SourceMaterial
@source-material.org
📤 434
📥 835
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Non-profit, public interest investigative journalism.
https://www.source-material.org/
We're thrilled to have won the Society of Editors Media Freedom Award 2025 for environment journalism! Our investigation into the millions of UK tyres being dumped in India - and boiled in highly dangerous conditions - with our ace BBC co-reporters had widespread impact.
4 minutes ago
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We are supporting a new project convened by
@earthjournalism.bsky.social
in Asia Pacific, involving 11 news organisations in the region, looking into the environmental impact of the AI boom. There are more stories to come, but read the first few here:
earthjournalism.net/special-repo...
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Dark Side of the Boom
https://earthjournalism.net/special-reports/dark-side-of-the-boom
4 days ago
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Our latest investigation pieces together the career of Francesco Mazzagatti, the 39-year-old entrepreneur poised to become owner of a terminal that supplies a fifth of Britain's gas. A trail that leads from a warehouse in Calabria to London's High Court.
www.source-material.org/mazzagatti-v...
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North Sea Storm – SourceMaterial
Poised to take control of ‘the backbone of the UK’s energy production’, Franceso Mazzagatti is defending allegations bribery, forgery and fraud
https://www.source-material.org/mazzagatti-viaro-north-sea-fraud-allegations/
10 days ago
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NEW: We've seen a leaked internal strategy document from Amazon Web Services. It shows the company strategising about keeping the true water usage of its data centres secret from the public.
www.source-material.org/amazon-leak-...
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Leak reveals Amazon plan to keep water use of data centres secret
Amazon strategised about ways to keep the public in the dark over the true extent of its data centres’ water use, a leaked internal document reveals.
https://www.source-material.org/amazon-leak-reveals-true-data-centres-water-usage-secret-plan/
18 days ago
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NEW: Amazon strategised about ways to keep the public in the dark over the true extent of its data centres’ water use, a leaked internal document reveals. Our latest investigation with
@theguardian.com
www.source-material.org/amazon-leak-...
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Leak reveals Amazon plan to keep water use of data centres secret
Amazon strategised about ways to keep the public in the dark over the true extent of its data centres’ water use, a leaked internal document reveals.
https://www.source-material.org/amazon-leak-reveals-true-data-centres-water-usage-secret-plan/
20 days ago
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And since we're talking awards... we've been on a roll recently! 🏆 On Tuesday, we won the Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism for another investigation into Russia's shadow fleet, alongside over 40 collaborators from all around Europe.
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22 days ago
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We're very proud to be shortlisted in the British Journalism Awards alongside many other excellent journalists. Here's a quick 🧵 of the stories included in our submission:
22 days ago
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The Shadow Fleet shipping Russia's oil is already leaving trails of oil in its wake, raising the question of who will pay up if the worst is to happen. Our latest investigation with
@victorjack.bsky.social
of
@politico.eu
, using data from
@skytruth.org
.
www.source-material.org/shadow-fleet...
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Shadow fleet slicks test limits of EU sanctions – SourceMaterial
As the West continues to blacklist ship carrying Russian oil, new slicks near Europe’s shores test the limits of Western sanctions
https://www.source-material.org/shadow-fleet-oil-slicks-eu-eu-sanctions/
about 1 month ago
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SourceMaterial
Victor Jack
about 1 month ago
NEW: Russian-linked vessels are continuing to leak oil off Europe’s shores — despite Western sanctions — underscoring the continent’s inability to rein in Moscow’s so-called shadow fleet. Read our joint investigation with
@source-material.org
here:
www.politico.eu/article/russ...
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Russia’s blacklisted tankers keep dumping oil in Europe’s seas
Shadow fleet vessels sailed unimpeded in EU waters after leaving slicks near the continent.
https://www.politico.eu/article/russia-blacklisted-tankers-vessels-keep-dumping-oil-europe-sea-despite-sanction/
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We're delighted that The Shadow Fleet Secrets – a project we worked on with
@ftm.nl
and a team of international outlets – has been shortlisted for the Daphne Caruana Prize for Journalism.
daphnejournalismprize.eu/edition-2025...
