Kanaka Management Services Private Limited, a project developer, has proposed a Verra Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) project entitled ‘REDD+ Project in Oro Province of Papua New Guinea‘. If approved, this proposed project would be the second largest Verra VCS project, generating 8.1 million credits annually for 100 years.
The proposed project was open for public comment between 14 February and 14 March 2022. Carbon Market Watch analysed the draft project description and submitted public comments.
The proposed project raises significant red flags and concerns. This is largely due to the widespread absence of key evidence and details which makes it essentially impossible to verify the proposal’s core assumptions (baseline/additionality) or to be sure that basic requirements, such as rigorous stakeholder involvement, were fulfilled.
On 2 March 2022, Papua New Guinea’s Ministry for Environment, Conservation and Climate Change issued a moratorium on any new and proposed REDD+ voluntary carbon market projects in Papua New Guinea. This proposed project thus no longer seems to be eligible. In case this moratorium would be lifted or would not apply to this specific proposed project, the comments in this document remain crucial for a careful review of the project.
