Forest Trends commends the Liberian National Climate Change Steering Committee (NCCSC) for considering a moratorium on carbon trading until their recommendations on supervising the carbon market are finalized.
In 2023, Blue Carbon, a Dubai-based company, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Liberian government for exclusive rights to generate and sell carbon credits on approximately 2.5 million acres of Liberia’s forests. Concerns were immediately raised about the lack of transparency, impact on local communities, customary land rights, and the Government of Liberia’s legal framework for issuing, selling, or taxing carbon credits. Critics argued that the Blue Carbon deal potentially violated several key laws in Liberia, including the Constitution.
Also in 2023, Forest Trends released the Liberia Forest Concession Review (Phase II), a report evaluating the legal compliance of Liberia’s forest concessions. The Review found widespread non-compliance across all stakeholders. After a legal analysis of 11 companies and more than four public consultations, it found that companies did not meet basic legal requirements; that Liberia’s Forestry Development Authority (FDA) was illegally issuing logging licenses; that communities affected by logging have only received at most 15 percent of the compensation they are owed; and that grossly inadequate record-keeping by the FDA have made it impossible to ensure legal compliance in the forestry sector.
With these findings, the Forest Concession Review recommended a suspension on all new forestry licenses—for any uses, including carbon—until the FDA can demonstrate their ability to manage the forestry sector and enforce Liberia’s own laws. This begins by ensuring the existing operators are brought into compliance. The suspension must also be paired with massive improvement in the FDA’s management of Liberia’s forestry sector. If not, existing operations could be replaced with concessions that continue to exploit Liberia’s forests.
Based on these recommendations, we are glad to see the NCCSC consider a temporary halt on carbon trading. The light our report sheds on the state of Liberia’s forestry sector should heighten concerns about carbon credit deals that do not clearly outline methodology, community benefit-sharing mechanisms, or other safeguards for communities and forests. A forestry sector without a system to track and enforce forest activities all but invites a free-for-all for potential bad actors. Strong forestry governance is critical to reduce illegal logging, improve community benefit-sharing mechanisms, and increase sustainable management of Liberia’s forests. And as countries work toward decisions on Article 6, good governance will be a vital part of making a national carbon market system work for forests, communities, and governments.
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