Brazilian authorities announced a recommendation to suspend all ongoing and future REDD+ and carbon credit projects on Indigenous and traditional territories in the state of Amazonas. The announcement follows a series of reports by Mongabay and others highlighting the potential problem of timber laundering associated with REDD+ projects.
REDD+, short for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, is a United Nations mechanism to cut global carbon emissions by paying local people to keep forests intact that might otherwise be cut down. The U.N. estimates deforestation and forest degradation accounts for roughly 11% of global carbon emissions so keeping forests intact is a high priority.
In theory, companies, countries and individuals offset their emissions by buying carbon credits, which are generated by forest communities, many Indigenous, keeping their forests standing. It’s a win-win for cutting emissions, protecting biodiversity, and helping forest communities defend their land from illegal logging, mining and agriculture.
However, an analysis by the Center for Climate Crime Analysis (CCCA), a Netherlands-based nonprofit, at the request of Mongabay, found two major carbon offsetting projects in the Brazilian Amazon were used to launder timber from illegally deforested areas. The carbon credits generated by the projects led by Ricardo Stoppe Jr., a doctor from São Paulo, were sold to companies like Nestlé and Toshiba.
The CCCA analysis found inconsistencies between the amount of logged timber declared to authorities and the amount logged based on satellite imagery. The inconsistency amounted to roughly 4,200 truckloads of wood illegally harvested from the forest.
A month after the Mongabay investigation, Brazilian authorities launched a raid on the projects in question. In the country’s largest raid on carbon credit projects, authorities found that three projects named by Mongabay — Fortaleza Ituxi, Unitor and Evergreen — sold carbon credits and issued fake documents to launder timber taken from illegally deforested areas. Authorities estimate the companies made 180 million reais ($34 million) from selling “rotten” carbon credits. The government also found the projects engaged in land grabbing of public land valued at 820 million reais ($155 million). Five people, including Stoppe, were arrested in the operation.
The Public Ministry intervened after the Amazonas government selected several companies to carry out REDD+ projects in the state, including Carbonext, which was involved in the Stoppe case. The timing suggests federal authorities are asking for the projects to be suspended now before further damage can be done by fraudulent REDD+ projects.
Brazil’s Federal Public Ministry cited the Mongabay’s reporting in its announcement to suspend REDD+ projects in Amazonas. The ministry also outlined several requirements that must be met before projects can resume. These include showing scientific proof that the projects are effective at reducing climate impacts via carbon credits or REDD+. Projects must also demonstrate they don’t violate the rights of the Indigenous and traditional communities involved, and show they have the communities’ free, prior and informed consent.
The announcement also says that failure to comply with these measures could result in legal action.
Banner image: courtesy of Vicente Sampaio/Imaflora.
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