The Great Climate Scandal (2023)

In The Great Climate Scandal, journalist Matt Shea investigates reports around Verra, an international non-profit company that works with governments and businesses to certify carbon credits.

Carbon credits are tradable permits representing the right to emit a specific amount of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases, aimed at incentivizing businesses and governments to reduce their overall emissions. Organisations can “offset” their CO₂ emissions by buying credits from projects that mitigate the equivalent amount of CO₂ emissions. Many businesses and institutions see the carbon credit system as a potential route towards reducing carbon emissions enough to meet global Net Zero targets.

While the practice has been popularised in recent years by major global organisations, including some of the biggest CO₂ emitters buying into them, environmental groups and investigative journalists have raised questions over whether some of these credits are as trustworthy as they appear. Can the world rely on the authenticity of these carbon offset schemes in the vital effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?