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Finalists 2025 – Daphne Caruana Galizia
https://daphnejournalismprize.eu/edition-2025-finalists/
about 1 month ago
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We're very pleased to have been shortlisted for the Society of Editors Media Freedom Awards 2025 for our story 'Burning Rubber: the poisonous afterlife of waste tyres', in partnership with the BBC.
about 2 months ago
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We're delighted to have won in the 'Conflict & Climate Change' category at this year's Covering Climate Now awards with a project in partnership with our colleagues at Le Monde 🏆
about 2 months ago
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At dawn in Accra, Ghana, Lydia Bamfo (51) sets out to collect plastic waste. For 25 years she’s battled the tide of rubbish overwhelming her city. Now she says the World Bank’s “solution” has done nothing to help workers like her. 🧵
3 months ago
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NEW: SourceMaterial's investigation into a World Bank-backed plastic credits scheme shows it has sparked controversy in Accra, Ghana. Waste picker associations say they are 'sick and tired' of the 'false solution'. With
@ajenglish.bsky.social
:
www.aljazeera.com/features/lon...
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Ghana’s waste pickers brave mountains of plastic – and big industry
Accra has been picked by a World Bank bond to end the waste crisis. But for informal recyclers, it is a false solution.
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/longform/2025/8/7/ghanas-waste-pickers-brave-mountains-of-plastic-and-big-industry
3 months ago
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Keir Starmer said he's "tightening the screws" on Putin as he announced a raft of new sanctions, including two companies involved in crewing and managing ships involved in Russia's illegal oil exports.
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
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Starmer tightens screws on Putin with raft of fresh sanctions against Russia
Keir Starmer said his sanctions would choke off Putin’s ability to continue his war
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/russia-sanctions-putin-uk-starmer-b2771546.html
5 months ago
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The French oil giant Total has quietly abandoned its offsetting project in the Republic of Congo,
@reporterre.net
reports. Back in December 2022, farmers told us the tree-planting project had barred them from their fields and threatened their livelihoods.
www.source-material.org/total-oil-co...
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Total’s Congo offsetting project ‘snatched our land’
Farmers say oil giant’s tree-planting scheme has barred them from their fields and threatens livelihoods.
https://www.source-material.org/total-oil-congo-carbon-offsetting-project-indigenous-land-forest/
5 months ago
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Fresnillo is a goldminer worth £8bn, listed on the London Stock Exchange and majority-owned by the billionaire Baillères family. For years it has been locked in a bitter dispute with the Bajío agrarian community on whose land it encroached in the desert of Mexico's Sonora state.
6 months ago
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The data centre boom in the desert: in Nevada, tech companies are transforming the landscape by building huge data centres and using vast amounts of water in the process. Read
@jtemple.bsky.social
's long-read for
@techreviewjp.bsky.social
here:
www.technologyreview.com/2025/05/20/1...
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The data center boom in the desert
The AI race is transforming northwestern Nevada into one of the world's largest data-center markets—and sparking fears of water strains in the nation’s driest state.
https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/05/20/1116287/ai-data-centers-nevada-water-reno-computing-environmental-impact/?utm_source=tr_staff_outreach&utm_medium=tr_staff_social&utm_campaign=social&utm_content=guestbp
6 months ago
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This week MPs debated UK waste tyres illegally burned in India following our investigation with BBC File on 4 Investigates. "Investigators used GPS tracking devices in several consignments of waste tyres" to expose the trade, says MP
@tessamunt.bsky.social
.
www.source-material.org/waste-tyre-p...
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Burning Rubber – SourceMaterial
Millions of used UK tyres are being shipped to India to make dirty fuel harming people and the environment
https://www.source-material.org/waste-tyre-pyrolysis-india-uk/
7 months ago
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Pope Francis was a pontiff in a new mould: an advocate for migrant rights and global action on climate change. Those positions won him powerful enemies. In 2019 our investigation The Heretic in the Vatican revealed the extent of the plot against him.
www.source-material.org/the-heretic-...
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How Pope Francis became a hate figure for the far right
On a mountain outside Rome, Steve Bannon’s anti-immigrant populism joins forces with Catholic extremists who say a “gay plague” has infected the Vatican.
https://www.source-material.org/the-heretic-in-the-vatican-how-pope-francis-became-a-hate-figure-for-the-far-right/
7 months ago
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We're incredibly excited to welcome
@rosafurneaux.bsky.social
to our team.
add a skeleton here at some point
7 months ago
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NEW: SourceMaterial's investigation identified 38 active data centres operated by Amazon, Microsoft, and Google in parts of the world already facing water scarcity, as well as 24 more under development. Read the full story here:
www.source-material.org/amazon-micro...
