When Liberia entered into a groundbreaking carbon credit agreement with a Dubai-based company in 2023, the deal promised to protect vast forest areas while generating revenue for the West African nation. Two years later, the ambitious project has completely stalled, joining similar failed agreements across the continent.
The Blue Carbon Phenomenon
The case involves Blue Carbon, a little-known company from Dubai led by Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum, a member of the city's royal family. In 2023, the company signed multiple memoranda of understanding covering millions of hectares of forests across Africa, from Liberia to Zimbabwe.
According to a joint investigation by AFP and Code for Africa, these agreements were supposed to operate under REDD+ frameworks, where developing countries receive financing for reducing emissions by preventing deforestation. African governments would protect forests in exchange for a share of carbon credit revenues and community benefits.
Elijah Whapoe, Liberia's National Climate Change Steering Committee coordinator, confirmed the deal's current status: "It was stopped. As we speak, there is no attempt to my knowledge, anything, about trying to resuscitate it."
Continental Scale of Failed Agreements
The scale of Blue Carbon's proposed operations was unprecedented across Africa:
- Liberia: 1 million hectares (10% of country's landmass)
- Tanzania: 8 million hectares of forest reserves
- Zambia: 8 million hectares
- Zimbabwe: 7.5 million hectares (20% of landmass)
- Additional agreements with Kenya and Nigeria's Niger state
Most agreements were signed before or during the COP28 climate summit in the United Arab Emirates in 2023, with Blue Carbon's chairman often present at signing ceremonies.
Why the Deals Collapsed
The Liberian agreement faced immediate criticism from activists and environmental organizations. Concerns centered around:
- Potential violation of local community land rights
- Lack of transparency in negotiations
- Insufficient community consultation
- Questions about environmental integrity
Saskia Ozinga, founder of forest protection organization Fern, didn't mince words: "Blue Carbon was clearly aimed to greenwash. It was a bizarre idea from many different perspectives, which would have never worked for the climate, for forests and for people."
The United Nations also expressed concerns, with the UN Resident Coordinator in Liberia warning in an August 2023 letter about "serious and credible concerns that the concessions arrangement conflicts with existing community and individual land rights."
No Progress Across Africa and Beyond
Evidence suggests similar stagnation occurred with other Blue Carbon agreements:
In Zimbabwe, Washington Zhakata, the country's climate change director, revealed that Blue Carbon has yet to submit its project idea note, though the company applied for an account on the Zimbabwe Carbon Registry.
Zambia's Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Green Economy and Environment, Douty Chibamba, stated plainly: "The MOU lapsed without any action."
Even outside Africa, Blue Carbon's agreement with Papua New Guinea met the same fate. The country's Climate Change Authority confirmed the 2023 agreement had "not progressed at all."
The Vanishing Company
Today, Blue Carbon appears to have disappeared from the carbon markets entirely. Code for Africa's investigation found:
- No trace of Blue Carbon or its projects on three main carbon credit certification databases
- No required notifications filed under Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement
- The company's website is offline
- Social media accounts inactive since December 2023
- No response to multiple contact attempts
Injy Johnstone, research fellow at Oxford University, highlighted the lessons: "We need to see more transparency related to Article 6 transactions, concrete standards related to environmental integrity of the projects themselves and public accountability from both the supplier and end-user to ensure they do not vanish into 'hot air' as this one has."
The Blue Carbon saga serves as a cautionary tale for African nations considering similar carbon credit arrangements, emphasizing the need for robust standards, transparency, and genuine community engagement in climate initiatives.
