Science: 'Forest carbon offsets are failing'

Brazil's President Lula has reduced the rate of rainforest deforestation, although deforestation is still occurring:

"Since taking back the Brazilian presidency, Lula has worked quickly to position himself as a climate progressive and global leader on the issue, bringing Amazon deforestation levels this summer to the lowest rate in six years — a remarkable reversal after the environmentally damaging policies of his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.

'The whole world has always talked about the Amazon. Now the Amazon is speaking for itself,' he said Tuesday.

Lula urged rich countries to complete their clean energy and international climate funding goals, arguing that a $100 billion funding plan had already become an 'insufficient' sum.

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In remarks earlier Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres noted that G20 countries, among them Brazil, are responsible for 80 percent of greenhouse emissions."

— "‘The Amazon is speaking for itself’: Brazil President Lula puts climate and inequality at the center of UN address," David Shortell, CNN, September 19, 2023

Some people once placed faith in carbon offsets

Rewind two years: "The carbon offset market could be worth $200 billion by 2050. But what is it?" Ed Scott-Clarke and Max Burnell, CNN Business, October 18, 2021

But no:

Forest carbon offsets are failing: Analysis reveals emission reductions from forest conservation have been overestimated. Julia P. G. Jones and Simon L. Lewis. Science. 24 Aug 2023. Vol 381, Issue 6660. pp. 830-831

These projects aren't actually offsetting emissions when seen from certain angles:

"'Misleading offsets carry negative consequences for the climate because they are not offsetting the emissions released, for forest conservation because they are not reducing deforestation as much as claimed, and for the future finance of forest conservation because the reputational risks of being tainted by accusations of greenwash may deter future investments,' she wrote."
— Julia P. G. Jones, Ph.D., a professor of conservation science at Bangor University in England, quoted in Salon, August 24, 2023

AJ Sadauskas says on Bluesky (Feb 16, 2024): "I'm increasingly of the view that the whole net zero/net negative framing of emissions is often just a distraction from real action." You have to actually stop emissions, not just calculate "net zero with a bunch of carbon offsets."

Grow faster, trees:

Could turbocharging trees help solve the climate crisis? [Video] Hear why start-up Living Carbon believes bioengineering faster-growing trees is one of the better nature-based solutions for sucking more carbon out of the atmosphere. CNN Business, July 7, 2022.