Uyghur women picking cotton in a field in Xinjiang. Concerns have been raised around the world in recent years about forced labour in the region. Uyghur women picking cotton in a field in Xinjiang. Concerns have been raised around the world in recent years about forced labour in the region. were among companies who bought carbon credits at risk of being implicated in potential Uyghur forced labour, an investigation has found.
The credits were sourced from the Bachu carbon project, which was developed by South Pole, the world’s largest carbon consultancy. The project focussed on a biomass power plant in, China, which said it would lower global carbon emissions by using waste cotton stalks from nearby fields to generate electricity. South Pole, whose chief executive, Renat Heuberger, stood down on Friday, marketed credits for their employment benefits for women and minority ethnic people and support for the UN sustainable development goals, with the claims often echoed by companies that bought them to offset their carbon footprint