Sandeep Roy Choudhury: The controversial climate tool funding real change

The controversial climate tool funding real change

If a company plants trees to offset its pollution, is that climate progress — or is it greenwashing? Critics of carbon markets say it’s the latter. But Sandeep Roy Choudhury, who’s spent two decades financing climate projects from rural cookstoves to coastal forests, says the real failure is discouraging companies from even trying. Hear his case for why we shouldn’t let perfection block meaningful action on climate change.

Solving climate change means addressing the emissions that current reduction plans leave behind—over 93 percent of the total. Carbon credits, when properly managed, let companies support real projects, from planting mangroves that shield coastal villages from tsunamis to providing millions of clean cookstoves. These markets deliver funding directly to frontline communities and help scale up solutions fast. Dismissing carbon credits entirely risks stalling the urgent, global progress that is needed now.

Carbon Markets Are Imperfect, But Inaction Is Worse

Most companies can only cut about 6.4 percent of emissions per year, leaving over 90 percent unaddressed as they work toward net zero. Carbon credits bridge this gap, funding projects from mangrove forests in Indonesia to clean cookstoves in Bangladesh. While critics point to high-profile failures, robust safeguards like credit buffers and third-party audits ensure lasting impact. Real progress means accepting risk, supporting frontline communities, and refusing to let inaction stall urgent climate work.