Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, recently closed a deal to buy 1.3 million carbon removal credits from commercial tree plantations in Latin America, with an option for an additional 2.6 million credits through 2038. The agreement, called “one of the largest of its kind,” was struck with Latin America’s largest investment bank, BTG Pactual. The Forests & Finance policy assessment platform rates BTG Pactual’s environment policies at a 0.9 of 10 due to billions invested in beef and pulp companies with links to deforestation. The Meta deal with BTG was struck through its forestry project, the Timberland Investment Group (TIG). TIG does not publicly disclose the locations of its farms. However, a 2023 Mongabay investigation found TIG had opened new offices in the Brazilian Cerrado at the heart of the paper and pulp industry as well as eucalyptus expansion in the region. The carbon credit reforestation project involves buying up huge swaths of pastureland in Brazil’s Cerrado savanna region and turning them into eucalyptus plantations, which are exacerbating drought conditions. The Cerrado regulates 40% of Brazil’s freshwater and is facing its worst drought in 700 years. The high water consumption of eucalyptus monocultures, 30-60 liters (8-16 gallons) of water daily per tree, is worsening drought conditions linked to climate change and extreme weather. TIG’s work in the Brazilian Cerrado and other places can make money on several fronts: Trees are sold to the paper and pulp industry, the bank speculates on the new rural land acquired and…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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