Carbon Credits: Tool or Lasting Illusion?
Carbon Credits: Solution or Smokescreen? – “6 Min. to Understand” with Pierre Léonard. Midoricast: Podcast #217
Carbon credits: tool or lasting illusion?
Can you really **buy the right to pollute**? That’s the question behind **carbon credits**, these “vouchers” to emit **CO₂ in exchange for a check**.
In this episode of “6 minutes to understand“, **Pierre Léonard** untangles for us a system as complex as it is controversial. He guides us through the **mechanics of carbon markets**, between incentives to **innovate** and **risks of greenwashing**.
- A global market estimated at 35 billion euros.
- A lever to reduce costs… or to ease one’s conscience?
An episode to better **understand**, **evaluate**, and above all: **decide how to integrate or not** this tool into your **climate strategy**. A must-listen to **avoid confusing action with a smokescreen**.
And what do you think about carbon credits? Share your thoughts in the **comments** or leave us a **voice message**!
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Why this section?
We support companies that apply **real and measurable** ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) approaches. **Pierre, for his part, trains and supports them in this transition**. Our approaches are different, but complementary: **we encourage, he supports**.
This choice also poses a real challenge: **where to draw the line?**
Some companies cited in this section are not aligned with our current criteria, and we would refuse any collaboration with them **until they initiate concrete change. But this is precisely where Pierre comes in: his role is to initiate this transformation.**
This podcast **does not seek to judge, but to inspire. The goal? To encourage rather than discourage, to accompany rather than exclude.**
Let’s **commit together towards a circular, sustainable, and inclusive economy. Listen, reflect, act… in 6 minutes.**
Listen to this podcast on carbon credits via our YouTube channel (subscribe: thank you!):
French: The full transcript of this podcast is provided as video subtitles in five languages: French, Dutch, German, English, and Spanish.
Dutch: De volledige transcriptie van deze podcast is beschikbaar als ondertiteling van de video in vijf talen: Frans, Nederlands, Duits, Engels en Spaans.
German: Die vollständige Transkription dieses Podcasts ist als Untertitel des Videos in fünf Sprachen verfügbar: Französisch, Niederländisch, Deutsch, Englisch und Spanisch.
English: The full transcript of this podcast is available as video subtitles in five languages: French, Dutch, German, English, and Spanish.
Spanish: La transcripción completa de este pódcast está disponible como subtítulos del vídeo en cinco idiomas: French, Dutch, German, English, and Spanish
Podcast Sequencing for Carbon Credits:
- [00:00:34] Episode Introduction
- [00:00:43] Topic Announcement: Carbon Credits
- [00:01:00] Simple Definition of a Carbon Credit
- [00:01:28] Origin and Evolution of the Concept
- [00:01:48] Birth of a Carbon Market
- [00:02:19] Key Figures of the Carbon Market
- [00:03:07] Reducing Emissions to Save Money
- [00:03:23] Innovation and Competitive Advantage
- [00:03:39] Brand Image Asset
- [00:03:48] Integrating Credits into Your Strategy
- [00:04:05] Setting Ambitious Climate Goals
- [00:04:22] Renewable Energy Communities
- [00:04:58] Carbon Offset Projects
- [00:05:41] Advantages and Abuses of the System
- [00:06:31] Importance of Business Ethics
- [00:06:35] Conclusion: A Tool to Be Handled with Rigor
The Carbon Credits Podcast Transcript:
Michel: [00:00:00] This podcast project is an initiative created and offered by the non-profit organization “The Podcast Factory Org”, with the sponsorship of “transforma bxl – Innovation Playground”. Since January 2025, and for five years, we are also sponsored by “Plugin Company”, our preferred charging station and card operator. “The Podcast Factory Org” is very proud to be a member of “KAYA – Coalition of Ecopreneurs” and to collaborate with the “Love Health Center”. You will find all episodes of all our podcasts on the “What’s Your Story dot be” website.
Jingle Intro: [00:00:33] “You’re listening to The Podcast Factory Org”.
Michel: [00:00:34] Welcome to a new Midoricast episode, your podcast on positive environmental initiatives. We are in a “6 minutes to understand” section with Pierre Léonard.
Pierre Léonard: [00:00:43] Hello everyone! Welcome to this new episode. Today we’re going to talk about a slightly more technical subject: carbon credits. So buckle up, tighten your seatbelts, we’re starting. But as the saying goes, everything will be fine.
Pierre Léonard: [00:01:00] So first, what is a carbon credit? Well, imagine for a moment that you have a bank account, and in this bank account, instead of having euros, you have kilos or tons of CO2, rather tons. In other words, a budget for your greenhouse gas emissions. Well, a carbon credit is exactly that, roughly speaking, with a carbon credit, you exchange a certain sum of money for the right to emit one ton of CO2, or its equivalent in other greenhouse gases.
Pierre Léonard: [00:01:28] Carbon credits emerged in the late 1990s, as part of the Kyoto Protocol, which was the first international agreement aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Since then, the concept has evolved through various mechanisms and agreements, notably the famous Paris Agreement, to become an essential tool in the fight against climate change.
