At the COP30 climate summit in Belém, global leaders launched initiatives to scale credible carbon markets that price greenhouse gas emissions through tradable credits, aiming to channel finance toward climate action where direct decarbonisation remains difficult. The discussion features insights from sustainability expert Shubham Deshmukh, who explains how carbon credits—generated from activities such as reforestation or emissions avoidance—can help fund mitigation efforts in sectors and infrastructure projects that currently lack access to cleaner technologies.
While supporters view carbon markets as a transitional tool linking today’s fossil fuel dependence with deeper long-term decarbonisation, critics warn that weak governance could allow polluters to benefit without delivering real community or climate gains. Deshmukh stresses that carbon markets should not replace direct emissions cuts, but instead complement them, particularly for sectors where eliminating emissions is not yet technically or economically feasible.
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