The Case of Africa’s ‘Vanishing’ Carbon Deals

When Liberia’s government signed an agreement with a little-known Dubai company run by a royal sheikh in 2023, the “carbon credit” deal promised to protect vast tracts of forests and offset big polluters’ emissions. It was one of a flurry of deals UAE-based Blue Carbon signed that year covering millions of hectares of forests across Africa -– with one in Zimbabwe covering a fifth of the country’s landmass. African governments would safeguard forests for a share of revenues from carbon credit sales. There would be benefits for communities and help to fight deforestation. It was promoted as a win-win. But more than two years on, Liberia’s Blue Carbon deal has stalled. Other accords across Africa and elsewhere have also gone nowhere, while the UAE company itself appears to have fallen silent, according to a joint investigation by AFP and Code for Africa, an investigative organisation. … Today the company appears to have no global registration and no operational footprint in any recognised global carbon market system, according to a digital investigation by Code for Africa, a South Africa-based operation whose iLAB is Africa’s largest forensic data investigation unit. … Carbon credit projects, particularly those involving forest protection, have frequently run into problems ranging from failing to protect designated forests to links with rights violations of local residents. Efforts are currently under way to improve oversight and regulation of crediting schemes. (AFP)