Behind the green curtain: big oil and the voluntary carbon market

Shell was the world’s largest user of carbon credits in 2024, a year in which fossil fuel companies dominated the voluntary carbon market. This allows them to pretend they are taking significant climate action, while continuing with business as usual. Since the ratification of the Paris Agreement, companies have shifted the way they consider and …

Cooking the climate books: New peer-reviewed study finds carbon credit impact vastly overstated

Over 80% of carbon credits issued by more than 2,000 projects have a much lower climate impact than they claim, a new meta study finds. This has serious implications for the role of carbon markets in combating the climate crisis. The peer-reviewed paper, whose lead author was Benedict Probst of the Max Planck Institute appeared …

VCMI’s new framework needlessly endangers its credibility

The Voluntary Carbon Market Integrity initiative’s latest guidance on the use of carbon credits by companies undermines VCMI’s stated mission of combating greenwashing and setting out a framework for making valid climate claims.  Last year, VCMI published its long anticipated Claims Code of Practice, which provides guidance for companies on how to use carbon credits …