US tech giants are spending millions to buy carbon offsets in the Global South. One project in Kenya covers an area the size of Slovenia and promises to offset carbon emissions by restricting where and when livestock can graze. But indigenous herders are crying foul, while human rights organizations worry that fencing and armed enforcement of grazing rules are eroding nomadic traditions without prior consent from residents.
#PlanetA #CarbonOffsets #CarbonCredits
Credits:
Reporter: Daniel Plafker
Video Editor: Neven Hillebrands
Camera: Alexandria S Williams
Supervising Editor: Kiyo Dörrer
Fact-Check: Alexander Paquet
Legal Council: Florian Wagenknecht
Thumbnail: Em Chabridon
Samburu Interpreter: Mario Kuraki
Our reporter Daniel received the Transatlantic Media Fellowship, funded by the Heinrich Böll Stiftung, to help follow this story: https://us.boell.org/en/person/daniel-plafker
Read more:
Verra project page Northern Kenya Grassland Carbon Project:
https://registry.verra.org/app/projectDetail/VCS/1468?_gl=1*e4xwrr*_gcl_au*MzMwMzI0MTEzLjE3MzQ0NTAyNDY.*_ga*MTE2NTc0NzQ3NS4xNzM0NDUwMjQ2*_ga_2VGK901B6P*MTczNjUxMTY1My4zLjAuMTczNjUxMTY1My4wLjAuMA..
Project information by the NRT:
https://www.nrt-kenya.org/carbon-project-faq
Quoted report by Survival International: Blood Carbon. How a carbon offset scheme makes millions from Indigenous land in Northern Kenya:
https://assets.survivalinternational.org/documents/2466/Blood_Carbon_Report.pdf
Carbon credits from award-winning Kenyan offset suspended by Verra:
https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/carbon-credits-from-award-winning-kenyan-offset-suspended-by-verra/
Chapters:
00:00 INTRO
01:13 PLANNED ROTATIONAL GRAZING
02:48 THE CONSERVANCY’S POINT OF VIEW
04:21 FENCING AND DISPLACEMENT
06:38 THE NRT IN COURT
09:19 A FAMILY'S TESTIMONY
11:14 WHO IS REALLY IN CHARGE?
13:51 BURNT DOWN TOURIST LODGE
16:40 NAIROBI STREET PROTEST
18:27 WHO PROFITS?
20:37 CONCLUSION