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redd+

Carbon Offsets to Reduce Deforestation Are Significantly Overestimating Their Impact, a New Study Finds

A study in six countries across three continents finds that most carbon offsets aimed at avoiding deforestation are failing to keep forests standing or cut atmospheric greenhouse gases.

By Keerti Gopal

Paiter-Surui volunteers alongside "forest engineers" from a Brazillian Government support program using GPS equipment to map and measure the trees and vegetation in the "7th September Indian Reserve" in Rondônia, Brazil. This information is intended to later be used to calculate the forest carbon content as part of REDD+, which stands for "Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation" and is enshrined in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. The "Forest Carbon Project" was initiated by the Patier-Surui in 2009 and was the first indigenous-led conservation project financed through the sale of carbon offsets. Credit: Craig Stennett/Getty Images.
Aerial view of a cocoa field and remains of deforested trees in Colombia on November 4, 2021. Credit: Raul Arboleda/AFP via Getty Images

New Reports Show Forests Need Far More Funding to Help the Climate, and Even Then, They Can’t Do It All

By Georgina Gustin

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