Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries.
In the Colombian Amazon, an environmental initiative touted as a climate-saving project has turned into a tale of exploitation, lack of transparency, and broken promises, according to an investigation by the Latin American Center for Investigative Journalism (CLIP) and Mongabay Latam. Chevron, one of the world’s largest oil companies, has purchased millions of carbon credits linked to a carbon offset scheme that claims to protect Indigenous land — yet the very community said to be benefiting from the scheme has been kept in the dark.
The Cotuhé Putumayo Indigenous Reservation in Colombia, a lush expanse of the Amazon Rainforest, has been the site of a carbon credit project called “Preserving the Life of the World, Mowíchina arü Maü.” However, the leaders of the reservation, representing the Tikuna and other Indigenous groups, report they were never informed about the project. Despite 3 million carbon credits being sold from their land, these communities were excluded from decision-making and have received no financial benefits.
Pepe Cham, a leader of the Greater Tarapacá Indigenous Cabildo, summed it up: “Zero on every front: zero information, zero participation, zero benefits.”
This isn’t the first time Chevron has engaged in a carbon credit scheme without involving the Indigenous communities. The company’s previous purchase of carbon credits linked to the Pachamama Cumbal project in Colombia’s southern Andes faced similar issues. Indigenous leaders there filed lawsuits, claiming they had not been consulted about the project. Their case was successful, but Chevron’s pattern of buying credits from opaque projects raises serious questions about its due diligence process.
Both the Cotuhé and Cumbal projects share troubling similarities. Both were developed by the same Mexican company, Global Consulting and Assessment Services, and audited by Deutsche Certification Body, which has been under scrutiny for potential conflicts of interest. The CEO of Global Consulting was a former shareholder in Deutsche Certification, raising concerns about the independence of the audit. However, Chevron continued to buy carbon credits from both projects, with no indication that it addressed the transparency issues raised by Indigenous communities.
Chevron purchased 1.8 million carbon credits from the Cotuhé Putumayo project between 2022 and 2024. These credits allowed Chevron to offset its carbon emissions in the region, reducing its tax burden. Yet, despite the project’s supposed benefit to the local community, the Indigenous people involved report having no knowledge of its existence or the money it generated.
This situation raises fundamental questions about the carbon credit market’s effectiveness and the real-world impact of such projects on the communities they claim to benefit. The Cotuhé Putumayo case highlights concerns over transparency, accountability and participation in carbon offset initiatives.
Read the full story here
The full story in English can be found on Drilled.
Banner image of an Indigenous village in the reservation, courtesy of Rodrigo Botero/Foundation for Conservation and Sustainable Development (FCDS).
