The Jeff Bezos Carbon-Offsets Scam in Africa.

In July 2022, Jeff Bezos visited one of the world’s most corrupt leaders, Gabon’s now ousted President Ali Bongo Ondimba. According to Mr. Ondimba, they discussed matters to do with Climate, forest and biodiversity. Jeff Bezos granted $35million to Gabon, as part of the $110 million offered to support conservation in the Congo.
This was odd. Why would Jeff Bezos meet Ondimba personally and not send the CEO of the Bezos Earth Fund?
Why exactly was Bezos in Gabon? For Conservation or to source for raw materials? Let’s Follow the money
Gabon is a country in Africa with nearly 90% of it covered by Forests. Jeff Bezos is simply buying his way out to continue polluting with carbon emissions, by claiming to contribute to Gabon’s most coveted forests when it comes to carbon credits.
Additionally, according to a Gabonese government official, Jeff Bezos visited a timber/wood processing plant to source for raw materials (wood and wood products) for his vast business empire, since Gabon has doubled its wood production in 10 years.
The timing of Bezos visit to Gabon was highly suspect, right before Gabon had issued its carbon credits for October 2022 sale that were worth $2billion and Amazon wanted in on those credits.
Also, While Bezos claims that his funds would help with conservation, reduce illegal logging and prevent deforestation (REDD), he visited a plant that allows logging. As much as they claim to keep local residents away from forests, logging has become a preserve for the rich, elite and foreign organizations importing Gabon’s tropical wood.
Jeff Bezos had an agreement with Gabon to conserve 30% of the country’s ‘natural capital’ through a partnership with the Nature Conservancy, Pew Charitable Trusts and Zomalab, the office of Ben and Lucy Ana Walton of the family that founded Walmart Inc.
The financial details of this deal remain hidden, and the opacity of these kinds of dubious deals leave a lot to be desired. If you are helping conserve the country’s nature, what is there to hide? Additionally, dealing with the world’s corrupt leaders, you would think that they would want such deals public to clear any suspicion or conspiracies. A Gabonese official told us that these deals relate to sourcing/acquisition of raw materials and carbon markets. Corrupt government officials and oligarchs have been behind Gabon’s illegal logging and international timber trafficking and wood scandals.
So they are now keeping Africans away from forests, through illegal evictions, bloodshed and use of forest police rangers that selectively grant access to the rich and elite in Africa and around the world.
Ironically Bezos stated that ‘I know that many conservation efforts have failed in the past.” “Top-down programs fail to include communities, they fail to include Indigenous people that live in the local area. We won’t make those same mistakes.”
The Irony of this statement is that most indigenous communities for example the Ogiek and Sengwer have been forcefully evicted from their ancestral lands near forests in Kenya. Their homes are torched to the ground and they are yet to receive any compensation. All in the name of carbon credits REDD+ programs.
Africa’s forests are depleted by politicians, and government officials who traffic the timber illegally internationally. Local communities have been great guardians of the forests, cleaning away the fallen woods and brush.
Jeff Bezos’ rocket site Blue Origin has been criticized for its large carbon footprint including other greenhouse emissions, high methane emissions spotted by the space station.
Additionally, United Arab Emirates entered into space tourism partnership with Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin.
UAE will be holding United Nations Climate Change Conference, and in order to save face from their large carbon emissions, UAE has looked into Africa’s carbon credits. A coalition of UAE energy and financial companies have proposed buying $450million of carbon credits generated in Africa by 2030.
Blue Carbon, a UAE-based carbon credit developer founded by a member of the royal family in Dubai has signed Memorandum of Understanding with various African countries. This company stands to benefit more from developing these carbon credits, as African governments only keep a meagre fraction about 30% of their carbon revenues. Liberia, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Kenya. So Blue Carbon is acting as the middleman, acquiring the carbon credits from African governments and then selling those credits to governments that seek to offset their carbon emissions to meet their climate change pledges or obligations (Climate Change News).