Large corporations and governments in the Global North have long been considering how they can improve their carbon footprint. The logical way would be to drastically reduce emissions. But another method is more popular: certificate trading. The deal is that companies from industrialised countries purchase CO2 certificates, the harmful carbon dioxide is then to be sequestered elsewhere, for example through forest protection or reforestation. Papua New Guinea is a country that still has large primeval forests. The small community of Kaith on the island of New Ireland has concluded an emissions deal with an Australian company. However, the villagers believe that the business partners from Down Under have not kept their promises and both parties are now facing legal action.

We are travelling with our team to Papua New Guinea and Indonesia in search of answers: Is so-called ‚carbon trading‘, the trading of certificates for greenhouse gases, a solution to the global climate crisis at all? Activist Eddie Tanago in the capital Port Moresby is quite certain that this kind of modern ‚indulgence trade‘ only serves to prevent rich countries having to reduce their emissions themselves and adapt their lifestyles to the climate disaster by shifting the burden of tackling the climate crisis onto those who have contributed the least to it themselves.

Completion: 1st quarter 2024