An investigation claimed that over 90% of its forest carbon credits likely don’t represent real emission reductions, but Verra said that this is incorrect because the studies miscalculate the impact of its REDD+ projects. 

Verra is the world’s leading carbon standard for carbon credits that support global climate action. To date, it has issued over 1 billion carbon credits since 2009.

The credits enabled billions of dollars invested into urgent climate action, sustainable development, and the protection and restoration of ecosystems, Verra stated. 

Findings on Verra’s REDD+ Projects

An analysis of some forest projects, also called REDD+, that Verra verifies says that the carbon credits those projects generate are “largely worthless” and are “phantom credits”.

The 9-month investigation was done by the Guardian, the German weekly Die Zeit, and SourceMaterial, a non-profit investigative journalism organization. 

Their findings are based on an analysis of scientific studies of Verra’s rainforest schemes. These studies used satellite images to check the results of the REDD+ projects under investigation.

REDD+ means “reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, plus the conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries”.

Example of a Verra REDD+ Project

Guardian graphic. Source: High-Resolution Global Maps of 21st-Century Forest Cover Change by Hansen et al. 2013. Referenced area sourced from project documents

A team of journalists that performed the investigation concluded these key findings:

No climate benefit:

According to two studies, only a handful of Verra’s rainforest projects showed evidence of deforestation reductions. Further analysis also shows that 94% of the carbon credits bring no benefit to the climate. 

Overstatement of forest threats:

A study by the University of Cambridge in 2022 revealed that the threat to forests was overstated by about 400% on average for Verra REDD+ projects. 

Carbon credits buyers:

Big corporations are the major buyers of carbon offset credits approved by Verra for climate and environmental benefits. They include Shell, BHP, EasyJet, Pearl Jam, Salesforce, Gucci, and Disney among many others.

Human rights issues:

At least one of the projects involves a serious concern with human rights issues. Residents in a project site (in Peru) said that they were forced to leave their homes that were cut down by park authorities. 

The studies that journalists based their analysis on used different methods and time periods. They also looked at various ranges of Verra REDD+ projects.

The researchers noted that their studies have limitations and that no modelling approach is ever perfect. Still, the data spoke of broad agreement on the lack of effectiveness of the projects compared with the Verra-approved predictions, the analysts said. 

Verra strongly disputed the findings, saying the methods the studies use cannot capture the projects’ real impact on the ground. This is where the difference in calculating the carbon credits Verra approves and the reductions the scientists estimate lies. 

Verra’s Response: Incorrect Conclusions

Verra worked closely with the publication to explain why their findings are not true. The carbon standard responded that it is:

“…disappointed to see the publication of an article in the Guardian, developed with Die Zeit and SourceMaterial, incorrectly claiming that REDD+ projects are consistently and substantively over-issuing carbon credits.”

Verra further said that the claims in the article are based on studies using “synthetic controls” that don’t account for project-specific factors that cause deforestation. Thus, they greatly miscalculated the impact of Verra’s REDD+ projects.

The carbon credits verifier develops and improves its methodologies through rigorous consultations with academics and experts.

This is to make sure that project baselines used to calculate carbon credits are robust. Only then that they can serve as a credible benchmark against which to assess the impact of the projects.

Verra certifies projects that avoid, reduce, or remove emissions measured in tonnes of CO2 or its equivalent (CO2e). 

The Claims are Not True – Verra

Verra welcomes scrutiny of methodologies and contributions from other experts through public consultations. 

Though the studies provide data that contribute to the broader work on optimizing methodologies for rainforest projects, they have limited utility for assessing the impact of REDD+ projects, Verra stated. That’s because, again, they don’t take into account site-specific drivers of deforestation. 

In particular, the studies have incorrect findings as they rely on synthetic controls that don’t accurately represent the pre-project conditions in the area. The authors themselves acknowledge this.

Synthetic controls compare a project to a control scenario based on a set of variables that impact deforestation. On the other hand, Verra’s approach for REDD+ projects compares them to real areas. 

The verifier is also using synthetic controls for certain project types, i.e. Improved Forest Management in North America. But this approach is not suitable for REDD+ projects due to the difficulty in finding points that match inside and outside the project area.

Verra also noted that their REDD+ projects are not randomly located. There are local factors at play to know that a specific area is at acute risk of deforestation. And that’s crucial in deciding which project area to select. 

