Biodiversity offset / offset credit
7 cases in 6 countries, 1988–2023. Most cases: United States (3), United Kingdom (2), Germany (1), Sweden (1), Malaysia (1).
German courts bar 'CO2-neutral' and 'klimaneutral' advertising by five companies in cases brought by Deutsche Umwelthilfe (2023-2026)
Between March 2023 and July 2026 courts in Düsseldorf, Karlsruhe and Cologne ruled against climate-neutral or offset advertising by TotalEnergies Wärme & Kraftstoff Deutschland, dm, Eurowings, ZG Raiffeisen Energie and Lufthansa, in cases brought by Deutsche Umwelthilfe. The Cologne Higher Regional Court dismissed Eurowings' appeal on 13 December 2024 and, on 8 July 2026, left only one Lufthansa statement barred after the claimant waived the other.
Swedish court bans Arla's "netto noll klimatavtryck" claim for organic dairy products (2023)
The Patent and Market Court of the Stockholm District Court ruled on 2 February 2023, in a case brought by the Consumer Ombudsman, that Arla's "netto noll klimatavtryck" (net zero climate footprint) claim on its Arla Ko Eko products was misleading, because the promised effect would be reached only after 100 years. It banned the claim under a fine of SEK 1,000,000 and ordered Arla to pay the Consumer Ombudsman's costs of SEK 354,855.
Carbon credits sold to retail investors in the United Kingdom: convictions 2013–2021
Voluntary carbon credits were cold-called to UK retail investors at large mark-ups. In May 2021 Seakens was sentenced to 13 years and Ryan to 6 for a network that sold more than 5 million credits for £36m; other sellers were sentenced from 2013 to 2019. The Financial Conduct Authority says carbon credits are not regulated by it.
Malua BioBank: biodiversity conservation certificates for a logged forest reserve in Sabah, Malaysia
In 2008 a private equity fund and the Sabah government issued 3.4 million Biodiversity Conservation Certificates at US$10 each for the 34,000 ha Malua Forest Reserve, with projected revenue of US$34 million. The only sales total in the sources is US$215,000; the fund exited in 2020 and the BioBank's later status is not on record.
Generation Investment Management: fees, partners' profit and Foundation grants
Generation Investment Management, the London asset manager co-founded by Al Gore and David Blood in 2004, divided £431.688 million of profit among its members in 2021 and £83.967 million in 2025. Its Foundation, funded by partners, made most of its grants to finance, disclosure and policy bodies; the sources reviewed record no regulator or court finding against the firm.
Delhi Sands flower-loving fly and the Colton Dunes Conservation Bank, California
A conservation bank set up in 2005 on 150 acres of Delhi Sands dune habitat in Colton, California, sold one-acre credits to developers and public agencies whose projects affected the endangered Delhi Sands flower-loving fly. The credit price rose from US$100,000 to US$150,000 per credit; 28 credits had been sold by March 2008, and no source measures whether the credits offset the habitat lost at the development sites.
US compensatory mitigation and conservation banking under the "no net loss" policy
Since 1988 the United States has pursued a goal of no net loss of wetlands, met in part through compensatory mitigation that developers buy from banks. The market runs to billions of dollars a year by the sources' estimates; the National Research Council (2001), GAO (2005, 2026) and peer-reviewed studies report shortfalls in outcomes or oversight.
Carbon and conservation finance
- Offset
- Using carbon credits to balance emissions released elsewhere, so that a buyer can claim lower or zero net emissions.