Carbon Trading Crime looks at the areas within the industry that have the greatest potential to be fraudulently manipulated, through securities fraud, insider trading, embezzlement, money laundering and cybercrime. It also assesses the current vulnerabilities of the carbon market and provides information to support national authorities in establishing adequate policing measures.

The guide includes several case studies from around the world where greenhouse gas accounting firms, national authorities operating in under-regulated jurisdictions, and individuals or companies claiming to offset emissions in return for investment have cut corners, falsified information or received bribes.

With eight carbon credit trading companies operating on the European Union Emission Trading Scheme recently shut down for malpractice, the INTERPOL guide seeks to generate an international law enforcement response to these crimes.

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This blog post is intended as a news item only- no connection between Lewis Nedas and the parties concerned is intended or implied.