Carbon credit schemes profit from protected Amazon lands

A Washington Post investigation reveals that many carbon credit projects in the Brazilian Amazon illegally use protected public lands and fail to share profits with local communities.

Terrence McCoy, Júlia Ledur and Marina Dias report for The Washington Post.

In short:

Many carbon credit ventures in the Amazon overlap with publicly protected lands, generating millions in profits illegally.
Companies buying these credits include Netflix, Delta and Air France, with projects covering an area six times the size of Maryland.
Brazilian authorities are starting to investigate, uncovering fraud and improper land claims.

Key quote:

“The system is very gameable. And the victim is the planet and all of humanity who suffers because we’re not reducing emissions, but get to pretend we are.”

— Joseph Romm, climate researcher at the University of Pennsylvania

Why this matters:

The misuse of protected lands for carbon credits undermines efforts to combat climate change and defrauds local communities. This corruption in carbon credit markets could hinder global efforts to reduce carbon emissions effectively.

www.washingtonpost.com

Carbon credit schemes profit from protected Amazon lands

See the record-breaking disaster data the government won’t publish

Northern Virginia farm tests if solar and agriculture can live in harmony

Trump administration moves toward an Arctic Alaska oil lease sale despite the government shutdown

Mosquitoes found in Iceland for first time as climate crisis warms country

The methane hunters of Melendugno

Burgum declares offshore wind ‘bad for everybody’

AI data centers create fury from Mexico to Ireland

Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

One facility has emitted cancer-causing chemicals into waterways at levels up to 520% higher than legal limits.

Pennsylvania health advocates say Trump’s first 100 days in office have caused “100 harms” to local communities

“They're terrorizing these scientists because they want to keep them silent.”

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

"The reality is, we are not exposed to one chemical at a time.”

Two years into his term, has Gov. Shapiro kept his promises to regulate Pennsylvania’s fracking industry?

A new report assesses the administration’s progress and makes new recommendations

An open letter from EPA staff to the American public

“We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to hold this administration accountable.”

New evidence links heavy metal pollution with wildfire retardants

“The chemical black box” that blankets wildfire-impacted areas is increasingly under scrutiny.