Over the past ten years, Norway has handed out almost US$3 billion (NOK 23.5 billion) on stopping tropical deforestation. On 15 May 2018, the Office of the Auditor General completed its investigation into Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative. The report is critical.
Peter Singh Virdee avoids extradition to Germany to face charges of VAT fraud on carbon credit sales. Virdee is now being investigated for corruption in the Caribbean
Peter Singh Virdee avoided extradition to Germany to face charges of VAT fraud on sales of carbon credits. But Virdee talked of paying bribes in the Caribbean.
Norway is “throwing money out of the window” in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Norway has spent NOK 1 billion on saving the rainforest in the Democratic Republic of Congo. But deforestation in DRC is increasing rapidly. On 12 May 2018, Dagsrevyen, the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation’s daily news programme reported on Norway’s failure to address deforestation in DRC.
REDD myth no. 4: REDD will be quick and cheap
In December 2007, Norway’s then-prime minister Jens Stoltenberg launched Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI). Stoltenberg announced that Norway would be handing out more than US$500 million a year “to prevent deforestation in developing countries”. Stoltenberg was convinced that stopping deforestation would be quick and cheap.
Has EcoPlanet Bamboo really found a buyer for its bamboo in Nicaragua?
On 19 April 2018, a company called BAP Industries of Guatemala announced that it had signed a 10 year Bamboo Purchase Agreement with EcoPlanet Bamboo. Under the agreement, BAP Industries agreed to buy bamboo from EcoPlanet Bamboo’s plantations in Nicaragua.