Instead, they will focus on ensuring an unlimited use of the Protocol's market-based mechanisms. Both the biotech and the nuclear energy sectors are hungrily eyeing the subsidies, carbon credits and new business opportunities that could emerge from the Kyoto mechanisms. A whole new industrial sector has emerged even before consensus has been reached on the Kyoto rules- the emissions brokers. The attraction is clear- the market in global greenhouse gases could grow to trillions of US dollars over the next decades. Most corporations have discovered that huge profits lie ahead if they manage to shape the Kyoto mechanisms to their interests.
Corporations claim to have the climate situation under control.
They argue that carbon and energy taxes and other effective regulations should be avoided at all costs in the name of international competitiveness. The solutions, they claim, can be found in voluntary agreements between governments and industry and in an unimpeded free market permitting the development of new and improved technology. Market-obsessed governments and industry lobby groups have shifted the debate into a realm dominated by technocratic solutions and industrial concerns like securing profits and strengthening global corporate dominance. The key challenge at COP-6 will be to bring the commodification of the climate debate to a halt. The alternative is climate policies that pursue real emissions reductions and equity, a complete withdrawal from fossil fuel dependency and the ever-increasing growth in energy production and use.