Cases / Carbon credits · Germany · 2024
Germany rejects 215,000 carbon credits from Chinese oil-sector projects
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.
Credits from upstream emission reduction projects in China were used to meet part of Germany's fuel quota. After re-examination, the environment agency rejected 215,000 credits in September 2024 and the system was closed.
What?
German authorities re-examined Chinese upstream emission reduction projects whose credits were used under the German fuel quota, and the system was closed. Clean Energy Wire
Where?
Germany (the agency, prosecutors and fuel-quota market); projects in China
When?
Projects re-examined in July 2024; credits rejected in September 2024
Who?
Gained
- Shell — Named among companies that used the credits, as reported by ZDF Clean Energy Wire
- TotalEnergies — Named among companies that used the credits, as reported by ZDF Clean Energy Wire
Lost
- Holders of certificates from the suspect projects — No new credits are issued, but certificates already held can still be traded Clean Energy Wire
Harmed
None on recordWhy?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
German oil companies covered part of their fuel-quota obligation with credits from upstream emission reduction projects in China, which German certification bodies had approved and verified. Clean Energy Wire
6 of 6 questions answered from the record
What happened
The record, in order.
Clean Energy Wire reported in July 2024 that Germany's Federal Environment Agency (UBA) had re-examined 40 of 69 Chinese projects that German certification bodies had approved and verified.
ZDF estimated the value of the suspect projects at over 600 million euros, and Shell and TotalEnergies were named among the companies that used the credits.
ESG Post reported that in September 2024 UBA rejected the credits of eight projects, 215,000 credits worth about 18 million euros, and that Berlin prosecutors are investigating 17 people linked to verification bodies on suspicion of commercial fraud.
Clean Energy Wire reported that UBA suspended an official responsible for approvals.
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: whether Shell's or TotalEnergies' own credits were among those rejected.
- None on record Not stated: the outcome of the Berlin prosecutors' investigation.
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
- Germany suspects serious environmental crime in Chinese CO2 reduction projectsClean Energy Wire · 2024-07-04
- German authorities reject 215,000 carbon credits following fraud investigationESG Post · 2024-09-06
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