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Big Tech's data centres will take water from world's driest areas
Amazon, Microsoft and Google's data centres use vast amounts of water in some of the world’s driest areas and they are building more.
https://www.source-material.org/amazon-microsoft-google-trump-data-centres-water-use/
7 months ago
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“The question of water is going to become crucial,” says
@lopalasi.bsky.social
, founder of The Ethical Tech Society, as our investigation reveals data centres are being developed in the driest parts of the world.
www.source-material.org/amazon-micro...
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Big Tech's data centres will take water from world's driest areas
Amazon, Microsoft and Google's data centres use vast amounts of water in some of the world’s driest areas and they are building more.
https://www.source-material.org/amazon-microsoft-google-trump-data-centres-water-use/
7 months ago
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“They're using too much water. They're using too much energy,” said Aurora Gómez of the campaign group Tu Nube Seca Mi Río—Spanish for ‘Your cloud is drying my river’—commenting on our investigation into data centres in Aragon. Read the full story here:
www.source-material.org/amazon-micro...
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Big Tech's data centres will take water from world's driest areas
Amazon, Microsoft and Google's data centres use vast amounts of water in some of the world’s driest areas and they are building more.
https://www.source-material.org/amazon-microsoft-google-trump-data-centres-water-use/
7 months ago
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reposted by
SourceMaterial
Luke Barratt
7 months ago
New from me: I've spent the last 6 months compiling a map of data centres, whose locations are generally secret, operated by Amazon, Microsoft and Google. Cross-referencing that map with areas of water scarcity shows many are in the world's driest areas.
www.source-material.org/amazon-micro...
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Big Tech's data centres will take water from world's driest areas
Amazon, Microsoft and Google's data centres use vast amounts of water in some of the world’s driest areas and they are building more.
https://www.source-material.org/amazon-microsoft-google-trump-data-centres-water-use/
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reposted by
SourceMaterial
Joe Sandler Clarke
7 months ago
Revealed: Big tech’s new datacentres will take water from the world’s driest areas A really clever data story from
@source-material.org
and the Guardian.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
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Revealed: Big tech’s new datacentres will take water from the world’s driest areas
Amazon, Google and Microsoft are building datacentres in water-scarce parts of five continents
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/09/big-tech-datacentres-water
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NEW: Big Tech’s data centre push will take water from the world’s driest areas, our investigation with the
@theguardian.com
has found. We saw examples from five continents of the strain data centres are putting on communities already short of water.
www.source-material.org/amazon-micro...
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Big Tech's data centres will take water from world's driest areas
Amazon, Microsoft and Google's data centres use vast amounts of water in some of the world’s driest areas and they are building more.
https://www.source-material.org/amazon-microsoft-google-trump-data-centres-water-use/
7 months ago
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The Carbon Offset Trap: BBC File on 4 has taken an in-depth look at the current state of carbon markets. Our reporter
@lukewbarratt.bsky.social
spoke to them about some of their findings.
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
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BBC Radio 4 - File on 4 Investigates, The Carbon Offset Trap
Max de Haldevang investigates problems with carbon offset projects.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0029hmm
7 months ago
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Impact: Our investigation with File on 4 Investigates has led to action! The government is reviewing UK tyre exports to India after our report showed they end up in highly polluting pyrolysis plants, with officials "very keen" to investigate the claims.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
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Waste tyre review after BBC reveals millions sent to Indian furnaces
Environment Agency review waste tyre exports after BBC probe reveals millions sent to furnaces in India.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4grlpyje41o#comments
7 months ago
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18 months ago, we reported on a "blueprint for disaster"—a plan to bring controversial carbon offsets into the Paris Agreement. Now the first credits issued as part of this plan have been placed in one rating agency's lowest category.
calyxglobal.com/research-hub...
