BP-owned company is selling carbon credits on trees that aren’t in danger, analysis finds

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Satellite analysis looked at credits sold by Finite Carbon, which runs some of North America’s largest offset projects

Carbon ratings agency Renoster found that the Sealaska project in south-eastern Alaska ‘manipulated’ its boundaries in order to receive more credits. The darker green areas in the image show the remaining trees that had not been logged.Carbon ratings agency Renoster found that the Sealaska project in south-eastern Alaska ‘manipulated’ its boundaries in order to receive more credits. The darker green areas in the image show the remaining trees that had not been logged.

Asked about Renoster’s analysis, Finite Carbon did not respond to specific questions but defended its offsets. Although some conservation may be going on, the “gerrymandering” made it impossible to assess, Ayrey said. “We have a zero tolerance policy on this behavior,” he said. Dave Clegern, public information officer for the California Air Resources Board , said: “If trees on steep terrain are valuable enough to warrant the cost of getting there and moving logs down the mountaintop, then they may be included in a baseline calculation.”Ayrey, however, argued the evidence did not support this.

“With respect to harvesting activity, contrary to the Renoster report, Lyme has harvested substantially less than biological growth since we purchased the property in 2017,” he said. Another project is a 200,000-hectare forest in Washington state owned by the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. Finite’s offsetting calculations imagined a risk of far more logging than the tribes had planned – or had ever done before – according to Grayson Badgley, a scientist at CarbonPlan.​​Finite Carbon predicted that the Colville tribes would carry out mass deforestation on their Washington reservation if it was not protected by the carbon project.

California’s forest project methodology was designed with assistance from the carbon offsets industry. Finite’s co-founder, Sean Carney, took part in meetings to draft the Carb standards in 2008, just months before he set up the company,

 

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