The contributions collected in this special issue of ephemera question the underlying ideologies and assumptions of carbon markets and bring to light many of the contradictions and antagonisms that are currently at the heart of ‘climate capitalism’. They offer a critical assessment of the political economy of carbon trading and a detailed understanding of how these newly created markets are designed, how they (do not) work, the various actors that are involved and how these actors function together to create and contest the ‘atmosphere business’.