New findings examine the problematic nature of the largest carbon offsets projects based in Brazil, host of the 2025 U.N. climate treaty talks (COP30). The research suggests there is little evidence that these projects are likely to deliver the promised emissions reductions.
Key findings include:
- Nearly 75% of credits from the top 50 carbon offsets projects retired in Brazil between January 2024 – June 2025 are “problematic” and should not be relied upon to deliver emissions cuts.
- Verra, the world’s largest carbon offsets industry, hosts the majority of these problematic projects in Brazil, accounting for 12.8 million carbon offsets retired in this period.
- Major international corporations, including BlackRock, Shell, Philip Morris, and EY retired problematic credits from these Brazil-based projects between January 2024 and June 2025.
- Many of the largest offsets in Brazil are among the largest projects in the voluntary carbon market (VCM) around the globe, including Pacajai REDD+, ranked the 7th largest project by credits retired in the world in 2024.
This research expands upon Corporate Accountability’s report “Built to Fail,” which revealed that despite ongoing “reforms” of the VCM, more than 47.7 million problematic offset credits were retired through 43 of the world’s largest offsets projects in 2024. This volume represents nearly one-quarter of the entire VCM in 2024. It shows that Brazil is just one example of how carbon offsets and the carbon market are not a proven, meaningful, and permanent pathway to global emissions reduction.
So why is the carbon market still so popular, despite growing evidence that it is failing and flawed?
Read the briefing to learn more.
