A US Non-Profit Aims To Reduce Emissions of a Super Climate Pollutant From Chemical Plants in China

Carbon credits for nitrous oxide reductions could fill a key gap in international agreements and government regulations. A former industry insider says it’s a “reward for bad behavior.”

A new initiative by the Climate Action Reserve, a non-profit organization based in Los Angeles, could play a significant role in curbing emissions of a potent climate pollutant from chemical plants in China while filling a gap in international climate agreements and China’s environmental regulations.

However, a former industry insider who worked for chemical producers decades ago when they  voluntarily reduced their emissions of the pollutant, nitrous oxide, said the new initiative would unfairly reward bad actor companies who continued to pollute, long after low-cost pollution controls were widely adopted by their peers.

Nitrous oxide is a potent greenhouse gas that is nearly 300 times more effective at warming the planet than carbon dioxide on a pound-for-pound basis. It is also  the leading, ongoing source of atmosphere ozone depletion after more harmful chemicals were banned in recent decades under the Montreal Protocol, an international environmental agreement.