Chris Lang

A “green rush” for carbon offsets is fuelling land grabs in the Global South New report from the Robert Bosch Stiftung and TMG Research.

By 2060, land-based climate pledges could require up to 1 billion hectares of land.

Much of this will be in the Global South.

This comes on top of agribusiness land grabs.

Verra has 24 million hectares of land-based carbon projects on its registry.

reddmonitor.substack.com/p/a-green-ru...

“People in Isangi wonder why they didn’t get a better share” DW News journalist Jonas Gerding visits the Blattner family’s Isangi REDD project in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

More on the Blattner family's Isangi REDD project in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Based on a visit to the now defunct REDD project by Jonas Gerding for DW News.

reddmonitor.substack.com/p/people-in-...

A hill that I would die on is that COP conferences should be held online or host companies should undertake no additional building work or infrastructure development.

Brazil’s “devastation bill” is a major embarrassment for President Lula ahead of COP30 Brazil is going backwards on environmental legislation.

Brazil will host COP30 in November 2025.

Brazil's congress just passed a "devastation bill" that allows companies to give themselves licenses to destroy the rainforest.

More than 580,000 people have signed a petition to get President Lula to veto the bill.

reddmonitor.substack.com/p/brazils-de...

Washington Department of Ecology fines Climate Care Innovations US$425,000 Arizona Corporation Commission issues cease-and-desist order against linked companies Climate Care Innovations, FOD Enterprises, Kompo Green and director John Jensen for securities offering and fraud.

US company Climate Care Innovations has been fined US$425,000 by the Washington Department of Ecology.

The company, and related companies, made some pretty wild claims on their websites, including having 78 billion carbon credits "under management".

reddmonitor.substack.com/p/washington...

Trees for Global Benefits: “Climate neutral” burgers in Sweden. Starvation in Uganda A new investigation by Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet exposes the inequity of carbon offsetting.

Trees for Global Benefits: “Climate neutral” burgers in Sweden. Starvation in Uganda - @reddmonitor.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/reddmoni...

“Let me stop you right there.” The BBC’s missed opportunity to talk about colonialism, elite capture, the climate crisis and Exxon’s carbon bomb in Guyana An interesting, but intensely frustrating, interview.

“Let me stop you right there.” The BBC’s missed opportunity to talk about colonialism, elite capture, the climate crisis & Exxon’s carbon bomb in Guyana - @reddmonitor.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/reddmoni...

UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples calls for moratorium on carbon markets Francisco Calí Tzay was speaking at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York.

UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples calls for moratorium on carbon markets - @reddmonitor.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/reddmoni...

I'll keep posting it to try and get traction!

Cheat Neutral A 2007 video ridiculing carbon offsets, in which only the telephones haven’t aged well.

I think we may have already had this conversation.

I posted this video last year (17 years too late, admittedly).

You're right - it is (still!) the best video on the carbon offsetting scam:

reddmonitor.substack.com/p/cheat-neut...

Editorial in Science magazine confirms the conflict of interest at the heart of carbon offsetting: Auditors paid by project developers “Auditors are unlikely to stay in business if they disapprove credits at the high rates that research suggests would be appropriate today.”

"Auditors can't save carbon offsets" - editorial in Science magazine.

reddmonitor.substack.com/p/editorial-...

Illegal logging and REDD in Brazil An investigation by Reuters reveals that illegal loggers are cashing in on carbon credits.

An investigation by Reuters reveals that illegal loggers are profiting from sales of carbon credits in Brazil.

Landowners, developers, or forestry companies involved in at least 24 REDD projects have been fined for illegal deforestation by IBAMA.

reddmonitor.substack.com/p/illegal-lo...

“We will not stop until we get back our dispossessed territories!” Statement by the Ethnic Council of the Kichwa Peoples of Amazonia about the Cordillera Azul National Park in Peru A solidarity statement rejecting acts of criminalisation against the Indigenous community of Puerto Franco has been signed by 60 organisations.

The Ethnic Council of the Kichwa Peoples of Amazonia (CEPKA) has put out a statement about the Kichwa's struggle to get their territory and rights recognised since the creation of the Cordillera Azul National Park.

reddmonitor.substack.com/p/we-will-no...

Carbon Credits are dangerous rubbish.

New research finds that Verra’s buffer pool for REDD projects is way too small “The numbers aren’t actually based on any science, as far as anyone can tell.”

Forest carbon projects registered with Verra have to put some unsold carbon credits into a "buffer pool" as a form of insurance in case the forest goes up in flames.

But the buffer pool is too small.

And the risk of forest fires is increasing.

reddmonitor.substack.com/p/new-resear...

Once again, Chevron has been caught buying carbon credits from a REDD project in Colombia that was developed without Indigenous Peoples knowing about it “Zero on all counts: zero information, zero participation, zero benefits.”

Chevron bought 3 million carbon credits from a REDD project in Colombia.

The Indigenous People living in the forest didn't even know about the project.

Chevron previously bought credits from another REDD project that Indigenous Peoples did not know about.

reddmonitor.substack.com/p/once-again...

Thomson Safaris’ landgrab of Indigenous Maasai land in Tanzania A new report by the Oakland Institute.

