Petrobras purchased carbon credits from a project suspected of deforestation

Petrobras purchased its first carbon credits in September to launch its new Podium gasoline, which it called “the only carbon neutral gasoline in the country”. But the Envira Amazônia project, through which the state-owned company claims to have offset the emission of 175 thousand tons of greenhouse gases, is suspected of using areas already deforested (and irregularly) in accounting for these credits, in addition to a lower baseline measurement. to neutralize emissions.

These problems led certifier Verra to deny the renewal of the project’s license. The denial occurred on May 23, 2023, three and a half months before the announcement of the purchase of credits and “zero carbon” gasoline from Petrobras, in September.

According to an analysis commissioned by Verra, it remains to be clarified whether the deforestation was planned and with the appropriate licenses. Another problem, according to a report by “Folha de S.Paulo” and the non-governmental organization WRM, is the presence of extractive communities of rubber tappers inside and outside the rural property, who contest ownership of the land.

There is another caveat to purchasing carbon credits from Petrobras. In January, British newspaper The Guardian revealed that several studies concluded that more than 90% of tropical forest offset credits from Verra-certified projects in several countries are likely to be “ghost credits.”

The company, which is the world’s largest organization in carbon credit certification, with clients such as Disney, Shell and Gucci, questions the study methodologies. It states that their conclusions are incorrect. A People’s GazetteVerra emphasized that it has no authority over credits that have already been sold.

A People’s Gazette contacted Petrobras about the case since October 13th. The company, however, only responded on Monday (30), after the publication of the report. He said that the area in question where he purchased the credits is private, has not been deforested and is preserved.

“The negative [da renovação da certificação] does not represent a rejection of the project. The project manager can provide further details. However, it is important to highlight that Petrobras acquired credits from the 2019, 2020 and 2021 harvests that are fully valid, not related to the change in baseline requested later”, replied the state-owned company.

A People’s Gazette also contacted CarbonCO, LCC and JR Agropecuária, responsible for Envira Amazônia, but none of them responded.