Volkswagen, TotalEnergies and others face risks over “limbo” credits

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🗞️ Driving the news: Volkswagen, Nespresso, TotalEnergies, and other companies face heightened legal and reputational risk after Verra, the world’s largest carbon credit registry, admitted to issuing 15 million excess credits to a forest protection project in Zimbabwe
• The Kariba REDD+ project, managed by Carbon Green Investments (CGI), was used to support a wide range of carbon-neutral claims — now thrown into doubt due to overestimated baseline deforestation rates.

🔭 The context: Between 2013 and 2021, Verra issued 27 million credits to the Kariba project, which promised to protect nearly 2 million acres around Lake Kariba
• However, a 2023 New Yorker investigation raised concerns over credit validity and financial misconduct
• Following Verra’s internal review, it confirmed the over-issuance but opted not to invalidate already-retired credits
• CGI, meanwhile, has withdrawn the project from the registry and is resisting Verra’s request to cancel an equivalent number of credits

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: This incident exposes deep structural flaws in voluntary carbon markets, particularly around project verification, accountability, and credit integrity
• It undermines public trust in carbon-neutral claims and highlights the vulnerability of companies relying on offsets from projects with insufficient safeguards
• Without clear correction mechanisms, such oversights risk becoming systemic — threatening the credibility of the entire carbon credit system

⏭️ What's next: Legal action may follow. Companies like Apple and BP have already faced court losses in Europe over questionable offsets, and similar cases are emerging in the U.S.
• CGI’s refusal to accept Verra’s compensation plan could delay or block remediation
• The episode is also likely to fuel broader calls for regulatory oversight of voluntary carbon markets, with potential ripple effects for how registries manage credit issuance and safeguard buyers

💬 One quote: "We are still in limbo." – Danny Cullenward, Senior Fellow, Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, commenting on the unresolved status of the credits and compensation

📈 One stat: 15 million excess credits were issued by Verra to the Kariba project — enough to cast doubt on years of “carbon-neutral” claims by multiple multinational firms

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