Verra REDD+ methodologies are designed to address the variability between the project area and surrounding areas, whereas the synthetic controls used in studies do not effectively do this.

Therefore, the studies calculated emission reductions different from the number of carbon credits that Verra issued to the projects.

Lenovo has revealed its goal to reach net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050, which the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) approves, and entered a carbon credits deal with K+N. 

With this commitment, Lenovo becomes the first PC and smartphone maker with an SBTi-approved net zero target. The tech firm is also one of only 139 companies in the world that has a climate goal validated by the Net Zero Standard. 

Lenovo’s emissions reduction measurements will contribute to a wider body of data to better understand and tackle climate change.

The SBTi Net Zero Standard

Lenovo Chairman Yuanqing Yang remarked:

“In the fight against climate change, we believe collaboration and accountability are the two critical elements needed for collective success. We remain dedicated to following climate science, standardizing our measurements, and seeking ongoing validation for our targets and progress.” 

Aligning net zero goals to the SBTi helps Lenovo to take a scientific, collaborative, and accountable means to cut emissions. Without doing so will make it hard to know when a net zero target is met. 

SBTi is the first international body to standardize net zero and what it means as it relates to limiting global warming to 1.5°C. This net zero standard is also dynamic and responsive to firms’ collective efforts to decarbonize. 

More importantly, SBTi holds companies accountable for their emissions reduction targets. 

More than 4,000 companies worldwide are in the process of aligning their emissions reduction goals to SBTi’s methodology and validation processes. 

CEO of the SBTi Luiz Amaral noted that the world needs rapid and deep emissions cuts to meet global net zero targets to avoid the most damaging effects of climate change. He further said:

“Lenovo’s net zero targets match the urgency of the climate crisis and set a clear example that their peers must follow.” 

How Lenovo Will Hit Its 2050 Net Zero Goal

Lenovo commits to reaching net zero emissions across its value chain by 2050. Its long-term target is to cut absolute GHG emissions across all three scopes – 1, 2, and 3 – by 90% by 2050 from a 2019 base year. 

Hitting such an ambitious decarbonization goal requires the tech company to achieve the following reduction goals.

SBTi-Validated Near-Term Targets

Reduce scope 1 and scope 2 GHG emissions by 50% by 2030, compared to 2019 levels
Reduce emissions from the use of sold products by 35% on average for comparable products by 2030
Cut scope 3 emissions from purchased goods and services by 66.5% per million US$ gross profit by 2030
Cut scope 3 emissions from upstream transportation and distribution by 25% per tonne-km of transported product by 2030

The key strategies that Lenovo will adopt to reduce its GHG emissions are:

Slashing the environmental impact of its products
Applying innovation to increase the sustainability of its manufacturing
Reducing emissions across its operations and value chain

These plans are outlined in Lenovo’s Journey to Net-Zero video series. It shows how the company’s experts are modifying business processes to hit net zero targets. 

In addition to those emission reduction strategies, Lenovo is also working with other firms to further cut its carbon footprint. Its recent carbon credits collaboration with Kuehne+Nagel (K+N) perfectly shows this. 

Lenovo and K+N Carbon Credits Deal

Lenovo works with Kuehne+Nagel to develop a green logistics service that allows its customers to buy carbon credits that fund the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).

SAF is a fuel from sustainable inputs that reduces carbon emissions.

Via a purchase add-on service, customers can buy credits to cut the footprint of shipping the IT equipment and devices they purchase. They can then use those credits to fund the use of SAF that K+N provides.

There’s a specific amount of liters of SAF assigned to a purchased device. That figure equals the amount of reduction that the customer can claim under Scope 3.1. – emissions for purchased goods and services. 

If this service is chosen, Kuehne+Nagel will issue the carbon credit or certificate to Lenovo and its customers. This certificate indicates the amount of SAF liters per purchased device for any logistics company.

Through K+N’s SAF concept, Lenovo finds a way to address carbon emissions across supply chains, which is in line with its SBTi targets. This further allows Lenovo customers to avoid emissions in product shipment regardless of the lane or airline. 

This forged carbon credit deal with K+N enables Lenovo to pursue its net zero commitment – by “delivering sustainable products and solutions”, the head of global logistics at Lenovo, Gareth Davies said.

Lenovo is an early adopter of the science-based emissions reduction approach. It has received SBTi approval for its near-term 2030 goals in 2020. This has allowed the firm to road-test the first-of-its-kind Net Zero Standard.