Carbon offset from the Amazon forest to compensate aviation emissions: Global solution, local struggles

The paper focuses on how actors re-signify locally a climate international agreement involving carbon offset in terms of their differential interests and understanding about the material and symbolic meaning of the territory. Approved in 2016, the Carbon Offset and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) defines that part of the greenhouse gases emissions from international aviation will need to be offset by purchasing carbon credits. Since forest carbon credits are accepted under the scheme, it may greatly stimulate forestation projects as well as programs for combating deforestation. The paper analyzes the Brazilian debate about the eligibility of forest carbon credits' implications under CORSIA, as the scheme may impact on land use in Brazil. The argument is that, at the global level, CORSIA may be about fighting climate change; however, at the local level, it is about defining and legitimizing ways of living and using territory and forests.