How ‘carbon cowboys’ are cashing in on protected Amazon forest

In recent years, companies have launched carbon credit projects in the Brazilian Amazon, but a Washington Post investigation has revealed that many of these projects overlap with publicly protected lands. The investigation found that over half of all carbon credit forest preservation projects in the Brazilian Amazon overlapped with public territories, amounting to over 78,000 square miles, six times the size of Maryland. The use of such lands to sell credits contributes little to reducing carbon emissions. Major international companies like Netflix and Delta Air Lines have purchased carbon credits from these private ventures. The projects have generated over 80 million carbon credits, of which at least 30 million have been sold, with an estimated value of over $212 million. Despite operating in a country without regulations for carbon credit trading, only two projects have received government authorization. The investigation has sparked scrutiny from Brazilian authorities, with federal police targeting three projects and alleging that nearly two dozen companies conspired to improperly net nearly $35 million in carbon credit sales. Michael Greene, a prominent American businessman, oversaw 19 projects that overlapped with public lands, including four in the river town of Portel. The sale of credits from these projects, estimated at $87 million, did not benefit the local river people who live on the protected lands. Critics argue that averted deforestation projects are speculative and susceptible to exaggeration, and that Brazil's lack of a national regulatory system has led to the reliance on international registries like Verra and Cercarbono, which certify carbon credits without government approval.