Carbon markets and neoliberal capitalism: What is wrong with Ontario's new climate change policy? Why should we oppose it?

In April it was announced that Ontario would be joining Quebec in implementing a cap and trade system on carbon emissions. While the Ontario government has presented this development as a positive step for the climate, critics of cap and trade point out that the mechanism often does not lead to lower green house gas emissions. Instead, it creates another market to commodify nature and allows corporations to continue profiting from environmental destruction for a small financial fee.

Moderated by Lana Goldberg. Introduction by Greg Albo. Presentations by:

Paul Kellogg is Associate Professor in the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies at Athabasca University. He was a founding member of Toronto-Bolivia Solidarity and helps organize with Ideas Left Out.
Romain Felli is a senior researcher in political science at the University of Geneva, Switzerland and is currently a visiting fellow at York University. He works on environmental governance and the political economy of climate change.

The video “The Story of Cap-and-Trade” was shown at the start of the forum.

The forum was sponsored by: Centre for Social Justice, Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly and Socialist Project.