This study assesses the effectiveness of carbon market grievance mechanisms of leading voluntary carbon market standards. While most voluntary carbon market standards have grievance mechanisms in place, most of them are opaque and do not properly describe their procedures.
Despite the role voluntary carbon markets are meant to play in financing climate action, the exact amount of money reaching climate projects and local communities is shrouded in mystery, while nine out of 10 intermediaries do not disclose their fees or profit margins, a new study commissioned by Carbon Market Watch reveals.
The purchase of carbon credits through the voluntary carbon market is widely considered to be an effective way to channel finance towards climate action. However, despite years of existence and the recent hype surrounding voluntary carbon markets, no public research exists to assess how much VCM finance is actually reaching climate mitigation projects and local …
Read more “Secretive intermediaries: Are carbon markets really financing climate action?”
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 …
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. This project must not receive certification. Carbon Market Watch’s analysis of …
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 …
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 …
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