Why Carbon Credits Are Mostly a Fraud
March 10, 2026 · Frisian News
Corporate carbon credits fail to cut real emissions and often funnel money to projects that would happen anyway. Companies buy absolution instead of changing how they work.
A coal plant in Indonesia offsets its emissions by planting trees on land it already owned. A cement factory in Brazil buys credits for a wind farm that was built with government money anyway. These schemes sit at the heart of the global carbon credit market, a 2 trillion dollar industry that lets polluters claim they hurt the planet less than they actually do. The math does not work. The planet does not care about credits on a balance sheet.
The problem runs deep. Most carbon credits measure fictional carbon cuts. A project gets credit for not cutting down a forest, but that forest faced no real threat of being cut. A solar farm gets credit because it replaces coal power, yet the coal plant was closing anyway due to economics and local law. These are called baseline games. Companies and governments count carbon cuts that never were. Auditors, paid by the credit sellers, rubber-stamp the numbers.
Major oil firms and airlines buy these junk credits to maintain their public image while growing their real emissions year after year. Shell, BP, and Emirates all claim carbon neutral operations. Their actual fuel burned, their actual greenhouse gas pumped into the air, stays the same or rises. The credits just move money from rich countries to poor ones, creating a moral theater that costs almost nothing but feels expensive.
A 2024 study by Verra, the biggest certifier, admitted that 70 to 90 percent of its forest credits would not have reduced emissions at all. The firm had known this for years. It fixed the numbers anyway because that is where the money lives. When fraud comes from the top, it flows downward through every layer of the system.
Countries serious about cutting carbon do one thing: they stop burning coal, gas, and oil. They build power plants that run on wind and sun. They make cars run on electricity. They do this because it works, not because they bought a credit. Every dollar spent on carbon credits is a dollar not spent on real change. That choice tells you everything you need to know about who wants to actually fix the problem.
In koalefâbryk yn Indonesje yntegriert syn emissies troch beammen te plantsjen op lân dat it al hie. In sementfabryk yn Brasyl keapet credits foar in windmûne dy't toch al mei steatsgeld boud waard. Dizze systemen lizze yn it hert fan de wrâldwide koalstofkredytmerk, in yndustry fan 2 biljoen dollar dy't fersmoalers lit bewearje dat se de planeet minder skieie as se wirklik dogge. De wiskunde klopt net. De planeet jout neat om credits op in balansrekêning.
It probleem sit djipper. Meastste koalstofkrediten mjitte fiktive koalstoffermindering. In projekt krijt credit foar it net kappeien fan in bosk, mar dat bosk rin gjin echte gefaar te wurden snien. In sinnepaniel krijt credit omdat it steenkoallstroom ferfanget, mar de steenkoalfabryk gie toch al ticht troch ekonomy en lokale wet. Dit hjitte baseline games. Bedriuwen en regearrings telle koalstofverminderings dy't nea barne. Auditers, betelle troch de creditferkeapers, jefft seal fan goudkearing op de nûmers.
Grute oaljesbedriuwen en fluchtfersenden keapje dizze weardeloaze credits om har ôfbylding goed te hâlden wile se hare echte emissies jier foar jier ferheegje. Shell, BP en Emirates bewearje allegear koalstofneutraal te wurkjen. Har werklike brânstofgebrûk, har werklike brûksgassen yn 'e loft, bliuwt gelyk of stijt. De credits ferplaatsje allinne jild fan rike nei arme lannen, wylst sy moreel teater meitsje dat hast neat kost mar tsjûch fielt.
In stúdzje út 2024 fan Verra, de grutste sertifiker, jûn ta dat 70 oant 90 persint fan har boskskrediten hielendal gjin emissies wold fermindsje hawwe. De bedriuw wist dit jierren. It feroare de nûmers toch omdat dêr it jild sit. Wannear fraude fan boppen komt, stroamt it troch elk nivo fan it systeem.
Lannen serieus oer koalstoffermindering dogge ien ding: se hâlde op mei it branden fan steenkoel, gas en oalje. Se bouwe enrjisintralys dy't op wyn en sinne rinnend. Se meitsje auto's op elektrisiteit rijne. Se dogge dit omdat it wurket, net omdat se in credit keapt hawwe. Elke dollar betsen oan koalstofkrediten is in dollar net betsen oan echte feroaring. Dy kar fertelt dy alles wat du witte moatst oer wa it probleem echt oplosse wol.
Published March 10, 2026 · Frisian News · Ljouwert, Fryslân