Carbon offsetting and REDD

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) has become the dominant international forest policy. Variations of REDD+ include Nature-Based Solutions and corporate pledges to achieve Zero Net Deforestation. In reality, though, deforestation continues, polluting companies use REDD+ offsets to avoid reducing their fossil fuel emissions, and zero-net deforestation pledges allow forests to be cleared in one area as long as an “equivalent” area is restored elsewhere.

Bulletin articles 24 October 2024

Thailand’s offset-based ‘climate policy’: more climate chaos and injustice

With World Bank support, the Thai government is moving quickly to implement its ‘climate policy’ based on carbon offsetting through the use of so-called ‘green areas’. These areas are projected to cover no less than half of the country´s area. Yet hidden behind this ‘green’ discourse is an economic policy that is heavily reliant on the continued use of fossil fuels. (Available in Thai).

Other information 24 October 2024

Why insist on using an ineffective mechanism for the climate crisis?

Reflections on the ruling on carbon credits in the Colombian Amazon, by Censat Agua Viva.

Bulletin articles 22 August 2024

The Orinoquía region of Colombia: Between oblivion, extractivism and an agricultural reserve

Colombia's Orinoquía region stretches from the foothills of the country's eastern mountain range to the Venezuelan border. This region has historically been associated with the exploitation of rubber, timber, furs and other so-called “natural resources,” to the detriment of ancestral communities. Today, new threats are emerging under the paradigm of conservation, green energy and carbon projects.

Declarations 20 August 2024

NO to REDD! Declaration of the Amazon meeting on carbon projects

Action alerts 30 July 2024

Sign in solidarity: NO to REDD! Declaration of the Amazon meeting on carbon projects

Indigenous, peasant, traditional and Afro-descendent peoples from the Amazon region and Central America call organizations and social movements all over the world to endorse this declaration rejecting carbon projects in their territories.

Bulletin articles 27 June 2024

What are the main types of tree plantation projects in the carbon business?

Behind every tree plantation developed for carbon offsets, there are external agents seeking to profit from increased control over the land. And while they all have the same colonial approach, these plantations can vary widely: they can be large-scale monocultures or schemes with smallholder farmers; they can include exotic species or native species; and some of them may even exist on paper only.

Bulletin articles 30 March 2023

Thailand: Valuing Forests as Carbon Credits

Indigenous Peoples and communities in the forests of Thailand are threatened with policies that have added a new type of asset: carbon credits. The legislation passed in the name of conservation and climate mitigation is in fact designed to limit the use of forest communities of their land and forests while encroaching them into smaller areas.