Carbon trading is an exciting new area of enterprise which combines the twin endeavours of the free market and tackling climate change. It’s a common cry that capitalism is ultimately set to destroy the world as the increasing drive for trade and production can only damage the environment. Nothing could be further from the truth. Like governments, groups and individuals, the free market has, over the last ten or twenty years, come to realise that mankind’s continued survival depends on us acting responsibly. Carbon trading jobs offer you the opportunity to earn money while protecting the planet.

Since the Kyoto Protocol came into force in 2005, most of the world’s countries (one notable exception being the USA) have been committed to reducing their emissions of key greenhouse gases. As part of this, each country has a certain amount of carbon which it is permitted to emit. Failure to meet these reduction commitments can lead to greater levels of reduction being enforced.

In order to offer greater flexibility for those countries with higher levels of industry, those individuals working in carbon trading jobs negotiate to trade carbon permits between countries. This allows countries to meet their carbon reduction commitments more easily and without damaging their own economic interests and potentially reducing their own interests in relation to those of other countries with less stringent carbon reduction commitments.

Taking on a carbon trading job may also mean working for those countries which are looking to sell their carbon emission permits. One of the main barriers that has prevented many countries - particularly developing countries - from adopting or enforcing stricter carbon reduction commitments is the cost they are seen as placing on domestic economies. These can be both primary costs (e.g. the literal fiscal expense of replacing carbon emitting power plants with wind or solar installations) as well as secondary costs (e.g. the cost to the economy if carbon emission restrictions put a company off establishing facilities in your country). If you decide to take up a carbon trading job then you can actively help countries make money from meeting their carbon reduction commitments. If a country sells off a fifth of its carbon permits, then it will have effectively increased its carbon reduction commitments by a fifth, but will also have made a major financial gain. Carbon trading jobs are a boon for the humanitarian, allowing as they do less developed and less wealthy countries to accrue wealth without relying on the direct investment of larger, western powers. It is one of the few markets where every player is equal.

Carbon emissions trading has only been around for a matter of years and so is still a new and exciting market place. Those of us living in Great Britain are particularly well placed as the City of London has established itself as the centre of the global carbon finance market, and UK businesses view carbon emission trading as the best way of matching the country's carbon reduction commitments. Amidst the current economic gloom and uncertainty of markets, carbon trading jobs offer up-and-coming sales personnel and those looking for a change of career, a new path where they can part of an exciting and emergent industry.