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 · United States · date not stated

California forest carbon projects burned (Verra buffer pool)

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 3 none on record · 1 not disclosed · 1 not measured · 2 unclear See the gaps

Wildfires burned forests enrolled in carbon-offset projects in California. Credits for the burned carbon were replaced from the registry's shared buffer pool, which the records reviewed say was largely used up.

About 40%Share of Verra's buffer pool consumed by fires
As recorded in the sources reviewed; the separate 100-year fire-risk share of the pool was used up faster (see metrics).

Status As of the latest material reviewed (Verra's December 2025 insurance rule): fires have consumed about 40% of the buffer pool; no carbon-credit insurance claim is public.

What?
Wildfires burned carbon stored in California forest-offset projects; the credits issued for that carbon were replaced from Verra's shared buffer pool.
Where?
California, United States.
When?
Fire losses over less than ten years; Verra's rule change on insurance dates from December 2025. The sources reviewed give no fire years.
Who?
Gained
  • Buyers of the burned credits — Their credits were replaced from the pool; they were not asked to pay.
Lost
  • Verra's buffer pool — About 40% consumed by fires; at least 95% of the fire-risk share used in under ten years.
Harmed
None on record
Why?
The pool's fire-risk share was set at 20% for 100 years; the records state it was used up much faster.
How?
Credits are taken from the buffer pool to replace credits for burned carbon; buyers are not charged.
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Carbon-offset registries hold back part of each forest project's credits in a shared buffer pool. The pool is meant to cover later losses of the stored carbon, including losses to fire. When stored carbon burns, credits are taken from the pool to replace the credits that were issued for it.

In California, the records reviewed state that fires consumed about 40% of the buffer pool. The pool had set aside a 20% share for 100 years of fire risk. A separate record states that wildfires in California used at least 95% of that fire-risk share in less than ten years. The records give the pool at 41.8 million credits.

Credits placed in the pool to replace burned credits are not charged to the buyers of the burned credits. The sources reviewed say buyers were not asked to pay.

A project's post-fire carbon stock had not been disclosed for about 60 months, although the rules require disclosure within 23 months. The sources reviewed do not name the project.

Verra wrote in 2021 that its cancellation rules might be insufficient. Since December 2025 it has allowed some projects to take out insurance in place of setting aside credits in the buffer pool. The records reviewed say no paid or refused carbon-credit insurance claim is public.

  1. 2021Verra writes that its cancellation rules "may be insufficient" (paraphrase of the record)
  2. 2025From December, Verra allows insurance in place of buffer-pool contributions for some projects

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • The buffer pool held a 20% share for 100 years of fire risk.
    Registry buffer-pool design, as recorded

Recorded

  • Fires consumed about 40% of the buffer pool.
  • Fires in California used at least 95% of the share set aside for 100-year fire risk in less than ten years.
  • Replacement credits come from the pool; buyers of the burned credits are not asked to pay.
  • One project's post-fire carbon stock had not been disclosed for about 60 months against a rule of 23 months.
  • The records give Verra's pool as 41.8 million credits.

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: · Window: . All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • verra (2021; December 2025): Wrote in 2021 that its cancellation rules might be insufficient; allows insurance in place of buffer-pool contributions for some projects since December 2025.

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

Insurers

  1. No policy found
    Kita, Oka, CFC, Howden, Chaucer, Artio (carbon-credit insurance providers) → Not specified in the sources reviewed

    No paid or refused claim is public. One product pays only if the project developer's contract and the registry's buffer pool cannot cover the gap. An insurer's brochure says a small share of natural carbon projects meet its quality standards. Verra has allowed some projects to take out insurance in place of buffer-pool contributions since December 2025.

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.

Buffer pool consumed by fires
About 40%
Of Verra's buffer pool, as recorded
Fire-risk share used
At least 95%
Of the share set aside for 100-year fire risk, in under ten years
Post-fire carbon stock disclosure
About 60 months
Against a rule requiring disclosure within 23 months; one project

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Key earnings undisclosed

Nature

  • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

Insurers

  • Unclear Kita, Oka, CFC, Howden, Chaucer, Artio (carbon-credit insurance providers): no decision on record.

Record

  • None on record Paid or refused claims under carbon-credit insurance: none are public.
  • Not disclosed The post-fire carbon stock of the project that had not disclosed it for about 60 months: not disclosed.
  • None on record Which projects burned and how many credits were replaced from the pool: the sources reviewed do not say.
  • Unclear Whether the pool's 41.8 million credits are the balance before or after the fire losses: the sources reviewed do not say.
  • None on record The share of California credits found to be excess is recorded as 29% in a Global Change Biology study (November 2021); the sources reviewed do not state what it was measured against.

Did the harm stop?

The sources reviewed do not say that the pool losses have been made good or that the rules have been changed to prevent a repeat; they record only that insurance has been allowed for some projects since December 2025.

Who paid?

Replacement credits were drawn from the shared buffer pool, which holds credits set aside by projects; buyers of the burned credits were not asked to pay.

Sources

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

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

Carbon and conservation finance

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.
Excess credits
Credits issued beyond the amount that a later review found to be justified.
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.
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