Four Corners: Season 2023, Episode 3

2023 - 3: Carbon Colonialism

In the race to curb catastrophic climate change, prominent Australian businesses have been enthusiastic customers of carbon credits. They've been offsetting their emissions by buying credits from companies promising to stop exploitative timber harvesting, whilst lifting locals out of poverty.

But reporter Stephen Long has found that there is a vast chasm between what is marketed and what is really happening on the ground.

In a month-long trip, the team travelled to some of the most isolated villages in Papua New Guinea. They uncovered environmental devastation in the very areas one company claimed to be protecting and indigenous landowners angry at unfulfilled promises.

Long asks, who will really benefit from the carbon trade?