Wêrom Koalstofkredieten Foar it Grutste Diel Fraude Binne
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.
FryskIn koalsintrale yn Yndoneezje kompensearret syn emisjes troch beammen te plantsjen op lân dat it al yn besit hie. In simentfabryk yn Brazylje keapet kredieten foar in wynmûne dy't dochs al mei oerheidsjild boud waard. Dizze systemen lizze yn it hert fan de wrâldwide koalstofkredietmerk, in yndustry fan 2 biljoen dollar dy't fersmoargers beweare lit dat se de planeet minder skea dogge as se werklik dogge. De wiskunde kloppet net. De planeet jout neat om kredieten op in balânsrekken.
It probleem sit djiper. De measte koalstofkredieten mette fiktive koalstoffermindering. In projekt kriget kredieten foar it net kapjen fan in bosk, mar dat bosk rûn gjin echt risiko kapt te wurden. In sinnepark kriget kredieten om't it koalstroom ferfangt, mar de koalsintrale gie dochs al ticht troch ekonomy en lokale wet. Dit hjitte baseline games. Bedriuwen en regearingen telle koalstofferminderingen dy't nea barden. Auditors, betelle troch de kredietferkeapers, jouwe harren goedkarmerk op de sifers.
Grutte oaljebedriuwen en loftfeartsmaatskippijen keapje dizze weardeloaze kredieten om harren imago goed te hâlden wylst se harren echte emisjes jier nei jier ferheegje. Shell, BP en Emirates claime allegear koalstofneutraal te wurkjen. Harren werklike brânstofferbrûk, harren werklike broeikasgazen yn de loft, bliuwt gelyk of giet omheech. De kredieten ferpleatse allinnich jild fan rike nei earme lannen, wat moreel teater skept dat hast neat kostet mar djoer oanfielt.
In stúdzje út 2024 fan Verra, de grutste sertifisearder, joech ta dat 70 oant 90 persint fan har boskkredieten hielendal gjin emisjes fermindere hawwe soe. It bedriuw wist dit jierren. It feroare de sifers dochs om't dêr it jild sit. As fraude fan boppen komt, streamet it troch elk nivo fan it systeem.
Lannen dy't it earnstig nimme mei koalstoffermindering dogge ien ding: se stopje mei it brânjen fan koal, gas en oalje. Se bouwe enerzjysentralen dy't op wyn en sinne draaie. Se meitsje auto's op elektrisiteit ride. Se dogge dit om't it wurket, net om't se kredieten kocht hawwe. Elke dollar útjûn oan koalstofkredieten is in dollar net útjûn oan echte feroaring. Dy kar fertelt jo alles wat jo witte moatte oer wa't it probleem echt oplosse wol.
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.
Published March 10, 2026 · Frisian News · Ljouwert, Fryslân