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Analyzing the first credits transitioning to the Article 6.4 Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism
Calyx Global carbon credit ratings, research and insights so you can learn about carbon credit quality.
https://calyxglobal.com/research-hub/research/analyzing-the-first-credits-transitioning-to-the-article-64-paris-agreement-crediting-mechanism/
8 months ago
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"The Environment Agency is undertaking an internal review of its approach to waste tyre shipments to India." Two days after our report with
@bbcradio4.bsky.social
on UK tyres being dangerously 'boiled' in India, the UK announces a review of the trade.
www.source-material.org/waste-tyre-p...
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Burning Rubber – SourceMaterial
Millions of used UK tyres are being shipped to India to make dirty fuel harming people and the environment
https://www.source-material.org/waste-tyre-pyrolysis-india-uk/
8 months ago
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Motorists are told that their old tyres are being recycled. Our latest investigation follows the secret trade in used tyres to India, where they are in fact broken down to make cheap home heating oil in polluting and dangerous plants.
www.source-material.org/waste-tyre-p...
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Burning Rubber – SourceMaterial
Millions of used UK tyres are being shipped to India to make dirty fuel harming people and the environment
https://www.source-material.org/waste-tyre-pyrolysis-india-uk/
8 months ago
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reposted by
SourceMaterial
8 months ago
@fightingdirty.bsky.social
has launched legal action in a bid to “shut down the illegal trade in waste tyres that is poisoning India” This comes after
@source-material.org
and the BBC found that millions of tyres exported from the UK are being burned illegally
www.endsreport.com/article/1911...
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Legal action seeks to ‘close loophole’ allowing illegal trade of waste tyres
A campaign group has initiated legal proceedings against the UK government in a bid to “shut down the illegal trade in waste tyres that is poisoning India” after an investigation found that millions o...
https://www.endsreport.com/article/1911517/legal-action-seeks-close-loophole-allowing-illegal-trade-waste-tyres
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🧵Twice a day, sirens sound in the shadow of Touk Meas Mountain in Kampot province, Cambodia. "We're often coughing," said Pheara, who lives nearby. Here, a cement kiln producing hazardous emissions is supposedly at the heart of the global fight against plastic pollution.
9 months ago
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We looked into plastic offsetting, which major plastic producers are touting as a way of solving the pollution crisis. Our analysis shows that most plastic credits are awarded for burning plastic.
9 months ago
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NEW: A cement kiln in Cambodia, burning plastic, is supposedly at the heart of the global fight against plastic pollution. Locals say they've been getting sick ever since it was built, as have their children.
www.source-material.org/plastic-cred...
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Burning plastic and emitting toxic gases central to ‘plastic offsetting’
Plastic offsetting sector’s preferred solution puts the climate and people’s health at risk, without curbing production.
https://www.source-material.org/plastic-credits-offsetting-burning-toxic-emissions-cambodia/
9 months ago
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JOB APPLICATION DEADLINE: 9 February. If you were thinking of applying to join us as a senior investigative journalist, you have until Sunday to send in your application!
www.cisionjobs.co.uk/job/111593/s...
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SourceMaterial, Senior Investigative Journalist - London (Central), London (Greater) job with SourceMaterial | 111593
SourceMaterial is looking for a senior investigative journalist.
https://www.cisionjobs.co.uk/job/111593/sourcematerial-senior-investigative-journalist/
9 months ago
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Seafarers dread working on the creaking, unsafe shadow fleet that ships Russian oil. Along with partners at
@ftm.nl
and Süddeutsche Zeitung, we investigated the companies putting them there — and found some in troubling locations.
9 months ago
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Late last year, we reported that Dawn Meats, Europe's biggest supplier of lamb, could break emissions laws with its new incinerator in rural Ireland. Now, the Irish EPA has acted, amending the licence to make clear to the company the rules it must follow.
9 months ago
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reposted by
SourceMaterial
Climate Whistleblowers
9 months ago
#Ireland
: Whistleblowing = Impact Following investigations by
@source-material.org
&
@irishtimes.com
based on documents from
@climatewhistles.bsky.social
, Ireland's EPA has amended Dawn Meats' licence, slashing SO2 limits. SO2 would have threatened local residents' health. Speaking up matters.
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TotalEnergies wants to build a $20 billion gas plant in Mozambique's troubled Cabo Delgado province. With
@lemonde.fr
, we investigated what Total knew about allegations of wrongdoing by the troops it funded.
www.source-material.org/total-mozamb...
