The Green Economy

The Green Economy is a tactic used to “clean up” the image of corporations rather than address corporate capture and capitalism as the true drivers of deforestation. False solutions promoted under the Green Economy include certification, sustainable forest management, ecosystem services, REDD+, the bioeconomy, nature-based climate solutions, and zero net deforestation. Rather than stopping it, these “solutions” support corporate-driven destruction that is causing a deep social and ecological crisis.

Bulletin articles 24 October 2024
This article tells the story of a Podcast that is being jointly launched with Solidaritas Perumpuan, a feminist organisation from Indonesia. This espisode is the third in the series “Women’s struggles for land”, produced by WRM together with organisations from different countries. This one tells the story of women's resistance to oil palm plantations, REDD and a large-scale project for food production (Food Estate) in three villages in Central Kalimantan.
Bulletin articles 24 October 2024
In Congo-Brazzaville, tree planting projects intended for carbon markets have proliferated over the past four years. This concerns large-scale developments of monocultures initiated by oil companies under the seductive term of carbon neutrality and promises of job creation for communities. But in reality, they are neither a solution to the climate crisis nor a benefit for the communities of Congo.
Bulletin articles 24 October 2024
With World Bank support, the Thai government is moving quickly to implement its ‘climate policy’ based on carbon offsetting through the use of so-called ‘green areas’. These areas are projected to cover no less than half of the country´s area. Yet hidden behind this ‘green’ discourse is an economic policy that is heavily reliant on the continued use of fossil fuels. (Available in Thai).
Bulletin articles 24 October 2024
One of the central issues under discussion in Cali, Colombia, at the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Conference of Parties (COP) 16, are the so-called ‘biodiversity offsetting mechanisms’, a strategy to allow companies and their allies to continue expanding their profits and with them, destruction.
Other information 24 October 2024
The growing trend of corporations, particularly in the tech and agribusiness sectors, investing in carbon offset projects through tree planting is leading to large-scale land grabs in the global South. In this recent article, the organisation Grain shows that the rise in tree planting projects, fueled by corporate demand for carbon credits, has led to over 9.1 million hectares being targeted for conversion, primarily in Africa and countries like Brazil and India.
Other information 24 October 2024
Mozambique's Zambezia Integrated Landscape Management Program (ZILMP) was launched in 2019 to combat climate change and reduce deforestation in nine districts, aiming for $50 million in carbon credit revenues by 2024. In this publication, the Centre for Public Integrity (CIR) shows that six months before its ending, the initiative achieved only 25% of emissions reduction and 14% of revenue targets, with minimal benefits reaching local communitie
Other information 24 October 2024
Reflections on the ruling on carbon credits in the Colombian Amazon, by Censat Agua Viva.
Declarations 2 October 2024
Download the statement in pdf - Sign the statement here We, the undersigned, express our grave concerns about biodiversity crediting, offsetting, and related trading schemes. Biodiversity markets are being modelled on the carbon markets, which have serious failings. Additionally, there are insurmountable problems and dangers:
Bulletin articles 22 August 2024
This bulletin highlight several cases where the expansion of carbon projects has become an integral part of the extractivist model. Since this model has been destroying territories and people’s livelihoods for a long time, we share articles on both old and new forms of extractivism, and how communities continue to carry on struggles to resist them.
Bulletin articles 22 August 2024
Peasant families are threatened with eviction by Brasil Bio Fuels (BBF) oil palm plantation company, with the complicity of the state government. This article shows that the much spoken of ‘bioeconomy’ is not ‘sustainable’ and even less ‘clean’. What it does is destroy communities’ territories, just like fossil fuel-based extractive industries have been doing for a long time.
Bulletin articles 22 August 2024
Colombia's Orinoquía region stretches from the foothills of the country's eastern mountain range to the Venezuelan border. This region has historically been associated with the exploitation of rubber, timber, furs and other so-called “natural resources,” to the detriment of ancestral communities. Today, new threats are emerging under the paradigm of conservation, green energy and carbon projects.
Other information 22 August 2024
Indonesian President Jokowi planted the first sugar cane of one more mega-project in Merauke Regency in the South Papua Province on 23 July 2024. He claims the project will help to address the global food and climate crises. But it seems just one more disastrous large-scale project set up in Indonesia and Papua - such as the failed MIFEE project – that put the livelihoods of  forest-dependent peoples at risk.