Carbon schemes ‘failing’
Campaigners have warned that carbon offsetting projects are failing to protect parts of the Amazon rainforest, as satellite images reveal increasing deforestation.
Ecomapua REDD is a scheme to protect 90,000 hectares of rainforest on Marajo Island, at the mouth of the Amazon.
It aims to end unplanned deforestation in the area with a portion of the money generated through the selling of carbon credits given to the local community.
Climatecare, which sells carbon credits through the project, claims on its website that all logging activity has now ceased in the area. But satellite imagery analysis shows what appears to be patches of deforested land that have grown over recent years since the project was launched in 2003.
Mckenzie Intelligence Security analysed satellite images from the European Space Agency of the Ecomapua area from 2017 and 2019 and found that over those two years more patches of deforestation had sprung up, raising concerns that the project is failing to protect the rainforest.
British Gas promotes Ecomapua through its Green Future tariffs, telling customers on its website: “By supporting the Ecomapua rainforest project, you’ll help to protect an entire hectare of Amazonian rainforest
– that’s the same size as one and a half football pitches”.
It has also received backing from the airline trade body’s carbon offset scheme, which has described carbon offsetting as an “immediate, direct and pragmatic means to encourage action to limit climate change impact, at least in the short term”. The IATA Carbon Offset Program bought carbon credits in the project in 2018.
A spokesman for Climatecare said: “Some illegal logging does still take place. This is anticipated and accounted for in the independent monitoring and verification process that takes place before carbon credits are issued.
“No carbon reductions are counted from trees that have been illegally destroyed.”
The credits issued for the project tally with the Verified Carbon Standard, the company added. British Gas also pointed to the fact that the credits were verified.
IATA said: “In the Ecomapua project it is our understanding that the accreditation of verified emissions reductions is not connected to the cases of deforestation in that area. But transparency and accountability, as well as better understanding of how offsetting works, is vital if public confidence in carbon offsetting is to be maintained.”
Friends of the Earth campaigner Aaron Kiely, said: “These images are disappointing, but not that surprising.
“The sad fact is that the vast majority of carbon offset schemes aren’t anywhere like as good as they seem, whether because they don’t permanently lock away emissions, or just shift the emissions elsewhere.
“Tighter regulation of the outlandish claims made about these projects would be no bad thing, but ultimately carbon offsetting will never be the answer. Companies can’t just buy their way out of responsibility for the climate crisis.
“The only way for them to reduce their carbon footprint is to actually cut their emissions.”