Carbon markets, neo-liberalism and human rights: towards a win-win approach

Most of the time, applying human rights language into market-based systems is seen as an attempt to merge waters from two different ponds that can never meet. This paper argues that the perceived dichotomy between human rights
and market instruments as presented in the literature, stem from the failures of scholars to consider the possibilities of instruments and approaches that present a mutually beneficial relationship and a win-win scenario between both. This
paper argues that human rights instruments could in fact strengthen the efficiency of market-based mechanisms if properly applied. This paper proposes a human rights based approach to carbon finance as an approach that could enable us draw on the flexibility of markets, but at the same time mainstream human rights standards into market instruments to protect market abuse, human rights violations and unsustainability.