Potential for fraud in carbon markets: PwC

BNN.ca staff
2:30 PM, E.T. | February 24, 2011
Energy & Resources

Follow this

As Canada looks to carbon markets as a way to curb emissions, recent controversies in Europe have raised concerns on their viability and susceptibility to fraud. Jonathan Holmes, forensic accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers, tells BNN fraud continues to plague carbon markets and companies should act with caution.

“We started to see some of the old frauds taking place in some new market places—that being the green markets,” he says.

Holmes says that since there is no established set of accounting rules for carbon markets—like there are for financial markets—there is ample room for misleading statements in regards to carbon credits.

“Companies need to make conscious decisions that what they’re getting involved in is bona fide and does exactly what it should do,” he says.

COMMENTS

Slide Show