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Total’s Mozambique gas project faces scrutiny over abuse claims
Governments are reviewing support $20 billion gas project after SourceMaterial revealed abuse allegations against troops defending Mozambique site
https://www.source-material.org/total-mozambique-human-rights-uk-us-netherlands/
10 months ago
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We're hiring! If you're an investigative journalist with a nose for a story and a taste for collaborative working, we'd love to hear from you.
www.cisionjobs.co.uk/job/111593/s...
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SourceMaterial, Senior Investigative Journalist - London (Central), London (Greater) job with SourceMaterial | 111593
SourceMaterial is looking for a senior investigative journalist.
https://www.cisionjobs.co.uk/job/111593/sourcematerial-senior-investigative-journalist/
10 months ago
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The
@nytimes.com
has published a piece on the Italian fraudster Samuele Landi, who founded his own country on a barge in the Persian Gulf and used his influence in Liberia to set up a vast carbon offsetting deal with the UAE.
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/07/b...
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How a Businessman Fleeing Fraud Charges Built a Life Offshore
Fleeing fraud charges, Samuele Landi evaded extradition treaties, dabbled in crypto, procured diplomatic credentials and took advantage of all the offshore world has to offer.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/07/business/samuele-landi-offshore-seastead.html
10 months ago
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A flagship carbon capture project is being challenged in the UK courts. The government is so desperate for BP and Equinor to get building that it will pay up to £6bn if the project is found to breach Britain's climate commitments.
www.source-material.org/bp-equinor-t...
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'Reckless' UK risks billions on BP gas scheme – SourceMaterial
Government could pay out £6 billion if courts block flagship carbon capture project that critics say won't help the climate
https://www.source-material.org/bp-equinor-teesside-carbon-capture-guarantee/
11 months ago
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The world's biggest carbon offsetting registry, Verra, failed to properly investigate allegations of human rights abuses against Indigenous people in Cambodia, the NGO
@carbonmarketwatch.bsky.social
says. SourceMaterial visited the project to investigate.
www.source-material.org/singapore-ca...
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Singapore’s 'blueprint for disaster' threatens global climate targets
An ambitious plan to re-engineer the carbon market could play havoc with net zero goals and raises questions about human rights.
https://www.source-material.org/singapore-carbon-offsetting-paris-agreement-cambodia/
11 months ago
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reposted by
SourceMaterial
Danny Cullenward
11 months ago
A group of current and former members of the expert panel of the carbon crediting industry's self-regulatory body, the ICVCM, have a post objecting to the ICVCM's approval of three tropical forest carbon REDD methodologies. A very timely and important read:
www.oeko.de/blog/the-icv...
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The ICVCM approval of three REDD methodologies presents risks to the integrity of the initiative
In November 2024, the Governing Board of the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) approved three methodologies for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (RE...
https://www.oeko.de/blog/the-icvcm-approval-of-three-redd-methodologies-presents-risks-to-the-integrity-of-the-initiative/
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Two members of a key expert panel of a council overseeing carbon offsetting, have resigned after the council approved three ways of creating offsets through forestry programmes. They say these new methodologies lack credibility.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
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Resignations at Carbon Oversight Body Raise Quality Concerns
A key oversight body monitoring the voluntary carbon market has had two members of its expert panel resign in protest over its decision to back methodologies for forestry credits they say lack credibi...
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-12-10/resignations-at-carbon-oversight-body-raise-quality-questions?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&sref=xpkx9tNh
11 months ago
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SourceMaterial
Spotlight on Corruption
11 months ago
🚨 "An incredibly important and welcome tipping point" 🚨 👇 Read our response to today's announcement that the Home Office and the City of London Police have established a new Domestic Corruption Unit.
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No more turning a blind eye: Spotlight welcomes new Domestic Corruption Unit - Spotlight on Corruption
Today’s announcement that the Home Office and City of London Police have established a new pilot Domestic Corruption Unit is an incredibly important and
https://www.spotlightcorruption.org/welcome-new-domestic-corruption-unit/
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Hello Bluesky! We are SourceMaterial, an investigative newsroom covering stories relating to climate, corruption and democracy.
11 months ago
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