REDD+ standard criticized in The Guardian

A recent publication in the Guardian(18-01-’23) criticizes the Verra standard throughwhich the majority of the world’s REDD+ credits are issued. Verra is accussed of greatly overestimating the carbon reduction their credits represent. In a response Verra claims that the methods of the studies used by the critics are notrepresentative for the realized results on the ground.

RBI’s position is that the studies used by The Guardian do not jusitify their far reaching claims and further scientific analysis is needed. Neverthless we feel that a thorough scrutiny of the methods used by Verra and other certifiers is very important. This will help to improve the integrity, transparancy and accountablity of the market. But we shouldn’t let scepticism overtake justified criticism aimed at scaling up themuch needed  forest conservation in the tropics via the Voluntary Carbon Market.

Our position is very well reflected in the open letter of Sylvera, subscribed by RBI and almost 50 other organizations representing a mix of developers, ratings platforms, NGOs, marketplaces, intermediaries, and industry bodies.