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A study covering almost 300 carbon offset projects found that the industry’s top registries have consistently allowed developers to claim far more climate-saving benefits than justified.
Researchers led by Barbara Haya from the University of Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy assessed the methods underpinning forestry projects responsible for 11% of all carbon offsets ever issued. They found shortcomings in each that resulted in bogus credits.
“Across the board, they fall far short from good practice in carbon accounting,” Haya said. “It’s pervasive.” The study, the first of its type, was published Tuesday in the journal Frontiers in Forests and Global Change.
Haya and her team looked at the methods applied to projects that sought to improve forest management — one of the most popular sources of offsets on the market. In theory, this might involve waiting to harvest trees when they’re older, limiting the number of trees that can be cut per hectare, or minimizing the environmental impact of logging infrastructure such as roads. In reality, the researchers found, project developers were often able to generate credits even when no changes were made.
In the unregulated carbon offsets market, standards are upheld by a handful of groups that host their own registries. The organizations generate revenue by issuing credits, a business model that incentivizes leniency over conservativeness. And if one body tightens its standards, a developer can just go to another. The system is structured to maximize entry for projects that seek to mitigate climate change. But without higher standards and stricter oversight, it’s in fact fueling a race to the bottom, Haya said.
The bulk of credits generated using the approaches Haya’s team studied came from Verra’s Verified Carbon Standard, Winrock…
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