Commissioned by Carbon Market Watch and conducted by AlliedOffsets, this report explores the role of intermediaries in the voluntary carbon market. It seeks to determine how much of the money flowing through these markets reaches climate projects on the ground and how much is intercepted by intermediaries as fees and mark-up to fatten their profits. The report identifies a dearth of information on the details of carbon credit trades and a lack of transparency on the part of intermediaries.
Voluntary carbon market standards promising tonne-for-tonne compensation and exact measurement of impact are attempting to square the circle, argues Gilles Dufrasne. One solution is to drop offsetting claims and offer credits as financial contributions to climate action. Last week marked the closing of the public consultation on quality criteria for carbon credits by a new …
Read more “Scale vs integrity: The impossibility of developing a large market of high quality carbon offsets”
Carbon Market Watch welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback to the IFRS S2 Climate-related disclosures standard. We focus below on questions 5, and 10 which cover the topics of target setting and reporting of information related to corporate climate mitigation action.
Verra is proposing to introduce tonne-year accounting, a method whereby it would issue credits representing the permanent storage of 1tCO2 to projects that store carbon temporarily. Each tonne sequestered for one year would be worth one “tonne-year” and one hundred tonne years would make up one carbon credit. For example, storing 1 tonne for 100 …
Read more “Carbon Market Watch response to Verra’s proposed “tonne-year accounting” method”
A proposed carbon offsetting project in Papua New Guinea, which has been labelled a “scam” by a local politician, appears to be of questionable environmental benefit and has seemingly failed to consult with local communities sufficiently and transparently, a Carbon Market Watch analysis concludes.
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 …
Read more “Comments on proposed Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) project for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradations in Papua New Guinea”
A new Carbon Market Watch report thoroughly investigates the growing number of fossil fuels that are being marketed as “carbon neutral” and concludes that they amount to brazen greenwashing. Published ahead of the COP26, the document challenges governments and industry to halt greenwashing practices and commit to binding fossil fuel phaseouts. Today, Carbon Market Watch …
Read more “Net-zero pipe dreams: Carbon-neutral fossil fuel claims amount to greenwashing”
Forestry offsets allow Colombian fossil fuel companies to dodge taxes Colombia has a carbon tax in place, but companies are allowed to buy offsets to avoid paying the tax. Our new investigation finds that two large-scale Amazonian forestry projects have sold carbon credits for way more emission reductions than they have actually achieved. Such “hot …
Read more “Carbon Market Watch Newsletter June 2021”
CARBON MARKET WATCH’S FACT-CHECK OF VERRA’S RESPONSE A new investigation by Carbon Market Watch and the Latin American Center for Investigative Journalism (CLIP) has found that two large-scale forestry projects in Colombia create more credits than the amount of emission reductions that they are achieving. Fossil fuel companies use these credits to avoid paying a …
Read more “Companies use ”hot air” forestry offsets to avoid taxes in Colombia”
BRUSSELS, 30 June – A new investigation by Carbon Market Watch and the Latin American Center for Investigative Journalism (CLIP) finds that project developers exploit carbon market rules in Colombia to create more credits than the amount of emission reductions that the projects are achieving. These credits are then used by fossil fuel companies under …
Read more “Colombian fossil fuel companies abuse forestry offsets to avoid taxes – report “
