(Bloomberg) — A carbon-credits project funded by ExxonMobil Holdings Corp. was among dozens found by German authorities to be “suspicious,” to have overstated their environmental impact or to be fake. <\/p>\n
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Authorities withdrew carbon credits generated by 30 China-based projects that claimed to reduce pollution caused by fossil-fuel extraction. The projects included one purchased by the Texas-headquartered oil major, according to a German Environment Agency report dated mid-January, which Bloomberg News obtained via a Freedom of Information request. <\/p>\n
The German government has not previously shared the names of companies involved in the scandal over upstream emissions reductions (UER) certificates, which first erupted in 2024. <\/p>\n
The 30 withdrawn projects claimed to save a total of 2.1 million tons of carbon dioxide \u2014 roughly equivalent to the exhaust emitted by 500,000 cars in a year. Energy companies that purchased the voided credits to offset their own emissions have been ordered to compensate for the shortfall. <\/p>\n
The project funded by a Belgian unit of ExxonMobil claimed to save almost 96,000 tons of CO2, priced at an estimated \u20ac44\/ton, according to a registration document seen by Bloomberg. At that price, the US oil major would have spent about \u20ac4.2 million ($4.9 million) on the credits. A spokesperson for ExxonMobil said the company always acts in accordance with all legal requirements and does not generally comment on investigations. <\/p>\n
The environment agency’s report also lists a project sponsored by commodity trader Vitol SA, although the project was withdrawn in November 2024, according to public documents. A spokesperson for Vitol said the company paid no monies in connection with the project and acquired no carbon credits from it. <\/p>\n
The UER market was at one point considered a yardstick for carefully designed carbon markets. It was administered by European governments, while individual projects were verified by third-party auditing firms based in Germany. Dozens of energy companies bought credits within the system, which is now winding up. <\/p>\n
A Bloomberg investigation published in May found Germany is one of at least nine European countries where carbon credits were purchased from projects exhibiting similar concerning characteristics. Some of the projects did not appear to exist at all. Others involved an auditor-turned-developer named Robin Wang, who worked for both auditing firm Verico SCE and Chinese consultancy Beijing Karbon, according to documents seen by Bloomberg. <\/p>\n
The German Environment Agency’s report said that Beijing Karbon had, “through deception, created the appearance of legitimate UER projects” and was the main developer of 45 projects the agency deemed “suspicious.” The project funded by ExxonMobil’s unit was among them. <\/p>\n
Beijing Karbon didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Verico did not respond to a request for comment. Executive Chairman Werner Betzenbichler previously said the company had fully cooperated with the relevant authorities and would continue to do so as required. Wang no longer works for Verico and Bloomberg was unable to contact him. <\/p>\n
In the copy of the agency’s report shared with Bloomberg, details of 24 of the 30 invalidated projects were redacted, on the grounds that probes are still ongoing. For the six named projects, decisions to revoke credits are now final, the Environment Ministry said in a separate letter. <\/p>\n
–With assistance from Kevin Crowley and Mitchell Ferman. <\/p>\n
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek <\/p>\n
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