Earth Science News
WOOD PILE
UN-backed deforestation carbon credits failing: study
UN-backed deforestation carbon credits failing: study
By Marlowe HOOD
Paris (AFP) Aug 25, 2023

Only a small fraction of the forest-based carbon credits that companies and governments have purchased to offset their greenhouse gas emissions actually help prevent deforestation, according to new research.

Across nearly a score of UN-backed offset projects examined in central Africa, South America and Southeast Asia, only 5.4 million out of 89 million credits -- about six percent -- actually resulted in carbon reduction through forest preservation, scientists reported this week in the journal Science.

In carbon markets, a single credit represents one tonne of CO2 that is either removed from the atmosphere by growing trees, or prevented from entering it through avoided deforestation.

Each year, burning fossil fuels -- and, to a much lesser extent, deforestation -- emit roughly 40 billion tonnes of CO2, the main driver of global warming.

As climate change accelerates and pressure mounts on corporations and countries to slash emissions, the market for carbon credits has exploded.

In 2021, more than 150 million credits valued at $1.3 billion originated in the so-called voluntary carbon market under a system forged within the UN's climate change negotiating forum: REDD+, or Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries.

For more than a decade, however, such schemes have been dogged by charges of lack of transparency, dodgy accounting practices, and in-built conflicts of interest.

As wildfires spread across regions that include forests supporting carbon credit schemes, permanence -- a key criterion under UN rules -- has also become a concern.

Earlier this year Zimbabwe sent a shudder through the forest-based offsets market by announcing it would appropriate half of all the revenue generated from offsets on its land, exposing yet another vulnerability.

"Carbon credits provide major polluters with some semblance of climate credentials," said senior author Andreas Kontoleon, a professor in the University of Cambridge's department of land economy.

- 'Selling hot air' -

"Yet we can see that claims of saving vast swathes of forest from the chainsaw to balance emissions are overblown."

"These carbon credits are essentially predicting whether someone will chop down a tree and selling that prediction," he added in a statement. "If you exaggerate or get it wrong -- intentionally or not -- you are selling hot air."

Over-estimations of forest preservation have allowed the number of carbon credits on the market to keep rising, which suppresses prices.

As of late July, the most competitive nature-based carbon credits sold at about $2.5 per tonne of CO2, down from an average of $9.5 in 2022, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights.

The new study is among the first peer-reviewed assessments across a number of representative projects.

Kontoleon and his team looked at 18 REDD+ projects in Peru, Colombia, Cambodia, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

To assess their performance, the researchers identified parallel sites within each region with similar conditions but without forest protection schemes.

"We used real-world comparison sites to show what each REDD+ forest project would most probably look like now," said lead author Thales West, a researcher at VU University Amsterdam.

Of the 18 projects, 16 claimed to have avoided far more deforestation than took place at the comparison sites.

Of the 89 million carbon credits expected to be generated by all 18 projects in 2020, 60 million would have barely reduced deforestation, if at all, the study found.

There are several possible reasons that REDD+ schemes have fallen so far short of their carbon sequestration claims.

One is that they are calculated on the basis of historical trends that can be inaccurate or deliberately inflated.

The operation must also project deforestation or afforestation rates over an extended period of time, which is difficult.

In addition, projects may be located in areas where substantial conservation would have occurred in any case.

Most problematic, perhaps, is the ever-present incentive to exaggerate, the researcher said.

"There are perverse incentives to generate huge numbers of carbon credits, and at the moment the market is essentially unregulated," said Kontoleon.

"The industry needs to work on closing loopholes that might allow bad faith actors to exploit offset markets."

Related Links
Forestry News - Global and Local News, Science and Application

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
WOOD PILE
Amazon emissions soared under Brazil's Bolsonaro: study
Rio De Janeiro (AFP) Aug 23, 2023
The Amazon rainforest's carbon emissions doubled in 2019 and 2020, as a decline in environmental policing under Brazilian ex-president Jair Bolsonaro led to a surge in destruction of the increasingly fragile region, researchers reported Wednesday. The world's biggest rainforest is a vital buffer against climate change, but studies show it has started emitting more carbon than it absorbs, pushed to a dangerous "tipping point" by deforestation and fires - mainly for cattle ranching and farming. U ... read more

WOOD PILE
In Florida, residents grapple with Hurricane Idalia's toll

Houses destroyed in Swiss landslide

Alps rockslide halts train services between France and Italy

Fukushima wastewater not toxic, says IAEA chief

WOOD PILE
No tritium found in fish after treated Fukushima water release

Japan PM eats 'safe and delicious' Fukushima fish

First geosynchronous orbit SAR satellite enters working orbit

Japan slams China harassment over Fukushima water release

WOOD PILE
Fish stocks survive ocean heatwaves: study

Nile dam talks resume between Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan

Post-Brexit UK relaxes EU water pollution rules

Past abrupt changes in North Atlantic Overturning have impacted the climate system across the globe

WOOD PILE
Tides may be responsible for much of under-ice melting in an Antarctica ice shelf

Scientists voyage to Greenland's melting sanctuary

Loss of Antarctic sea ice causes catastrophic breeding failure for Emperor Penguins

Mountaineers urged to delay Mont Blanc climbs amid Alps heatwave

WOOD PILE
Acai berry craze: boon or threat for the Amazon?

Squeezed out: Bulgaria lavender oil makers fear EU laws

Heat stress could threaten health of one billion cows

'Animals are thirsty': Dust and bones on Turkey's shrinking lake

WOOD PILE
Floods drown hope in Pakistan's impoverished Punjab villages

Hurricane Idalia intensifies as nears Florida

Toll from heavy rains in Tajikistan rises to 21

Japan's century of efforts to tame earthquakes

WOOD PILE
Statement read by Gabon officer announcing 'end of regime'

African media urges Niger to respect press freedom; French ambassador 48 hours to leave

Over four million displaced in Ethiopia: IOM

Sudan army chief makes first foray outside HQ in months of war

WOOD PILE
ALS patient pioneering brain-computer connection

New ancient ape from Turkiye challenges the story of human origins

Just 5000 steps can save your life

A climate-orchestrated early human love story

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.