Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Carbon credits · Brazil · 2024–2025

Brazil: Operation Greenwashing

Nature's voice · report
653 hectares of my forest were lost.
Suruí project area, 256% above the permitted limit.
Did nature suffer? Yes. Harm is on record. Disputed
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 4 none on record · 1 insufficient · 2 disputed · 1 unclear See the gaps
Accounts of the harm differ
Do Amazon forest-credit projects protect forest?
  • Press and investigations Reuters: At least 24 of 36 projects reviewed had an actor fined by Ibama for illegal deforestation, and in 5 clearing took place inside the project boundary.
  • Press and investigations Reuters: Found no evidence of failure against baseline in individual projects.

In June 2024 Brazil's Federal Police began an investigation into carbon credits sold from forest projects in Amazonas state. The police alleged that forged land titles were used to take about 538,000 hectares of federal public land; 31 people were named in October 2025 and no court ruling has been recorded.

~538,000 haFederal public land the Federal Police says was taken with forged titles
Allegation made by the Federal Police in June 2024; no court ruling has been recorded.

Status As of October 2026: the Federal Police named 31 people in October 2025; the accused deny the allegations and no court ruling has been recorded.

What?
Brazil's Federal Police investigated carbon-credit projects in Amazonas, alleging that forged titles were used to take about 538,000 ha of federal public land and sell credits from it; Verra suspended the projects. Jornal de Brasília
Where?
Lábrea, Amazonas, Brazil.
When?
Investigation from June 2024; 31 people named in October 2025; reported November 2025. Mongabay
Who?
Gained
  • A family company network including a father and son of the Stoppe family and associates (alleged) — Carbon-credit sales of R$120–180 million (alleged) SBT News
Lost
  • The Brazilian federal government (the Union) — Public land alleged to have been taken
Harmed
None on record
Why?
The Federal Police alleged that REDD+ carbon projects were used as a front for taking public land. Jornal de Brasília
How?
Forged land titles, with alleged corruption at Incra, Ipaam and land registry offices, were used to claim land that was then registered as forest-credit projects.
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

In June 2024 the Brazilian Federal Police carried out an investigation it called Operação Greenwashing, centred on Lábrea, in Amazonas state. The police alleged that forged land titles were used to take about 538,000 hectares of federal public (Union) land, and that carbon credits were then sold from projects on that land. According to the research record, Verra suspended projects linked to the Stoppe family in the same month.

The police put the credit sales at about R$180 million; other summaries of the same investigation give a range of R$120 million to R$180 million. Companies reported as buyers of credits from the projects included Toshiba, Spotify, Boeing, Nestlé, PwC and GOL, and Boeing was reported to have bought from two separate projects. The police also alleged corruption of officials at Incra, Ipaam and land registry offices.

In October 2025 the Federal Police named 31 people in two final reports, and Mongabay reported the charges in November 2025. The step was a police indictment, not an indictment filed by prosecutors. The people named included a father and son of the Stoppe family, who were described as the centre of a family company network. The accused deny the allegations, and no court ruling has been recorded.

Related projects have also been reported. The projects of the carbon developer Carbonext were reported to appear in the investigation. Noticias Ambientales reported in November 2025 that the first shipment of a Brazilian lithium producer, Sigma, to China was described as carbon neutral on the basis of 59,000 credits from the Unitor project, which it said had been suspended following the Federal Police operation.

Earlier, in 2018, Verra's registry had suspended an indigenous REDD+ project in Rondônia, the Paiter Suruí project, which had sold credits to Natura in 2013 and to FIFA in 2014. Forest clearing in 2017 reached 653 hectares, 256% above the permitted limit, and Mongabay reported that the programme ended because of illegal mining.

  1. 2013Paiter Suruí REDD+ project (Rondônia) sells credits to Natura
  2. 2014Same project sells credits to FIFA to offset World Cup emissions
  3. 2017Clearing in the Suruí project area reaches 653 ha, 256% above the permitted limit
  4. 2018Suruí project suspended; Mongabay reports it ended because of illegal mining
  5. 2022Shell is reported to hold a stake in Carbonext described as R$200 million
  6. 2024Federal Police launch Operação Greenwashing (June); Verra suspends the Stoppe-linked projects (June); Amazonas state grants 21 REDD concessions on 11.9 million ha of public forest (May–August)
  7. 2025Federal Police name 31 people in two final reports (October); Mongabay reports the charges (November)

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Were the credited projects on lawfully held land?
Government and regulators
Brazilian Federal Police

Alleged that forged land titles were used to take about 538,000 ha of federal public land and that credits were sold from it.

Jornal de Brasília
Company or project
People named by the Federal Police

Deny the allegations.

Mongabay
Courts
Courts

No ruling has been recorded.

Do Amazon forest-credit projects protect forest?
Press and investigations
Reuters

At least 24 of 36 projects reviewed had an actor fined by Ibama for illegal deforestation, and in 5 clearing took place inside the project boundary.

Press and investigations
Reuters

Found no evidence of failure against baseline in individual projects.

