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Transparency International has interestingly focussed its latest annual "Global Corruption Report" on Climate Change . The organisation focuses each year on a key area and the 2009 report was on the role of the private sector. It says abuse of entrusted power given by the citizens and our future generations could lead to corrupt deals in the sector exceeding $700 billion by year 2020. On the top of the debatable climate change project lists are esoteric futuristic projects in geo-engineering, the complex un verified measurement of carbon offsets, the defining and valuation of ecological or natural assets, the development of global bio-diversity or flora and fauna through carbon trade and several other novel but highly debatable instruments.
The issues raised by Transparency International are relevant because corruption today can no longer be defined by a simple under the table bribe. Rather it has become a sophisticated and practiced profession perfected by banks, hedge funds, NGOs, traders, corporate entities, and Government institutions. By using innovative financial instruments, opaque contracts, and structured agreements and over the counter de-regulated deal making they siphon off large chunks of resource from both public exchequer as well as private asset holdings to captive organizations for individual or private gain of a handful of people.
After the 2008 financial crisis, this is happening on a larger scale than ever before and is being devised by some of the brightest brains in the industry. Unfortunately most people including the regulators and investors are not even aware of how these instruments operate and how such structured deal making will affect the current and future generations.
Geo-engineering is one such area which has a large number of exotic projects including one for the whitening of clouds to stop climate change. It has powerful backers like Bill Gates and is one in which several OECD Governments will pledge scarce resources to. The hundreds of millions of dollars in grant and investment that such projects would attract probably would be earmarked for a solar or a wind energy project in its absence. The companies that have planned such grand and esoteric projects are highly successful corporate and research organizations, educational institutes, NGOs, financers working in the field of climate science, weather forecasting, carbon trading, who would benefit. Apart from the summary the Global Corruption Report on Climate Change has following sections, created by a group of 50 experts, and has various insights worth reflecting on.
- Part 1 Introduction
- Part 2 The climate policy framework: Examining the effectiveness and accountability of current processes
- Part 3 Key elements to building integrity in decision-making
- Part 4 Ensuring integrity and transparency in climate change mitigation
- Part 5 Adaptation to climate change: Building accountable, sustainable resilience
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