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 · 2023–2026

Pará state pre-sold 12 million REDD+ credits; federal prosecutors sue to cancel

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.
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 1 not measured · 1 unclear See the gaps

Pará pre-sold 12 million REDD+ credits, which stand for forest protection, to the LEAF Coalition in 2024. Federal prosecutors say the sale went ahead without prior consultation and have sued to cancel it.

What?
Pará pre-sold 12 million REDD+ credits to the LEAF Coalition under a September 2024 preliminary agreement; the MPF says it was an advance sale without prior consultation. MPF Pará (Federal Public Prosecutors' Office)
Where?
Pará state, Brazilian Amazon MPF Pará (Federal Public Prosecutors' Office)
When?
Preliminary agreement signed 24 September 2024; MPF civil action June 2025; MPF letter 10 August 2026 MPF Pará (Federal Public Prosecutors' Office)
Who?
Gained
  • Amazon, Bayer, H&M and the Walmart Foundation — named as buyers of the pre-sold credits
Lost
Harmed
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
The state agreed a fixed volume of credits for 2023 to 2026, with the governments of Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States listed as guarantors.
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Pará signed a preliminary agreement with the LEAF Coalition in September 2024 to sell 12 million REDD+ credits for 2023 to 2026 at USD 15 per tonne, USD 180 million in total.

In June 2025 the Federal Public Prosecutors' Office (MPF) sued to cancel the agreement as an advance sale without prior consultation, and said the state had sold credits worth about 1 billion reais before validation.

In an August 2026 letter to the state, the MPF said consultations with Indigenous and quilombola communities (descendants of escaped enslaved people) had been compressed into three to five days, and that The Nature Conservancy had a conflict of interest.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    1. 2025-06–Ongoing
      Civil action on advance sale and absence of prior consultation for Pará REDD+ credits
      Not stated in the sources reviewed. · Civil · Federal Public Prosecutors' Office (MPF) → Federal government and State of Pará; the CAAP International carbon credit contract is named in the case title

      The MPF sued to cancel the Pará pre-sale of REDD+ credits to the LEAF Coalition. In August 2026 it asked the state to answer concerns about prior consultations; no ruling is reported. Climate Case Chart

    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 The sources reviewed do not say whether a court has ruled on the MPF civil action.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not say how many of the 12 million credits have been delivered or paid for.
    • Unclear Whether the LEAF Coalition or the named buyers have responded to the MPF is not stated in the sources reviewed.

    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

    3. ACP on advance sale and absence of prior consultation (SJREDD-PA)
      MPF Pará (Federal Public Prosecutors' Office) · 2025-06

    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.

    Law and courts

    Prior consultation
    The right of indigenous peoples, under ILO Convention 169 and national laws, to be consulted before measures that affect their lands are adopted.

    Places and local terms

    Conservancy (Kenya)
    In Kenya, land managed by a community or private owners for wildlife alongside grazing, often with outside partners.

    Bonds and banking

    Guarantee
    A commitment by a third party, often a development bank, to pay if the borrower does not.
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