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • Forest-protection carbon projects (REDD+) on land the police later alleged was public land taken with forged titles
    Project developers, as described in Federal Police allegations · Jornal de Brasília

Recorded

  • The Federal Police alleged forged land titles were used to take about 538,000 ha of federal public land in the Lábrea area of Amazonas; the investigation began in June 2024.
  • The Federal Police alleged corruption at Incra, Ipaam and land registry offices.
  • The police estimated carbon-credit sales from the land at about R$180 million; other summaries give R$120–180 million.
    SBT News
  • 31 people were named in two final police reports in October 2025; the defendants deny the allegations.
    Mongabay
  • Reported buyers of credits from the projects: Toshiba, Spotify, Boeing (two projects), Nestlé, PwC and GOL.
  • Reuters analysed 36 Amazon forest-credit projects and found that at least 24 had an actor who had received an Ibama fine for illegal deforestation, and that in 5 clearing took place inside the project boundary; buyers included Boeing, Telefónica and Ecopetrol. Reuters found no evidence in individual projects of failure against the project baseline.
  • Carbonext's projects were reported to appear in the Operation Greenwashing investigation; Shell is reported to hold a stake in Carbonext described as R$200 million (2022).
  • In May–August 2024 Amazonas state granted 21 REDD concessions on 11.9 million ha of public forest; 483 communities were not consulted and federal prosecutors recommended suspension. Holders included Future Carbon (12 concessions), Ecosecurities (3), BR Carbon, Carbonext and Permian Global (2 each).

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
No figure published.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Currency: BRL · Window: 2024–2025. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • People named by the Federal Police (November 2025): Deny the allegations. · Mongabay
  • Verra (June 2024): Suspended the Stoppe-linked projects.

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

  1. 2024-06–Ongoing
    Operação Greenwashing: Federal Police criminal investigation
    Brazilian Federal Police; court not identified · Criminal · Brazilian Federal Police (prosecutorial step not recorded) → 31 people named in police reports, including a father and son of the Stoppe family

    The Federal Police alleged forged land titles were used to take about 538,000 ha of federal public land and sell carbon credits from it. Thirty-one people were named in two final police reports in October 2025. The accused deny the allegations and no court ruling has been recorded. Mongabay

  2. 2024–Outcome not on record
    Amazonas REDD concessions: recommendation to suspend
    Federal prosecutors (Ministério Público Federal) · Administrative · Federal prosecutors → State of Amazonas and concession holders

    After the state granted 21 REDD concessions on 11.9 million ha of public forest in May–August 2024 without consulting 483 communities, federal prosecutors recommended that the concessions be suspended. The outcome has not been recorded.

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Federal public land alleged to have been taken
~538,000 ha
Federal Police allegation, June 2024
Credit sales from the projects, alleged
R$120–180m
Federal Police estimate; summaries differ
Court ruling
None
31 people named by police in October 2025; they deny the allegations

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Case pending / contestedUnder standard-setter review

Nature

  • Disputed Do Amazon forest-credit projects protect forest?

Court

  • Unclear Amazonas REDD concessions: recommendation to suspend: outcome not on record.

Accounts

Record

  • None on record No court ruling has been recorded: the case has produced police reports naming 31 people, not a court decision.
  • None on record No amount of assets seized or recovered has been recorded.
  • None on record Summaries give the value of credit sales as R$120 million to R$180 million; the figures have not been reconciled.
  • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: that the Reuters 36-project analysis and the Operation Greenwashing probe overlap in the projects they cover.

Did the harm stop?

Verra suspended the Stoppe-linked projects in June 2024, the month the Federal Police operation began. No ruling or seizure amount has been recorded.

Who paid?

Not established. The asset alleged to have been taken is federal public land; no ruling, seizure or restitution has been recorded.

Sources

Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

Press and investigations

Connected cases

Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
Terms used on this page

Science and environment

Groundwater
Water held underground in soil and rock, drawn through wells.
Hectare (ha)
A unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres, about 2.5 acres. 100 hectares make one square kilometre.

Carbon and conservation finance

Baseline
The projected scenario of what would have happened without a project, such as an expected rate of deforestation. Credits are issued for the difference between the baseline and what actually happened, so an inflated baseline produces more credits.
Buffer pool
A reserve of credits held back from sale by a carbon programme to cover future losses, such as forest burned or logged after credits were issued. It works as the programme's own insurance.
Carbon credit
A certificate representing one tonne of carbon dioxide (or equivalent) that a project says it reduced, avoided or removed. Buyers use credits to balance their own emissions in climate claims.
Offset
Using carbon credits to balance emissions released elsewhere, so that a buyer can claim lower or zero net emissions.
REDD+
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation. A UN framework under which forest projects earn carbon credits for deforestation they say they prevented, measured against a projected baseline.
Standard-setter and registry
An organisation that writes the rules for carbon credits, approves projects, and records when credits are issued and retired. Such bodies typically charge fees per credit.

Law and courts

Arbitration
A private dispute process in which an appointed arbitrator, instead of a court, decides the case.
Land titling
Formal legal recognition of ownership of land.

Insurance

Underwriter
An insurer, or a person at an insurer, who assesses a risk and decides whether and on what terms to insure it.