Pierre Léonard: [00:01:48] But of course, our good old capitalist system being what it is, these credits gave birth to a market. The system is based on a principle called “cap and trade”. This means that each company receives or obtains credits that it can then exchange according to its needs. It’s a mechanism exactly similar to a stock exchange, except that instead of selling shares and bonds, we trade CO2 emissions. And as you can imagine, it’s a rapidly expanding market.
Pierre Léonard: [00:02:19] I’m just going to give you two dizzying figures, at least ones that made me dizzy. In October 2024, the director of the National Bank of Belgium estimated that to achieve a complete decarbonization of our economy, the average carbon price should reach around €200 per ton, and that €200 per ton would be sufficient. But for now, this carbon price varies enormously depending on the country we are in, the industries, the markets, etc. I won’t go into that in six minutes. That was for the first figure, and the overall value of the carbon market, by 2030, is estimated to vary between 7 and 35 billion euros. That’s the value of our CO2 emissions that we are, somehow, putting on the stock market… I’m not taking a position.
Pierre Léonard: [00:03:07] But I’d still like to explain why it can be important for your company. First of all, it’s a system of financial incentives; it pushes you to reduce your emissions because the less you emit, the less you need to buy credits, so you save money – it’s all profit.
Pierre Léonard: [00:03:23] Also, there’s an aspect linked to technological innovation, because to reduce your emissions, you’ll have to innovate, whether alone, with clusters, with similar companies, or even eventually with your competitors. And innovation often means a competitive advantage.
Pierre Léonard: [00:03:39] Third advantage: brand image, obviously, in a world where consumers are increasingly eco-conscious, displaying a reduced carbon footprint can really boost your image.
Pierre Léonard: [00:03:48] So how to integrate this system into your strategy? Start by assessing your carbon footprint by carrying out a carbon audit before you start. Obviously, it’s important to know where you stand, to measure your current emissions, it’s the basis of everything. We’ll come back to this famous carbon audit in our next episode.
Pierre Léonard: [00:04:05] Second, set yourself goals, obviously these famous SMART goals to be able to measure the reduction of your emissions that you can achieve. Microsoft, for example, has committed to becoming carbon negative, not neutral but negative by 2030, it’s ambitious, but it’s inspiring.
Pierre Léonard: [00:04:22] Invest in clean technologies, whether with your energy provider, that’s the simplest. If you are located in Wallonia, you can also embark on a more ambitious project, as the Walloon Region now authorizes what are called energy communities, renewable energy communities that will allow you to associate with other players, for example in an industrial zone, to create your own photovoltaic park or your own wind farm. This will allow you to reduce both your emissions and your costs since you will mutualize them, all while improving your energy autonomy, which is not negligible.
Pierre Léonard: [00:04:58] And then, you can also participate in offset projects. What is carbon offsetting? If you cannot reduce all your emissions, you can invest in projects that capture or reduce CO2 elsewhere. We often talk about tree planting, but there are many, many other things that can be done. For example, offering solar ovens to tropical countries where wood is the primary source of cooking fuel, which leads to extensive deforestation, there you go. Preventing deforestation by proposing solar ovens is a lesser-known initiative but is also perfectly valid for offsetting CO2 emissions; we will talk about it again in a future episode.
Pierre Léonard: [00:05:41] So in conclusion, Michel, I see you pricking up your ears and raising an eyebrow, saying “But ultimately, are these carbon credits really a good thing?” So the answer is obviously, you suspect it, it’s mixed. Because on the one hand it’s good, it pushes companies to monitor their greenhouse gas emissions, they have more room to maneuver to achieve their goals, and it allows for financing decarbonization projects all over the world, that’s pretty good. On the other hand, there are also things that are wrong, and the big problem is greenwashing. Because some companies could just settle for buying credits to ease their conscience, provided they have deep enough pockets, you can buy a lot, without really changing their practices. And then there’s all this speculation, this stock market speculation, we can really talk about that, around something that is still messing up our environment.
Michel: [00:06:31] I’d like to conclude that it depends on the company’s values and ethics?
Pierre Léonard: [00:06:35] It depends on the company’s ethics and values. And there it’s like with people, there are good ones, there are less good ones, there are really bad ones. So carbon credits are not a miracle solution, they won’t solve all our climate problems magically. It’s rather one tool among others that can help, but companies still need to make real efforts to reduce their emissions. The most important thing in the end is what to remember. Thank you for spending these “6 minutes to understand” carbon credits with me. And in the next episode, I’ll meet you to talk about a closely related topic, namely the carbon footprint. Thank you and see you soon.
Michel: [00:07:07] In six minutes to understand, see you soon!
Jingle Outro: [00:07:12] “You’re listening to The Podcast Factory Org”.
Michel: [00:07:14] This podcast project is an initiative created and offered by the non-profit organization “The Podcast Factory Org”, with the sponsorship of “transforma bxl – Innovation Playground”. Since January 2025, and for five years, we are also sponsored by “Plugin Company”, our preferred charging station and card operator. “The Podcast Factory Org” is very proud to be a member of “KAYA – Coalition of Ecopreneurs” and to collaborate with the “Love Health Center”. You will find all episodes of all our podcasts on the “What’s Your Story dot be” website.
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