Most avoided deforestation forest carbon offsets are worthless
The avoided deforestation carbon offsets approved by the world’s leading provider and used by Disney, Shell, Gucci and other big corporations including airlines are largely worthless and could make global heating worse, according to a new investigation. The research into Verra, the world’s leading carbon standard for the rapidly growing £1.6bn voluntary offsets market, has found that, based on analysis of a significant % of the projects, more than 90% of their rainforest offset credits – among the most commonly used by companies – are likely to be “phantom credits” and do not represent genuine carbon reductions. Companies often tell their customers that buying carbon credits means their purchase is “carbon neutral” and not increasing atmospheric CO2. That is usually nonsense. The forest credit is to ensure an area of forest is not cut down, but the study found that often there was only a small threat of deforestation there. If the threat is exaggerated, more carbon credits can be sold. Also there are rarely rigorous scientific methods to measure avoided deforestation. With climate change, the future health of forests – or the risk of severe forest fires – is unknown, and probably unknowable. .Tweet Revealed: more than 90% of rainforest carbon offsets by biggest provider are worthless, analysis shows Investigation into Verra carbon standard finds most are ‘phantom credits’ and may worsen global heating By Patrick Greenfield @pgreenfielduk (The Guardian) Wed 18 Jan 2023 The forest carbon offsets approved by the world’s leading provider and used by Disney, Shell, Gucci and other big corporations are largely worthless and could make global heating worse, according to a new investigation. The research into Verra, the world’s leading carbon standard for the rapidly growing $2bn (£1.6bn) voluntary offsets market, has found that, based on analysis of a significant percentage of the projects, more than 90% of their rainforest offset credits – among the most commonly used by companies – are likely to be “phantom credits” and do not represent genuine carbon reductions. The analysis raises questions over the credits bought by a number of internationally renowned companies – some of them have labelled their products “carbon neutral”, or have told their consumers they can fly, buy new clothes or eat certain foods without making the climate crisis worse. But doubts have been raised repeatedly over whether they are really effective. The nine-month investigation has been undertaken by the Guardian, the German weekly Die Zeit and SourceMaterial, a non-profit investigative journalism organisation. It is based on new analysis of scientific studies of Verra’s rainforest schemes. It has also drawn on dozens of interviews and on-the-ground reporting with scientists, industry insiders and Indigenous communities. The findings – which have been strongly disputed by Verra – are likely to pose serious questions for companies that are depending on offsets as part of their net zero strategies. Verra, which is based in Washington DC, operates a number of leading environmental standards for climate action and sustainable development, including its verified carbon standard (VCS) that has issued more than 1bn carbon credits. It approves three-quarters of all voluntary offsets. Its rainforest protection programme makes up 40% of the credits it approves and was launched before the Paris agreement with the aim of generating revenue for protecting ecosystems. Verra argues that the conclusions reached by the studies are incorrect, and questions their methodology. And they point out that their work since 2009 has allowed billions of dollars to be channelled to the vital work of preserving forests. The investigation found that: Only a handful of Verra’s rainforest projects showed evidence of deforestation reductions, according to two studies, with further analysis indicating that 94% of the credits had no benefit to the climate. The threat to forests had been overstated by about 400% on average for Verra projects, according to analysis of a 2022 University of Cambridge study. Gucci, Salesforce, BHP, Shell, easyJet, Leon and the band Pearl Jam were among dozens of companies and organisations that have bought rainforest offsets approved by Verra for environmental claims. Human rights issues are a serious concern in at least one of the offsetting projects. The Guardian visited a flagship proje
