In a new alarming article, published by the Guardian we learn that 90% of the carbon offset credits provided by Verra, the largest provider of forest carbon offset credits are worthless. According to a report by the environmental research group, Biofuelwatch, Verra has been issuing credits for projects that do not actually result in additional carbon sequestration so these are essentially worthless in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The report shows that Verra has been approving projects that were already taking place, or were going to take place regardless of the carbon offset credits. This means that these projects were not actually generating any new carbon sequestration and therefore the credits were not having any real impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This is a problem, as companies and governments are using these carbon offset credits to offset their own emissions, & believe they are making a real impact on reducing emissions.
It is concerning that such a large company like Verra, would engage in misleading and potentially fraudulent behaviour as it means that a large number of companies and governments may be unknowingly offsetting their emissions with worthless credits. What makes this even more alarming is that Verra disputes these claims and is currently reviewing the Biofuelwatch report. This suggests that they are not taking the accusations seriously and are unwilling to take responsibility for their actions.
I would say it is time for companies and governments to stop relying on carbon offset credits and instead focus on reducing their own emissions through authentic, meaningful action and for organisations such as Verra, to be held accountable for their actions.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/18/revealed-forest-carbon-offsets-biggest-provider-worthless-verra-aoe
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It's very wrong to give misleading information
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The scammers should be shamed.
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The underlying theory is simple. If one party can’t stop emitting CO2, it can ask another to emit less so that, even as the first carries on producing CO2, the total amount of carbon in the atmosphere is reduced. In my opinion carbon credits is not reliable in solving climate crisis. I welcome the above audits to tell us the truth.