Market roundup: Amazonian state to enter carbon credit market

REDD+ carbon credit projects in the Amazon

The government of Pará, the second largest state in the Brazilian Amazon, has pledged to auction three public areas this year as part of a project to generate carbon credits.

REDD+. The plan for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) and conservation and enhancement of forest carbon stocks and the sustainable management of forests (REDD+) actually began in 2021, but was suspended the following year.

• At the time of its launch, the Pará project invited private developers to come up with concession plans for seven areas, focusing on carbon credits generated from avoided deforestation.
• Three players have remained in the running: Brazil’s Carbonext and Biofílica Ambipar, and British firm Permian. They submitted their proposals before the process was suspended.
• Now, Pará Governor Helder Barbalho — a supporter of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva — has resumed the project, promising to grant some 4.2 million hectares of forest at high risk of deforestation.

Simpler. Land demarcation is a major challenge in private forests, which can have multiple owners, making conservation projects more complex. Public forests, which tend...