Carbon Credit 'Cowboys'?

By purchasing carbon credits, individuals; companies and even major events (like the recent FIFA World Cup), can salve their sins and buy their way to 'greenwash heaven'. Carbon credits are touted as a quick way of transferring billions of dollars of climate and biodiversity finance, to the developing world. This mechanism, however, can only be effective if most of the money raised results in 'on the ground' changes, benefitting the environment, rather than simply boosting profits for the scheme's certifier and/or local politicians (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/mar/15/money-carbon-credits-zimbabwe-conservation-aoe). The Kariba Conservation Project involves a large area of land, around an enormous artificial lake in Zimbabwe. Verra, the world's largest certifier of carbon credits, has the Kariba Conservation Project in its extensive portfolio. Since 2011, Verra have raised more than £85m by selling carbon credits, linked to this African Conservation Project. Worryingly (and perhaps predictably?), locals living and working around the lake, claim to to seen no sign of carbon credit -generated money. It looks as if the 'carbon credit cowboys' are currently roaming the range.