UN aims to set standards for scandal-hit carbon markets [Video]

Governments could finally approve new UN standards for countries and companies wanting to trade carbon credits, a long-awaited decision some hope can bring credibility to a scandal-ridden sector.

Carbon credits are generated by activities that reduce emissions, like tree planting or replacing polluting coal with renewable energy, but buyers have long relied on unregulated markets shaken by high-profile scandals.

At this month’s COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan, the UN hopes to approve rules and a verification system years in the making to provide some certainty for governments and businesses exchanging carbon credits.

In carbon markets, one credit equals a tonne of carbon dioxide prevented from entering, or removed from, the atmosphere.

The UN’s proposed standards mostly relate to countries — mainly wealthy polluters — seeking to offset their …