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 · 2012–2022

Santo Antônio dam sought 51 million tonnes of UN carbon credits

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

The Santo Antônio dam on Brazil's Madeira River was registered under the UN Clean Development Mechanism, and credits for 2013 to 2020 appear to have been issued. Philip Fearnside called the 51 million tonne reduction claimed under the registration 'hot air', meaning credits with no real cut behind them.

What?
The Santo Antônio dam on the Madeira River was registered under the UN Clean Development Mechanism and sought 51 million tonnes of credits. River Resource Hub
Where?
Madeira River, Rondônia, Brazil River Resource Hub
When?
Registration period 2012 to 2022; credits for 2013 to 2020 appear to have been issued
Who?
Gained
  • Santo Antônio Energia partners: Furnas (39 percent), Caixa investment fund (20 percent), Odebrecht, now Novonor (18.6 percent), Andrade Gutierrez (12.4 percent) and Cemig (10 percent) — Shares in the 2014 partnership of a dam whose 2013 to 2020 credits appear to have been issued
Lost
None on record
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
The reservoir area used was 190.4 km2 after deducting the river channel; the claimed reduction was 51,464,028 tonnes of CO2 equivalent for 2012 to 2022. River Resource Hub
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

According to River Resource Hub, the application treated 164 km2 of the 354.4 km2 reservoir as river channel and used the remaining 190.4 km2; on the full area the power density would have been 8.9 W/m2.

Philip Fearnside argued that water over the river channel also emits methane, and called the claimed reduction of 51,464,028 tonnes of CO2 equivalent for 2012 to 2022 'hot air'.

The sources reviewed say the dam is registered under CDM number 9282 and that its credits for 2013 to 2020 appear to have been issued.

    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

    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: the CDM rule that reservoir emissions count as zero above 10 W/m2, and the rule allowing the river channel to be deducted, could not be checked; the CDM methodology document could not be consulted.
    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: a search headline says Marcelo Odebrecht discussed a 50 million real 'agreement' with a politician in 2017; any link to the Madeira dams was not verified.
    • None on record The number of credits actually issued 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

    Communities and civil society

    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.
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