As carbon markets collapse, what happens to forests they promised to protect?

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/nov/06/carbon-offsetting-market-collapses-what-happens-to-the-forests-they-hoped-to-protect-aoe

by nickcotter • 9 months ago

3 1 9 months ago

theguardian.com

andsoitis• 9 months ago

”Crucial flaws in the way credits were calculated indicated that the overwhelming majority of forest protection credits approved by Verra, the world’s leading certifier, massively overstated their impact.”

I.e. poor ROI, wasted money.

I’m not sure what the best solution(s) are, but I would put money on the idea that citizens should be taxed to keep sufficient forests going. Trouble is, which taxpayers should carry the burden, given that not all countries have forests to protect and it means less economic activity (unfair if you compete against countries who have already chopped down their forests), so a double penalty, mostly for less developed countries.

Everyone on earth needs the increment to be thriving, but arbitrary boundaries like countries are getting in the way.

As carbon markets collapse, what happens to forests they promised to protect?

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