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Stop carbon credit trading by the Danone Group in Aceh’s mangrove forests!

Co-sign before Apr 30, 2026

To: Livelihoods Fund SICAV-SIF, VERRA, Ministry of Forestry of the Republic of Indonesia

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Mangrove restoration and coastal greenbelt protection in the East coast of Aceh and North Sumatra Province, Indonesia project, run by the investment vehicle Livelihoods Fund and the carbon standards body Verra, has been operating since 2011.

According to its own figures, this project has restored more than 5,000 hectares of degraded mangrove forests and has already been validated and verified under Climate, Community and Biodiversity (CCB) standards.

The stated aim of the project is to improve the ecological capacity of the mangrove ecosystems along the east coast of North Sumatra in order to enhance carbon sequestration, reduce the risk of natural disasters and strengthen local livelihoods.

This Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) project is intended to generate 124,706.67 tons of CO₂ equivalent (CO₂e) from projects to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The Livelihoods Fund SICAV-SIF registered the project on the Verra platform on April 6, 2020.

In October 2025, Verra signed an agreement with the Indonesian government to speed up the integration of local projects into the global carbon market and to ensure alignment with Indonesia’s SRN PPI certification system. As a result, the project is considered one of Indonesia’s most significant blue carbon initiatives.

The impacts, however, are severe. The project threatens the very existence of Indigenous peoples and their role in the autonomous protection and use of the forests.

Livelihoods Fund, based in Paris, is an SICAV-SIF impact investment fund designed to generate returns for investors from CO₂ emissions. Major corporations are involved, including Danone (founding member and investor), L’Oréal, Mars Incorporated, Schneider Electric, Crédit Agricole, Michelin, Hermès, SAP, La Poste and Veolia.

Verra, based in Washington, D.C., USA, is a global carbon standards organization that certifies climate projects. Verra’s CCB standard is regarded as a certification framework intended to ensure that land management projects reduce CO₂ emissions while also delivering positive impacts for local communities and biodiversity.

What are the negative impacts of this carbon project?

Emissions trading projects give large corporations the option to continue damaging the environment by buying carbon credits instead of making the direct emissions cuts that are actually necessary.

Emissions trading, including under Verra’s Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), often has negative ecological and social consequences.

Some of the long-term impacts include:

• Risks of greenwashing and low effectiveness

Many carbon projects, especially those based on offsetting mechanisms, do not actually reduce emissions in the long term but merely shift the burden of emissions. Some studies show that forest project credits (such as those in the Verra system) are frequently overvalued, so that real emissions are higher than the claimed reductions. Emissions trading by the Livelihoods Fund SICAV-SIF via Verra has weakened the governance of Indonesia’s mangrove forests.

• Threats to Indigenous and local communities

Forest projects often spark land conflicts with Indigenous communities. These communities’ rights to their traditional lands and forests are frequently ignored in favor of ‘conservation’ projects that generate carbon credits for foreign actors. In this case, the forest rights of Indigenous communities along the east coast of Aceh have not yet been officially recognized. At the same time, certain groups and institutions have already parceled up the mangrove forests and are trading carbon credits from them. The trade in carbon credits by the Livelihoods Fund SICAV-SIF via Verra is already threatening the existence of Indigenous communities and their ability to protect and use the forests on their own terms.

• Commercialization of nature (land grabbing)

Emissions trading turns the forest’s life-giving role into a tradable commodity. This can restrict Indigenous communities’ access to forest resources they have depended on until now. Emissions trading by the Livelihoods Fund SICAV-SIF via Verra deprives Indigenous communities of the right to protect, manage and use mangrove forests independently.

• New environmental problems

Emissions trading can distract from the need to phase out fossil fuels. On top of this, local carbon projects do not always succeed in maintaining forest cover in the long term. Emissions trading by the Livelihoods Fund SICAV-SIF via Verra has created new environmental problems, further eroding the Danone Group’s role and responsibility in cutting emissions and moving away from fossil fuels.

Demands

On the basis of the above data and facts, the Aceh Wetland Forum – a nonprofit organization that advocates for the protection, management and use of mangroves by Indigenous and local communities along the east coast of Aceh – calls on the Paris-based Livelihoods Fund SICAV-SIF, in particular its founding member Danone Group, and the Washington, D.C.-based Verra to take the following action:

Stop trading carbon credits generated from mangrove forests along the east coast of Aceh, especially in the districts of Aceh Tamiang, Kota Langsa and Aceh Timur.

We call on the Indonesian government and, in particular, the Ministry of Forestry of the Republic of Indonesia to:

  1. exclude the mangrove belt along the east coast of Aceh from the Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) with Verra; 

  2. upgrade the status of the 45,000-hectare mangrove area to an Essential Protection Area (Kawasan Perlindungan Esensial) or Essential Ecosystem Area (Kawasan Ekosistem Esensial, KEE), as this area has high biodiversity value and plays an important role in protecting, conserving and ensuring the sustainable use of biodiversity;

  3. grant forest rights to the Indigenous communities in the districts of Aceh Tamiang, Kota Langsa and Aceh Timur.

For the protection, sound governance and just, sustainable use of mangrove forests!

Yours faithfully,



Co-signed by
  • Aceh Satu Media, Indonesia
  • Acehnesia, Indonesia
  • AcehNet, Indonesia
  • AMAN Tano Batak, Indonesia
  • Apel green aceh, Indonesia
  • ARA, Germany
  • Auriga Nusantara, Indonesia
  • AWF, Indonesia
  • Balkan Centre for the Rights of Nature, Serbia
  • Coal Action Network, United Kingdom
  • Dauerwaldstiftung in Pommern, Germany
  • Earth Thrive, United Kingdom
  • FLIGHT: Protecting Indonesia’s Birds, Indonesia
  • Forum Ökologie & Papier, Germany
  • forum Penjaga Hutan dan Sungai Harimau Pining, Indonesia
  • GRAIN, Spain
  • Indonesia for Global Justice (IGJ), Indonesia
  • Inisiasi Masyarakat Adat (IMA), Indonesia
  • Institut für Ökologie und Aktions-Ethnologie e.V., Germany
  • JARINGAN ADVOKASI TAMBANG, Indonesia
  • JATAM SULTENG, Indonesia
  • JPIC Kalimantan, Indonesia
  • JPIC SVD Ruteng, Indonesia
  • JusticeMakers Bangladesh in France (JMBF), France
  • Korjuang, Indonesia
  • Lembaga Teraju Indonesia, Indonesia
  • LinkAR Borneo, Indonesia
  • Partner Indonesia, Indonesia
  • Penggiat Lingkungan, Indonesia
  • Perkumpulan Hijau jambi, Indonesia
  • Regenwald-Institut e.V., Germany
  • Rettet den Regenwald, Germany
  • Rettet den Regenwald - Schweiz, Switzerland
  • Save Our Borneo, Indonesia
  • Selamatkan Hutan Hujan, Indonesia
  • Setara Jambi, Indonesia
  • Stadtwaldfreunde Lübeck, Germany
  • Stiftung Asienhaus, Germany
  • Sumatera Environmental Initiative, Indonesia
  • Unir en Haití, Haiti
  • WALHI JAKARTA, Indonesia
  • WALHI Nasional, Indonesia
  • WALHI NTT, Indonesia
  • WALHI Sumatera Utara, Indonesia
  • Yayasan Insan Hutan Indonesia, Indonesia

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