The unequal exchange of carbon: calculating value appropriation and atmospheric colonisation through carbon offsetting

Despite a flurry of critical analyses discussing its controversial track record in terms of effectiveness and social feasibility, carbon offsetting remains one of the key mechanisms within global climate governance. We address an understudied dimension of the offsetting paradigm, with a focus on the voluntary carbon market and nature-based ‘solutions’, to inquire whether carbon trading constitutes a form of unequal ecological and economic exchange. We quantify the global unequal exchange through carbon credits. To ground our hypotheses, we analyse the carbon trading landscape of Colombia and offer a country-specific quantification of value plunder through carbon commodity chains. We find that, only through voluntary carbon markets, wealthy countries appropriated 4 billion USD in 4 years from the Global South, whereas the value drain from Colombia is estimated at 200 million USD. We also highlight further value leakage through both formal and informal carbon brokers.