The biggest carbon credit scam has been revealed in Brazil

In Brazil, the police launched a large operation (called Operation Greenwashing), the largest of its kind ever built in the country, to dismantle "a criminal organization" that for over a decade allegedly sold carbon credits from illegally invaded areas for a total value of 34 million dollars (approximately 180 million reais).The operations are the result of an investigation lasting over a year which shows the links between REDD+ projects and a scam for the recycling of illegally obtained timber.At the center of the investigations are the Fortaleza Ituxi, Unitor and Evergreen project, all related to the Ituxi Group, one of the largest carbon credit projects in the Brazilian Amazon.The group is chaired by Ricardo Stoppe, whose suspicious activities had already ended up at the center of a journalistic investigation.The credits sold by the group were purchased not only by various Brazilian companies, but also by some international ones such as Toshiba, Spotify and Boeing.

Stoppe owns five REDD+ projects in the Brazilian Amazon, for a total of 400 thousand hectares of land – more than three times the size of the city of Rome.REDD+ is the abbreviation of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in developing countries.The underlying idea is that the “monetization” of threatened forests through the issuance of carbon credits will help avert a further increase in global temperatures.In turn, the sale of these credits should generate a income stream to invest again in forest conservation, which, according to supporters, is essential to protect not only the carbon that biomass contains, but also other ecosystem services, biodiversity and vital resources.These projects fall within the broader context of carbon market, the system designed to offset industrial emissions through the exchange of carbon quotas, the so-called credits.To put it simply, those who emit more than they should are forced to purchase the latter from more virtuous companies, farmers or, precisely, from mitigation projects.

The three projects investigated by the police are located in the municipalities of Lábrea and Apuí, in the south of the state of Amazonas.These areas, the authorities claim, were not only used to produce false carbon credits, but also to issue false documentation for recycle wood taken from illegally deforested areas.The irregularities came to light after an examination by the Center for Climate Crisis Analysis (CCCA), a non-profit organization based in the Netherlands.Following further investigations, the Brazilian police issued five preventive arrest warrants (also addressed to Stoppe and his two children) and 76 search and seizure warrants, as well as carrying out 108 precautionary (non-custodial) measures, 8 suspensions from public office and various other measures, and the seizure of 1.6 million reais (about 295 thousand dollars).From the first results of the investigations it emerged that the quantity of illegally exploited timber amounts to over one million cubic meters, for environmental damage of approximately 606 million reais (112 million dollars).The chief investigator of the operation, Thiago Marrese, then explained to Mongabay that the lands from which the timber was illegally harvested belong to the Kaxarari indigenous people.

In one Note published following the journalistic investigation by Mongabay (and before the start of the police operations), the Ituxi Group declared that «The Fortaleza Ituxi and Unitor projects have always demonstrated a strong commitment to environmental conservation, as demonstrated by the conservation of native forest cover.Our conservation areas in the Amazon rainforest are known to serve as sanctuaries of protection in a context of growing illegal deforestation in the country,” adding that “The report Mongabay it also incorrectly links us to the crime of illegal timber laundering through our forest management plans.They attempt to justify such crimes using satellite analysis technology from the Center for Climate Crime Analysis, which does not have the precision needed to evaluate managed areas."

This is not the first time that REDD+ projects have been linked to theft of indigenous lands:in Kenya, for example, conservation projects linked to the carbon credit market have led to the illegitimate eviction of the indigenous Ogiek population, also violating two historic rulings of the African Court aimed precisely at protecting the rights of indigenous communities.Also in Kenya, these projects have jeopardized the survival of the Samburu, Masai, Borana and Rendille communities.In fact, that the carbon credit system present more than one critical issue it's not new.In particular, an international group of scientists, who examined 26 sites in 3 continents in which the so-called REDD+ projects to combat deforestation were implemented, found that 94% of the carbon credits derived from these projects do not represent real mitigation of climate-changing emissions.In the meantime, however, the consequences on local communities are very real.

[by Valeria Casolaro]