https://www.uni-bremen.de/fb8/international/internationales-modul
3 CP/ECTS for this course, +3 CP/ECTS extra credit
Introduction to the political economy of carbon trading, with particular reference to the voluntary carbon market as it operates in tropical countries, with special reference to Sub-Saharan Africa and the East African Community.
1. Locating 'nature-based solutions' to climate change within key global crises, including global warming, agriculture and land-use changes and deforestation; population pressure on natural resources and other drivers of climate change.
2. General overview of carbon and biodiversity markets in relation to climate change and mitigation efforts across the tropics (S America, Africa, Asia), with special reference to forests and deforestation.
3. Controversies in carbon markets and trading: (1) conceptual; (2) operational; and (3)practical.
4. The Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) as part of the global carbon trading architecture: evolution 1997 to the present and its current key direction characteristics.
5. Carbon credit/offset projects in relation to: (1) forestry/reforestation; (2) clean energy; and (3) other sectors
6. Research findings on key aspects of the VCM, especially REDD+ and energysaving projects across three continents. Additionality, leakages, impact, measurement.
7. The political economy of key players in carbon trading: the World Bank/donor agencies/INGOs, carbon traders and verifiers, project implementers, governments, and vulnerable communities.