Corruption hinders the achievement of international commitments to reduce climate change. Lack of regulation makes carbon offset schemes, such as carbon credit markets, vulnerable to corruption. Corrupt practices can enable more greenhouse emissions, facilitate the reduction of the capacity of essential carbon sinks, such as oceans and forests, and undermine the overall efforts to mitigate climate change. Moreover, corruption can perpetuate a vicious cycle where climate change contributes to food insecurity, population displacement and stress on natural resources, leading to the potential for even more corruption.
A wide range of vulnerabilities to corruption are driven by the vast amount of money generated by activities related to climate change, the challenges in oversight and action due to the complex technical nature of climate-related issues, and the multitude of stakeholders involved in addressing climate change.
UNODC and World Bank, 2024
The revised discussion draft provides a brief overview of cross-cutting corruption risks in the response to climate change and focuses on corruption risks associated with three key challenge areas: growing demand for energy; management of climate funds; uncertainty of carbon markets.
UNODC and World Bank, 2023
This document highlights the drivers of corruption risks in the response to climate change. It advocates for the incorporation of anti-corruption measures within national climate change strategies, while also embedding climate change considerations within anti-corruption policies.
