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 · United States · 2007–2026

Verra registry fee structure, auditor ties and the Follow the Money response

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured. Disputed
What the record lacks: 3 none on record · 1 insufficient · 2 not measured · 3 disputed See the gaps
Accounts of the harm differ
How many Kariba credits stood for avoided deforestation?
  • Standard-setters and registries Verra: September 2025: 15.2 million of 26.8 million issued credits were excess; 10.3 million of these were already retired and remain valid. Verra
  • Press and investigations Follow the Money: January 2023: South Pole's own internal accounts showed about two thirds of the total yield was on paper. Follow the Money
  • Researchers Sylvera and Calyx Global: As reported by Bloomberg in March 2023: Kariba was inflated 5 to 8 times. The three analyses use different measures and cannot be converted into one another.

Verra runs the largest voluntary carbon-credit registry; project developers choose and pay the auditors, and Verra earns a levy on each credit. Follow the Money argued this gives Verra a financial interest in being less strict; Verra replied that the arrangement is standard practice.

US$0.10 to US$0.20Verra per-credit levy
Levy raised on 30 March 2023, per Verra's financial statements as summarised in the sources reviewed.

Status As of April 2026: Verra's reply to Follow the Money stands; the Newcombe case was postponed in December 2024 and no later ruling was found.

What?
Verra's registry earns a levy on each credit issued, while developers choose and pay the auditors. Follow the Money argued this weakens scrutiny; Verra said the arrangement is standard practice. Verra
Where?
Registry operated from the United States; projects in Zimbabwe (Kariba), Cambodia (Southern Cardamom) and China. Verra
When?
2007 to April 2026. REDD-Monitor
Who?
Gained
  • Verra — Receives a levy on each credit; the share of its revenue this represents is not stated in the sources reviewed. REDD-Monitor
  • Validation and verification bodies — Paid by the developers whose projects they audit; three of them also carried out the Southern Cardamom review.
  • South Pole — Kariba made up about 10% of its 2022 revenue of EUR 232 million. Follow the Money
Lost
None on record
Harmed
  • Indigenous Chong communities (Cambodia) — Consultation began 31 months after Southern Cardamom activities started; Human Rights Watch conducted 91 interviews.
Why?
Verra said that auditee-pays arrangements are standard practice in every sector and that accreditation keeps auditors impartial. Verra
How?
The developer pays the VVB, the VVB pays Verra a registration fee, and Verra takes a levy on each credit issued. REDD-Monitor
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Verra is a United States-based non-profit that operates the largest voluntary carbon-credit registry. A project developer chooses and pays a validation and verification body (VVB) to audit the tonnes the project claims. The VVB pays Verra a registration fee. According to a Transparency International US report summarised by REDD-Monitor on 2 April 2026, most of Verra's revenue comes from a levy on each credit issued, and in 2024 Verra's advisory group included a representative of Volkswagen, then the seventh-largest buyer of its credits.

On 18 October 2024 Verra published a reply to the Dutch outlet Follow the Money (FTM). It said that accreditation and international standards keep auditors impartial and that the party requesting an audit paying for it is standard practice in every sector. FTM had written that the per-credit levy gives Verra a financial interest in not being too strict, and cited a figure of 18 euro cents per approved credit. Verra's financial statements, as summarised in the sources reviewed, show the levy was raised from US$0.10 to US$0.20 per credit on 30 March 2023, and revenue of US$32.4 million in 2022 and US$29.8 million in 2023, with a 2023 loss of US$9.3 million.

Kenneth Newcombe, founder of C-Quest Capital, sat on Verra's board from 2007 to 2023. C-Quest's cookstove methodology was approved in September 2020, while he was on the board. In October 2024 United States prosecutors charged him with falsifying data to inflate credit numbers. A former operations manager pleaded guilty, and Verra suspended 27 projects. Newcombe denies the charges; the case was postponed in December 2024 for health reasons.

Researchers Coglianese and Giles found that 21 of Verra's 33 approved auditors signed 305 audits of 95 Verra projects known to have been over-credited. Verra found the study biased; the auditors' association IAVVB said responsibility lies with the registry. In March 2025 Verra rejected 37 rice-methane projects in China and suspended the four VVBs that audited them. In Cambodia, the Southern Cardamom REDD+ project received more than 27 million credits; its activities began on 1 January 2015 and consultation with Indigenous Chong communities began 31 months later. Verra paused issuance in June 2023 after a Human Rights Watch letter and re-approved the project in September 2024 after a review by three auditors that had previously approved it and were retained by the developer. Carbon Market Watch complained to the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) that this was a clear conflict of interest. Verra said it does not conduct field investigations.

In September 2025 Verra reported that 15.2 million of the 26.8 million credits issued to the Kariba REDD+ project in Zimbabwe were excess, and that 10.3 million of these had been retired by buyers and remain valid. FTM had reported in January 2023 that Kariba credits worth about EUR 100 million were sold from 2011 to 2022, and that the project made up about 10% of South Pole's 2022 revenue of EUR 232 million. In November 2024 the ICVCM approved three REDD+ methodologies; older methodologies that Verra did not submit for assessment cannot receive its quality label.

