Complaint related to the registration of - and issuance to - REDD+ projects under the VCS

Carbon Market Watch has filed a formal complaint with Verra based on research from the University of California (Berkeley) that identifies 'major deficiencies in project integrity and rigour' across several REDD+ projects. The document alleges that Verra and its validation/verification bodies (VVBs) failed to uphold standards, resulting in the issuance of carbon credits that are not 'environmentally sound'. Key failures cited include non-conservative forest carbon accounting, lack of transparency in allometric equations, inadequate community consultation, and the underestimation of natural reversal risks. The complainant calls for an internal investigation, a halt on credit issuance for the affected projects, and the cancellation of wrongfully issued credits.

• Research conducted by the University of California (Berkeley) found that several REDD+ projects under the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) exhibit 'major deficiencies in project integrity and rigour', suggesting that Verra issued carbon credits that are 'not environmentally sound'.
• Multiple projects demonstrated a lack of conservativeness and transparency in forest carbon accounting, specifically regarding the choice of allometric equations. For example, the Cajambre REDD+ Project (VCS1392) cited a research paper for an allometric equation that actually focused on 'nutrients in water that is completely unrelated to tree allometry'.
• There is evidence of severe underestimation of natural risk scores (permanence). External analysis by Anderegg et al. (2022) found that projects like the Lacandon
   Forest for life REDD+ Project (VCS1541) and the Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary project (VCS1650) had natural risk scores of 80.8% and 81.8% respectively, while the projects themselves quantified these risks at only 7% and 5%.
• The document alleges systemic failures in community consultation and safeguards. In the Kariba REDD+ Project (VCS902), the developer claimed consultation was achieved via a newsletter, which the document describes as 'community consultation being justified through pure conjecture'. In the Jari Par REDD+ Project (VCS1811), the developer reportedly consulted with only six communities despite identifying 98 in the project zone.
• Several projects are linked to land tenure disputes and human rights concerns that were allegedly ignored by auditors. The GuateCarbon REDD+ Project (VCS1384) is associated with the violent eviction of 111 families from the community of Laguna Larga in June 2017, an event the document claims was never mentioned in updated project descriptions.
• The complaint asserts that validation/verification bodies (VVBs) failed to perform their duties as third-party auditors, often accepting 'superficial and self-referential justifications' from developers instead of requiring substantive evidence of safeguard compliance.

APA

Carbon Market Watch (2023). Complaint related to the registration of - and issuance to - REDD+ projects under the VCS. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Grievance-Complaint-to-Verra.pdf

Chicago

Carbon Market Watch. Complaint related to the registration of - and issuance to - REDD+ projects under the VCS. 2023. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Grievance-Complaint-to-Verra.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Carbon Market Watch |title=Complaint related to the registration of - and issuance to - REDD+ projects under the VCS |date=15 September 2023 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Grievance-Complaint-to-Verra.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{carbonmarketwatch2023complaint, author = {{Carbon Market Watch}}, title = {{Complaint related to the registration of - and issuance to - REDD+ projects under the VCS}}, publisher = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2023}, month = sep, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Grievance-Complaint-to-Verra.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }