Millions of tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions are being wiped from company ledgers based on offsets generated from flawed forest conservation schemes, a new study has found.
Record land and ocean heatwaves, shrinking Antarctic and Arctic sea ice, extreme bushfires: if we needed reminding why greenhouse gas emissions must come down fast, 2023 is putting on a masterclass.
Research published today in Science has found that carbon credits from some forest conservation projects are being inflated, and may not actually be offsetting even close to the amount of emissions they’re claiming.
As companies use these carbon credits to wipe their own emissions ledgers clean, millions of tonnes of greenhouse gases are released to the atmosphere unaccounted for, according to the study.
ABC’s Four Corners program earlier this year found logging operations were felling timber in REDD+ project areas run by American company NIHT in Papua New Guinea.
Polly Hemming, director of the Australia Institute’s Climate and Energy Program, said that organisations still using REDD+ offsets can’t claim to be ignorant of the cloud that hangs over their integrity.
The review also questioned the findings of the Guardian article, and claimed that an earlier study from 2020 which found that REDD+ projects decreased deforestation by 47 per cent over five years was more reliable.
The original article contains 1,389 words, the summary contains 173 words. Saved 88%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Record land and ocean heatwaves, shrinking Antarctic and Arctic sea ice, extreme bushfires: if we needed reminding why greenhouse gas emissions must come down fast, 2023 is putting on a masterclass.
Research published today in Science has found that carbon credits from some forest conservation projects are being inflated, and may not actually be offsetting even close to the amount of emissions they’re claiming.
As companies use these carbon credits to wipe their own emissions ledgers clean, millions of tonnes of greenhouse gases are released to the atmosphere unaccounted for, according to the study.
ABC’s Four Corners program earlier this year found logging operations were felling timber in REDD+ project areas run by American company NIHT in Papua New Guinea.
Polly Hemming, director of the Australia Institute’s Climate and Energy Program, said that organisations still using REDD+ offsets can’t claim to be ignorant of the cloud that hangs over their integrity.
The review also questioned the findings of the Guardian article, and claimed that an earlier study from 2020 which found that REDD+ projects decreased deforestation by 47 per cent over five years was more reliable.
The original article contains 1,389 words, the summary contains 173 words. Saved 88%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!