Graft reports dent carbon credit scheme

Watmore Makokobah

 Kariba—Conflicting accounts have surrounded the collapse of the once promising Kariba REDD+ carbon credit scheme, amid concerns that its management operated in an illicit way.

REDD+ stands for “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation”. as a way to combat climate change.

The initiative, aimed at reducing deforestation and generating carbon credits, has been engulfed in a scandal involving financial mismanagement, environmental degradation, and community disenfranchisement.

Carbon Green Investments (CGI), the project’s developer, in late May this year announced its withdrawal from the Kariba and Chirisa REDD+ schemes and the  Verra registry, a leading carbon standard.

At the time of the exit, various reasons—mostly sanitising the withdrawal that one report described as a “strategic decision”—were proffered.

“This strategic decision, effective immediately, comes after extensive deliberations and a detailed review of the project’s engagement over the past seven months,” wrote Accesswire in its article of 30 May 2024.

It added: “The decision…was driven by a series of challenges that hindered their effective management and operations. Significant issues included prolonged communication delays and inadequate engagement with the relevant bodies, which have impacted the projects’ implementation and CGI’s business operations.”

The CGI, according to the report, “faced considerable challenges, resulting in extended periods of uncertainty that have affected the projects’ beneficiaries, staff, and business operations”.

Accesswire further claimed that there were “persistent delays in addressing inquiries and providing necessary access to information (that) have significantly hindered CGI’s business and project management capabilities.”

Without offering details and evidence, the report also alleged that CGI was frustrated by lack of transparency and “operational integrity”.

Online searches show that the article by Accesswire could simply have been a public relations job to sanitise CGI, based on the latter’s own spin through a press release.

The withdrawal followed a series of allegations, including illegal activities within the project boundary and the misappropriation of funds.

Leading global carbon offset seller, South Pole, a Swiss carbon consultancy, pulled out of the scheme last year, citing concerns with the project standards and integrity.

The withdrawal of the Kariba REDD+ project comes after a long conflict between CGI and Verra.

Verra had earlier frozen the registry account of Steve Wentzel, the Zimbabwe-based head of CGI, after the New Yorker magazine wrote an article in October 2023 alleging that big game hunting had taken place within the project boundary.

Wentzel, as well, admitted to using undocumented cash transfers and bypassing banking regulations.

Wentzel revealed to the New Yorker that when he needed money for the project, he would transfer it from Guernsey into the account of an acquaintance who wanted electronic funds in Mauritius, the Cayman Islands, Seychelles or Russia.

To transfer the money to Zimbabwe, he would arrange for the equivalent in US dollars to be delivered to him in the southern African country.

Alternatively, he would pay an invoice for someone else—for a consignment of motorbikes, for instance –and that person would deliver to him, the money in cash.

“This looks bad because you’re just sending money here, there, and everywhere, but, on the receiving side, I can show where we’ve got it. Well, I can show you the bundles of cash on the floor,” he is quoted saying and pleading with the New Yorker reporter that he faced jail for using illicit financial flows to transfer money to Zimbabwe.

“I don’t know what you’re going to report on this, and I hope to God it’s not all of it because I probably will go to jail,” said Wentzel.

He is described by the REDD+ Monitor, a carbon offset publication, as a white Zimbabwean entrepreneur who runs an offshore finance company called EBC Guernsey Limited.

It is incorporated in the tax haven of Guernsey. https://ebcgsy.com/about-us/

He is also reported to be involved in gold trade, safaris and health insurance.

The actual amount of money that the South Pole transferred to CGI is not clear yet.

Last year, Wentzel confirmed to the investigative journalism platform, Follow The Money, that he had received €40 million from the South Pole.

According to project documents in possession of this publication, CGI was supposed to keep 30 percent of the money.

Part of it was supposed to fund involved district councils’ activities, which included anti-poaching patrols and fire suppression.

The district councils, among them Binga, Mbire, Nyaminyami and Hurungwe, were supposed to share 30 percent of the total proceeds, while 20 percent would go to communities.

Twenty percent was meant for environmental protection, another 20 percent for leaseholders, while 10 percent was for project sustainability.

Wentzel is reported to have accounted for only €6 million of the €40 million he had received from the South Pole and, according to the New Yorker, that amount was not backed by any paper trail.

Meanwhile, local communities that had been promised to benefit from the project were reportedly left high and dry.

Residents of rural Nyaminyami district say they are still in the dark on what happened to the promises made to them by the Kariba REDD+ project managers.

The much-anticipated community development projects never took off.

“During consultation meetings held in our village, we were promised several projects which include community gardens. Nothing has materialised,

“The problem is, we don’t even know where to report this. There is no clear government control over this project. We should be left to look after our forests as before than to be hoodwinked by these foreign projects which are only bent on profiteering at our expense” lamented a Nyaminyami resident, Amos Siyamuchembo.

Climate justice activists are sceptical about the viability of the carbon credit scheme.

Most of the climate experts interviewed expressed concern about the effectiveness of projects such as Kariba REDD+.

A Zimbabwean climate justice expert who chose anonymity has argued that the Kariba REDD+ project’s failure is not surprising, as carbon credit schemes often provide false solutions to the climate crisis. But, instead perpetuate inequality within host communities.

“I am not surprised by the failure of the Kariba REDD project. It was never a sustainable solution. What Africa needs are genuine, community-driven strategies that focus on sustainable livelihoods, agroecology, and equitable resource management.

“The future of climate action must be rooted in justice and respect for the rights of local communities.,

“These projects, exhibited as tools for emissions reduction…leave local communities vulnerable to exploitation by powerful, external actors. Communities that depend on their land for survival are often excluded from decision-making processes, while political elites and multinational corporations benefit from the commodification of carbon.

“This approach not only fails to address the root causes of climate change, but also perpetuates inequality and marginalisation” he said.

Farai Maguwu, the Centre for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG) director, questioned the Zimbabwean government’s commitment to ensuring foreign investments do not prejudice communities where they operate.

“This is where history must help us. Has our government ever prioritised communities when engaging investors? Look at what they are doing in the mining sector—organised criminal networks wreaking havoc in resource-rich communities, whichever direction you look in Zim,

The Kariba REDD+ project largely operated without comprehensive government oversight for the 12 years in was in existence.

It was only in October last year that it promulgated Statutory Instrument (SI) 158 to control and manage all carbon credit trading projects in Zimbabwe.