Before starting this memo I would like to touch some words on afforestation/reforestation programs (a.k.a planting trees) as a carbon offset mechanism. Planting trees has become the darling of many large companies that aim to become carbon neutral in the next couple of years. However, planting trees (as a carbon offset mechanism) has many issues:

Third, many afforestation programs are totally opaque in terms of how the money is really used which leads to many scandals.

Veritree is in its early days, but it hopes to become “an operating system for the restoration economy,” in Emsley’s words. An “Initial Tree Offering” was used to raise money for a “First Edition Forest,” which features trees in Madagascar, Indonesia, Nepal, Kenya, Senegal, and Haiti. The appeal for corporations hoping to make good on their... See more