Many Verra’s carbon offsetting schemes are “not stopping any deforestation at all or stopping very small amounts,” says Guardian journalist Patrick Greenfield.
The comments come as Channel 4 journalist Matt Shea investigates Verra, an international non-profit company that works with governments and businesses to certify carbon credits, as part of The Great Climate Scandal.
One Verra project – which aimed to protect over 680 sq. km of rainforest in Cambodia – has “unusually high” levels of deforestation shown by satellite images.
The images showed that up to 22% of the rainforest in the protected area has been lost since Verra set up the project.
At the time of filming the documentary, the project was still verified and available through the carbon credit market.
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A Verra spokesperson “could not provide comment” to Channel 4 as “both projects were under review at the time of filming”.
“It is hazardous to consider satellite images analysis as conclusive evidence that the projects’ data are underestimating deforestation,” the spokesperson added.
Local indigenous people ‘just want to run’
Carbon credit projects from Wildlife Alliance, who have sold carbon credits to the likes of Stella McCartney, Gucci, Deliveroo and Air France, have been linked to human rights abuses.
The claims include patrollers intimidating local indigenous people.
Cambodian journalist Meng Kroypunlok told Shea that when local people see Wildlife Alliance patrollers “they just want to run”.
“The community has said they want to protect their forest too, but the Wildlife Alliance don’t give them the opportunities.”
A Wildlife Alliance spokesperson told Channel 4: The uncertainty caused by lack of land titling in Cambodia has resulted in the perception of unclear boundaries of community land.
“Wildlife Alliance has done everything we could to help the people to delineate the community land.
“There have never been any physical violence against any forest offenders. We have provided all the legal documents to HRW proving the legal process of each case,” the spokesperson added.
“Rangers are from a multi-disciplinary team and are observed by Wildlife Alliance to make sure that law enforcement is implemented transparently. They have been trained to the highest standards.”
