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 · 2023–2025

Verra suspends three REDD+ schemes in Brazil's Portel over public land overlap

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: 3 none on record · 1 not measured · 1 unclear See the gaps

Verra suspended three REDD+ schemes in Portel, Pará, in September 2023 because they overlapped public land, after they had sold more than 23 million credits. At stake is the public land and the families living on it, with about 1,484 families in five farming settlements affected according to the reports.

What?
Verra suspended three REDD+ schemes in Portel, Pará, in September 2023 because they overlapped public land. REDD-Monitor
Where?
Portel municipality, Pará, Brazil Sumaúma
When?
July 2023 to July 2025 Sumaúma
Who?
Gained
  • Air France, Delta, Bayer and Ecopetrol — were among the buyers of credits from the three suspended Portel schemes REDD-Monitor
  • Philip Morris, Mastercard and BlackRock — used credits from the suspended Pacajaí scheme in emissions reports REDD-Monitor
Lost
None on record
Harmed
  • About 1,484 families in five farming settlements — were affected, according to the public defender's suit as reported Sumaúma
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
REDD+ forest carbon credits on land overlapping public land REDD-Monitor
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Sumaúma reported in July 2023 that Pará's public defender's office had sued over the Ribeirinho REDD+ scheme in Portel, which affected about 1,484 families in five farming settlements.

The same report says a decree by the Portel mayor prepared the ground for the scheme, and that an American businessman was a partner in 13 of the 38 companies in the area.

REDD-Monitor reported in November 2025 that Verra suspended three Portel schemes in September 2023 for overlapping public land, after they had sold more than 23 million credits to buyers including Air France, Delta, Bayer and Ecopetrol.

REDD-Monitor reported in March 2026 that more than 140 companies, including Philip Morris, Mastercard and BlackRock, used over 2 million credits from the suspended Pacajaí scheme between January 2024 and July 2025.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    1. 2023-07–Outcome not on record
      Pará public defender's lawsuit over the Ribeirinho REDD+ scheme in Portel
      Not stated in the sources reviewed · unknown · Pará public defender's office → Not stated in the sources reviewed

      Sumaúma reported that the suit was filed in July 2023. The sources reviewed do not give its outcome. Sumaúma

    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.

    Court

    • Unclear Pará public defender's lawsuit over the Ribeirinho REDD+ scheme in Portel: outcome not on record.

    Record

    • None on record Not stated in the sources reviewed: the outcome of the public defender's lawsuit.
    • None on record Not stated in the sources reviewed: whether the three suspended schemes have been reinstated.
    • None on record Not stated in the sources reviewed: whether the buyers named in the reports kept or cancelled their credits.

    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

    2. Crooked carbon business: carbon offset
      REDD-Monitor · 2025-11-13

    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.

    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.
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