Thomson Safaris’ landgrab of Indigenous Maasai land in Tanzania - @reddmonitor.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/reddmoni...

At last! Forest Stewardship Council admits that it has certified logging operations on the territory of Indigenous Peoples living in voluntary isolation One of these certificates was awarded in 2007. The other in 2011.

Forest Stewardship Council has finally admitted that two of the logging operations it has certified in Peru are on the territory of Indigenous Peoples living in voluntary isolation.

FSC has suspended one of the certificates.

The other remains in place.

reddmonitor.substack.com/p/at-last-fo...

Record breaking areas of Brazil’s land goes up in flames. And Earth Innovation Institute proposes the false solution of selling carbon credits to the oil and gas industry Earth Innovation Institute pretends to be oblivious to what is driving drought and forest fires in Brazil, which is, of course, the fossil fuel industry.

On 24 June 2025, two reports came out:

1. A MapBiomas report about record breaking fires in Brazil; and

2. An Earth Innovation Institute report about selling carbon credits from the Amazon to Big Polluters, including the Brazilian oil company Petrobras.

reddmonitor.substack.com/p/record-bre...

Singapore Government Agencies warn about crypto carbon credit scam This is not the first time scammers have used logos of Singapore Government Agencies to make their fraud look genuine.

Scammers are using the logos of Singapore government agencies to trick people into buying carbon credits.

reddmonitor.substack.com/p/singapore-...

Kick Big Polluters out of COP30! Big Polluters are strangling climate action.

Why are fossil fuel lobbyists still allowed into UN climate meetings?

After more than 30 years of talks there is still no conflict of interest policy at the UNFCCC.

This really is not a big ask - Kick Big Polluters Out of COP30!

reddmonitor.substack.com/p/kick-big-p...

Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos Canal oficial de la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos. Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos. 2021. Licencia Creative Commons Esta obra está bajo una Licencia Creative Commons Atribución-No...

🚨 There might actually be some GOOD legal news tomorrow - the FIRST climate advisory opinion from an intl human rights court!

Watch the delivery of this historic opinion from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights LIVE: shorturl.at/GkNfD

📅Thu, 3 July | 16:00 UTC
#AOLetsGO #OpiniónConsultiva

Science Based Targets initiative and carbon offsets: “This isn’t a science-based decision” And the role of the Bezos Earth Fund.

“The Science Based Targets Initiative should strive to keep the ‘science’ in ‘science based’. #CarbonOffsets have been exposed time & again as a delay tactic in the fight against climate change.” #CarbonCon

- @reddmonitor.bsky.social
reddmonitor.substack.com/p/science-ba...

Built to fail. New report from Corporate Accountability reveals that carbon offset projects still fail to deliver Carbon trading cannot be reformed. It will always be a dangerous distraction from meaningful climate action.

A look at carbon offsets retired in 2024 reveals that carbon offsetting remains a dangerous distraction from meaningful climate action.

Carbon offsetting is a false solution to the climate crisis.

reddmonitor.substack.com/p/built-to-f...

Thank you for sharing this story! It’s good to know that communities are pushing back everywhere, and we hope they win.

The LEAF Coalition’s REDD deal in Pará faces a lawsuit and opposition from Indigenous and Quilombola communities The state of Pará is carrying out a consultation process six months after signing the deal.

“At no point did we meet with the government to discuss carbon credits. No one ever contacted us. . . .
“And now the government wants to rent it out to industries around the world so they can keep polluting and destroying the planet.”

reddmonitor.substack.com/p/the-leaf-c...

New study finds that it would be better to leave fossil fuels in the ground rather than attempting to offset ever-increasing emissions Tree planting is a false solution to the climate crisis. And there just isn't enough land to offset emissions from burning fossil fuels.

“Looking at the cost of offsetting, the takeaway is that it is likely be more effective to stop these emissions in the first place rather than offsetting them.”

reddmonitor.substack.com/p/new-study-...

“This will finish us”. Conservation, trophy hunting, and tourism is destroying Maasai livelihoods and culture in northern Tanzania A superb article in The Atlantic reveals the impact of government policies on the Maasai.

“This is 80% of our land. This will finish us”. Conservation, trophy hunting, and tourism is destroying Maasai livelihoods & culture in northern Tanzania - @reddmonitor.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/reddmoni...

SwissX’s Soil Booster™ programme is one more ridiculously obvious climate scam “Earn prosperitry” [sic]. “Earn proserity” [sic].

Alki David and SwissX are back with another plan to save the planet.

SwissX Soil Booster™. You too can "earn prosperitry [sic]".

This post includes soil carbon credits, sexual assault lawsuits, tax havens galore, and a real life Gryphon.

reddmonitor.substack.com/p/swissxs-so...

Brazil’s auction of oil and gas exploration blocks is “scientifically unsustainable, legally indefensible and morally unjustifiable” More than 11 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent could be released.

Brazil is auctioning 172 oil and gas exploration blocks.

Covering a total area of 146,000 km2.

In November 2025, Brazil is hosting COP30 - at which it will focus on saving the rainforests and carbon trading to address the climate crisis.

reddmonitor.substack.com/p/brazils-au...