As California wildfires rage, carbon credit forestry projects, a key component of corporate climate initiatives, face unprecedented hurdles. The greatest park fire in California’s history has destroyed 45,000 acres of carbon-offset forest. This year, fires have destroyed nearly 29,000 acres in Washington and New Mexico.
These forestry initiatives store and absorb carbon, selling credits to Chevron, Shell, and BP to offset emissions. The rising frequency and intensity of wildfires have generated worries about the sustainability of these activities, especially in fire-prone areas.
A “buffer pool” of credits covers wildfire and other unforeseen losses in the California carbon offset scheme. Recent evidence suggests the buffer may not be enough to combat rising wildfire threats. Throughout the previous decade, wildfires have devoured 11 million buffer credits, surpassing the 6.6 million credits allocated for fire damage throughout current projects’ 100-year lifespan.
CarbonPlan expert Grayson Badgley advises California to reevaluate its buffer pool and reconsider authorising new carbon credit projects in high-risk wildfire zones. As climate change worsens, carbon credit forestry projects’ emissions-reduction potential is unknown.
