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Something strange is happening in Liberia

Abatify Summary

Nature & Climate Perspective

**Rapid, illegal deforestation for cocoa production in Liberia's intact rainforests threatens critical carbon sinks and biodiversity, severely undermining global LULUCF baselines. ** This ecological degradation compromises one of West Africa's last remaining contiguous forest ecosystems, accelerating climate vulnerability.

  • Illegal agricultural expansion destroys West Africa's last remaining intact canopy, causing immediate loss of high-density carbon sequestration capacity.
  • Fragmentation of these rainforests disrupts critical ecological corridors, leading to severe biodiversity loss and microclimate alterations.
  • Soil degradation from unsustainable cocoa farming threatens long-term forest regeneration and soil organic carbon (SOC) stability.

Market & Policy Outlook

**The prevalence of illegal supply chains in Liberia highlights a critical failure in Scope 3 traceability and directly violates ICVCM Core Carbon Principles regarding permanence and leakage. ** This governance gap threatens the viability of regional carbon finance mechanisms.

  • Illegal deforestation violates the ICVCM CCPs on Additionality and Robust Quantification by demonstrating weak local governance and high risks of activity-shifting leakage.
  • Corporate buyers of cocoa face severe Scope 3 compliance risks under global deforestation regulations and SBTi forest-land-agriculture (FLAG) targets.
  • The inability to protect these sovereign forests undermines potential Article 6.2 or Article 6.4 sovereign carbon strategies (ITMOs), depressing the market value of West African carbon credits.
Liberia is losing its rainforest at an alarming rate. Satellite data reveals rapid deforestation across one of West Africa’s last remaining intact rainforests, driven largely by illegal cocoa plantations supplying the global demand for chocolate. To find out more, we travel deep into Liberia’s forests to speak with migrant cocoa workers, forest rangers, and community […]
Liberia is losing its rainforest at an alarming rate. Satellite data reveals rapid deforestation across one of West Africa’s last remaining intact rainforests, driven largely by illegal cocoa plantations supplying the global demand for chocolate. To find out more, we travel deep into Liberia’s forests to speak with migrant cocoa workers, forest rangers, and community […]

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LULUCFScope 3SBTiICVCMArticle 6.2ITMOs

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