OVER the past two years, there has been a number — not a large one, but concerning nonetheless — of fraud scandals involving enterprises in the carbon credits business, which have made it more difficult to expand carbon markets. Early last month, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced yet another, this one involving executives of a company involved in a carbon credits program based on providing clean cookstoves to people in developing countries.

The case caught my attention because I am familiar with the scheme, and had interacted with the main organization that supports it, called the Clean Cooking Alliance. At the time, about three years ago, I was interested, both for the purposes of promoting what I thought was a good idea and perhaps applying it in a couple of areas of interest, here in the Philippines and elsewhere.