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 · Global · 2023–2024

ICVCM approves three REDD+ methods; older Verra methods left out

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

The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market approved three REDD+ methodologies in November 2024, but the older REDD+ methodologies, which make up most REDD+ credits, cannot carry its label. A Cambodian REDD+ scheme was suspended by Verra and re-approved after review by its earlier validators.

What?
The Integrity Council approved three REDD+ methodologies in November 2024, leaving Verra's older REDD+ methodologies outside its label. ICVCM
Where?
Global; Cambodia (Southern Cardamom) Human Rights Watch
When?
Verra suspension June 2023; re-approval September 2024; ICVCM approval 15 November 2024. REDD-Monitor
Who?
Gained
  • Sellers of legacy REDD+ credits — continued to sell credits from older methodologies without the label ICVCM
Lost
None on record
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Verra did not submit its older REDD+ methodologies for assessment, so they cannot carry the label. ICVCM
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

On 15 November 2024 the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market approved three REDD+ methodologies (ICVCM, 15 November 2024).

Verra did not submit its older REDD+ methodologies for assessment, so their credits cannot carry the Core Carbon Principles label, though they remain on sale (ICVCM, 15 November 2024).

Human Rights Watch reported in May 2024 that the Southern Cardamom REDD+ scheme in Cambodia had received more than 27 million credits (Human Rights Watch, 16 May 2024).

Verra suspended the scheme in June 2023 and re-approved it in September 2024 after a review by three validators that had approved it earlier, and Carbon Market Watch complained to the ICVCM about the review (REDD-Monitor).

    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 Verra has submitted its older REDD+ methodologies for assessment since 2024.
    • None on record Not found: the outcome of Carbon Market Watch's complaint to the ICVCM.

    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

    Communities and civil society

    2. Systems failure: the voluntary carbon market
      Human Rights Watch · 2024-05-16

    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.
    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.
    Voluntary carbon market
    Trade in carbon credits bought by choice, mostly by companies, outside legally binding emission schemes.

    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.