Some questions for Imran Ali, director of SavePlanetEarth

By Chris Lang

Yesterday, REDD-Monitor wrote about a company called SavePlanetEarth, and its plans to, well, save planet earth by tree planting, non-fungible tokens, and cryptocurrency. Two weeks ago, REDD-Monitor sent the director of SavePlanetEarth, Imran Ali, some questions.

Ali has not yet answered. REDD-Monitor looks forward to posting Ali’s responses to these questions in full and unedited as soon as they arrive:

1. I understand that SavePlanetEarth is planning to plant trees in the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan. Why did SavePlanetEarth choose these countries for its tree planting endeavours?
2. As you point out in the White Paper v4, “Island nations like the Maldives and many Pacific islands may well be the first to feel the incoming attack from global warming, as the rising ocean levels will soon engulf these small low-lying island states and make them uninhabitable.” How will you prevent the trees you plant in the Maldives from going underwater as the climate crisis worsens?
3. Can you please give some concrete evidence that SavePlanetEarth has actually signed agreements with the governments of Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and Pakistan.
4. How many trees has SavePlanetEarth planted so far? Where are these trees? When were they planted? What species are these trees?
5. Large scale tree planting programmes, such as the one SavePlanetEarth is proposing, have high failure rates. What is the survival rate of SavePlanetEarth’s trees? How does SavePlanetEarth intend to ensure that the trees don’t die, burn down, or get cut down by villagers who need the land for grazing animals or growing their food?
6. How many tree nurseries has SavePlanetEarth established? Where are these tree nurseries? Who will run the tree nurseries?
7. Which organisations is SavePlanetEarth working with in these countries to plant the trees? Could you please provide contact details for the relevant person in each of these organisations so that I can ask them about the operations on the ground.
8. Could you please explain how SavePlanetEarth plans to pay for planting, monitoring, and protecting one billion trees? Could you please describe SavePlanetEarth’s financing mechanism? In other words, where will the money come from? How much money did SavePlanetEarth raise from the launch of its token, $SPE? What figure does SavePlanetEarth use for the cost of planting and protecting a tree?
9. In April 2021, you stated that SavePlanetEarth has a partnership with UNICEF in the Maldives. Could you please provide some evidence of this partnership. In the YouTube video announcing the partnership you said you would be sending the official communication and correspondence with UNICEF. Could you please send me copies of this correspondence.
10. Pakistan already has a 10 billion tree tsunami programme. Are the one billion trees that SavePlanetEarth is planning to plant in Pakistan in addition to this programme, or is SavePlanetEarth working with the 10 billion tree tsunami programme?
11. In a recent press release SavePlanetEarth states that, “Carbon Consulting Company (CCC) is partnered with SPE to verify SPE’s certified carbon credits to the Gold Standard, allowing it to be listed in the UN registry.” Which UN registry is this referring to?
12. Could you please send contact details for the relevant person at Carbon Consulting Company so that I can ask them some questions about the partnership with SavePlanetEarth. Could you also send contact details for the relevant person in The Sustainable Future Group which the White Paper v4 states “will carry out the verification and certification”.
13. Have any of SavePlanetEarth’s tree planting operations generated any carbon credits so far? Could you please send copies of the Project Design Documents for the planting operations in the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan.
14. SavePlanetEarth has minted 1,000 Non-Fungible Tokens from carbon credits. Which project did these carbon credits come from? How much did SavePlanetEarth pay for the carbon credits? Have the carbon credits been retired on the VCS Project Database (or on any other database – if so, please let me know which one)?
15. One of the carbon credit NFTs sold for almost US$70,000. Another was on sale for about US$4.6 million. Why do you think someone would pay so much for what is at the end of the day just a carbon credit? How much does SavePlanetEarth anticipate raising from the sale of its carbon credit NFTs?
16. On 25 November 2021, Verra, the carbon credit standards organisation, put out a statement on Crypto Market Activities. Verra appears to be distancing itself from such activities. Could you please comment on Verra’s statement. Has Verra been in contact with SavePlanetEarth?
17. Verra states that account holders in the Verra Registry have a “contractual obligation under the Verra Registry Terms of Use not to create, market, or transact in instruments that are related, connected, or linked to VCUs or instruments that have a VCU as their underlying (‘related instruments’) without Verra’s express written consent, which is to be granted in Verra’s sole and absolute discretion.” Did SavePlanetEarth obtain Verra’s express written consent before minting the NFTs?
18. On SavePlanetEarth’s website the NFTs are described as “the first-ever Gold Standard certified carbon credit NFTs”. Could you please clarify whether SavePlanetEarth’s carbon credits certified by Verra, or by Gold Standard? Which project generated the carbon credits?
19. SavePlanetEarth’s White Paper v4 states that “We will be releasing our financial accounting periodically onto the website SavePlanetEarth for full transparency.” Could you please send me copies of SavePlanetEarth’s financial accounts. I couldn’t find any financial accounts on SPE’s website. When do you plan on releasing the first set of financial accounts publicly?
20. Your company’s registered address (412 Great Horton Road, Bradford, BD7 3HS) on documents filed with Companies House is a derelict cinema in Bradford. Why?