  1. 2007Kenneth Newcombe joins Verra's board (to 2023)
  2. 2020C-Quest cookstove methodology approved (September)
  3. 2023Per-credit levy raised from US$0.10 to US$0.20 (30 March); Verra pauses Southern Cardamom issuance (June); FTM investigation of Kariba published (January)
  4. 2024US prosecutors charge Newcombe (October); Verra replies to FTM (18 October); Southern Cardamom re-approved (September); ICVCM decision on REDD+ methodologies (15 November)
  5. 2025Verra suspends four VVBs and rejects 37 Chinese rice projects (March); Kariba excess credits found (September)
  6. 2026Transparency International US report on conflicts summarised (2 April)

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Does developer-pays-auditor, with a per-credit levy to the registry, weaken audits?
Press and investigations
Follow the Money

Wrote that the per-credit levy gives Verra a financial interest in not being too strict.

Verra
Standard-setters and registries
Verra

Said accreditation and international standards keep auditors impartial and that audit payment by the requester is standard practice in every sector.

Verra
Researchers
Coglianese and Giles

Found 21 of 33 approved auditors signed 305 audits of 95 over-credited projects.

Standard-setters and registries
Verra, on the study

Found the study biased.

Company or project
IAVVB (auditors' association)

Said responsibility lies with the registry.

Was the Southern Cardamom review independent?
Communities and civil society
Carbon Market Watch

Complained to the ICVCM that the review was done by auditors who had approved the project earlier and were retained by the developer, calling it a clear conflict of interest.

Standard-setters and registries
Verra

Re-approved the project in September 2024 and said it does not conduct field investigations.

How many Kariba credits stood for avoided deforestation?
Standard-setters and registries
Verra

September 2025: 15.2 million of 26.8 million issued credits were excess; 10.3 million of these were already retired and remain valid.

Verra
Press and investigations
Follow the Money

January 2023: South Pole's own internal accounts showed about two thirds of the total yield was on paper.

Follow the Money
Researchers
Sylvera and Calyx Global

As reported by Bloomberg in March 2023: Kariba was inflated 5 to 8 times. The three analyses use different measures and cannot be converted into one another.

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • Credits are backed by independent, accredited third-party auditors and international standards.
    Verra, in its reply to Follow the Money · Verra
  • Payment of the auditor by the party requesting the audit is standard practice in every sector.
    Verra · Verra

Recorded

  • Most of Verra's revenue comes from a levy on each credit; a Volkswagen representative sat on its advisory group in 2024.
    REDD-Monitor
  • 21 of 33 approved auditors signed 305 audits of 95 over-credited projects.
  • Verra suspended 27 projects after the C-Quest charges; US prosecutors charged Kenneth Newcombe in October 2024.
  • Southern Cardamom: consultation with Indigenous Chong communities began 31 months after activities started; the post-suspension review was done by auditors who had previously approved the project.
  • Kariba: 15.2 million of 26.8 million issued credits found excess; 10.3 million already retired remain valid.
    Verra

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
No figure published.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Currency: USD · Window: 2022–2023. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • verra (18 October 2024): Said accreditation and international standards keep auditors impartial and that the audited party paying for the audit is standard practice in every sector. · Verra
  • verra (2025): Found the Coglianese and Giles study biased.
  • iavvb (2025): Said responsibility for over-crediting lies with the registry.
  • verra (2024): Said it does not conduct field investigations (Southern Cardamom).

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

  1. October 2024–Ongoing
    United States v. Kenneth Newcombe (C-Quest Capital cookstove credits)
    United States federal prosecutors (court not named in the sources reviewed) · Criminal · United States prosecutors → Kenneth Newcombe, founder of C-Quest Capital and Verra board member 2007–2023

    Newcombe was charged with falsifying data to inflate credit numbers. A former operations manager pleaded guilty. Newcombe denies the charges. The case was postponed in December 2024 for health reasons; no later information was found.

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Kariba credits found excess
15.2m of 26.8m
Verra, September 2025
Independent ecological evaluation
Not on record
The sources reviewed concern registry fees, audits and conflicts, and do not report an ecological assessment.

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Case pending / contestedKey earnings undisclosedNo independent ecological evaluation

Nature

  • Not measured Harm to nature: No independent ecological evaluation is on record.
  • Disputed How many Kariba credits stood for avoided deforestation?

Accounts

  • Disputed Does developer-pays-auditor, with a per-credit levy to the registry, weaken audits?
  • Disputed Was the Southern Cardamom review independent?

Record

  • None on record The names of the four VVBs Verra suspended in March 2025: the source is paywalled and the names are not in the sources that could be opened.
  • None on record The status of the Newcombe case after December 2024: no source found.
  • None on record The share of Verra's revenue that comes from the per-credit levy, and Verra executive pay: no source found.
  • Not measured Market shares of VVBs: no measurement found.
  • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: a levy of US$0.23 per tonne from 1 January 2025, and a US$0.20 per-credit levy from 1 July 2023; the financial statements summary gives 30 March 2023 for the increase to US$0.20.

Did the harm stop?

Verra suspended 27 projects after the C-Quest charges and four VVBs in March 2025; the sources reviewed do not say whether the underlying audit arrangement changed.

Who paid?

Buyers of credits found to be excess, 10.3 million of which remain valid after retirement, and the Indigenous Chong communities consulted 31 months after activities started at Southern Cardamom.

Sources

Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers✓ Standard-setters and registries

Press and investigations

  1. The South Pole Kariba carbon emission
    Follow the Money · 2023-01-27

Communities and civil society

Standard-setters and registries

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.
Excess credits
Credits issued beyond the amount that a later review found to be justified.
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.
Retired credit
A credit that has been used to make a climate claim and is permanently removed from circulation in the registry.
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.

Law and courts

Plea
In a criminal case, the defendant's formal answer to a charge. A plea agreement settles a case with a guilty plea on agreed terms.