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 · Gabon · 2022

Gabon planned 187 million sovereign carbon credits as TotalEnergies took a timber stake

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

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: 2 none on record · 1 not measured See the gaps

In 2022 Gabon planned 187 million sovereign forest carbon credits, while TotalEnergies bought 49 per cent of CBG, a timber company holding a 600,000-hectare logging concession. At stake for nature is how a whole country's forest is turned into tradable credits.

What?
Gabon planned 187 million sovereign forest carbon credits, and TotalEnergies bought 49 per cent of the timber company CBG. REDD-Monitor
Where?
Gabon REDD-Monitor
When?
2022 REDD-Monitor
Who?
Gained
  • Government of Gabon — planned 187 million sovereign credits, of which about 90 million could be sold REDD-Monitor
  • TotalEnergies — bought 49 per cent of CBG, which holds a 600,000-hectare logging concession REDD-Monitor
Lost
None on record
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Sovereign forest credits and a timber company stake REDD-Monitor
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

REDD-Monitor reported in July 2022 that Gabon planned 187 million sovereign credits on behalf of the country's forest.

According to the same report, about 90 million of those credits could be sold, worth about 291 million dollars according to Bloomberg.

The same report says TotalEnergies bought 49 per cent of CBG in 2022, a timber company with a logging concession of 600,000 hectares.

    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

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

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

    Record

    • None on record Not stated in the sources reviewed: whether any of the sovereign credits were issued or sold.
    • None on record Not stated in the sources reviewed: the price TotalEnergies paid for its 49 per cent stake in CBG.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

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

    Press and investigations

    1. Gabon plans the world's biggest-ever
      REDD-Monitor · 2022-07-06

    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

    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.
    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.

    Science and environment

    Hectare (ha)
    A unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres, about 2.5 acres. 100 hectares make one square kilometre.
    Similar cases
    Carbon credits · Protected area / relocation · Kenya · 2012–2026
    Northern Kenya Grasslands Carbon Project and the Isiolo court ruling
    Same type: Carbon creditsSame regionHarm to nature not measured
    Carbon credits · United Arab Emirates · 2011–2025
    McKinsey advice to COP28 presidency and fossil clients
    Same type: Carbon creditsSame regionHarm to nature not measured
    Carbon credits · Kenya · 2010–2023
    Mikoko Pamoja mangrove project
    Same type: Carbon creditsSame regionHarm to nature not measured
    Carbon credits · United States · 2007–2026
    Verra registry fee structure, auditor ties and the Follow the Money response
    Same type: Carbon creditsSame regionHarm to nature not measured
    Carbon credits · United Arab Emirates · 2022–2025
    Blue Carbon LLC forest carbon deals (UAE, Africa)
    Same type: Carbon creditsSame regionHarm to nature not measured
    Carbon credits · Tree planting · Brazil · 2024
    Microsoft forestry carbon deals and the Apple Restore Fund
    Same type: Carbon creditsSame regionHarm to nature not measured