Few people have made as big an impact in the carbon markets this year as Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook al-Maktoum. The young member of Dubai’s ruling royal family is behind a series of carbon offsetting deals covering enormous areas of African forest, which could one day be worth billions.
Through the United Arab Emirates-based company Blue Carbon, the sheikh’s deals cover a fifth of Zimbabwe, 10% of Liberia, 10% of Zambia and 8% of Tanzania, collectively amounting to an area the size of the UK – and more are expected.
But concerns have been raised by those close to the agreements, as well as those potentially impacted by them, who did not want to be named. Those include questions about al-Maktoum’s previous business ventures, including his role in deals to sell Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine at a premium during the pandemic, and a Blue Carbon adviser who is a convicted fraudster in Italy.
If the deals go through, the vast areas of forest and their biodiversity would join his businesses and other interests, which include e-sports, property and fossil fuel infrastructure. The carbon credits could be bought and sold by countries hoping to make up their Paris agreement commitments by buying carbon reductions and removals from elsewhere.
Pandemic controversy
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the young sheikh was involved in selling Russian’s Sputnik V vaccine, acting as a dealmaker with Ghana, Guyana, Lebanon and Pakistan at lucrative premiums in 2021, according to reports from the time.
But the deals did not always go well: deliveries sometimes failed to arrive and the cost of the vaccines – sold to some countries at more than double the factory price – provoked uproar in some cases, resulting in calls for Ghana’s health minister to resign over the deal in 2021. The sheikh returned $2.85m he had received from the west African country as part of the deal, according to local media and Ghanian parliamentary records.
Asked about the sheikh’s involvement in vaccine sales, Blue Carbon and the office for al-Maktoum declined to comment. “Blue Carbon’s business is restricted to carbon methodologies. We prefer to keep our responses focused on the role of Blue Carbon towards implementing what 200 countries have agreed upon in the Paris agreement,” the company said.
Two years later, al-Maktoum has turned his attention to carbon trading. He has no previous experience in nature conservation projects.
His deals come amid scrutiny of carbon markets and the role they can play in mitigating the climate crisis and slowing biodiversity loss, after a series of scandals in the unregulated voluntary market, which major companies have used for their sustainability commitments. Some experts have warned that if the rules for the official carbon market used by governments to meet the Paris agreement are weak, countries could end up trading meaningless credits and continuing to heat the planet while claiming otherwise.
Christopher Davidson, a fellow in Middle East politics at Durham University and the author of a book about statecraft in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, said it was unlikely that al-Maktoum was operating without the approval of the UAE government in his business dealings.
“There is a ticking clock in the UAE. They have to diversify the economy away from fossil fuels and they will have to take risks along the way. Rulers of the Gulf state will be judged on diversification of their economies and the environmental industry considered a major component of diversification,” he said.
Fugitive adviser
Blue Carbon said the firm had employees and advisers with previous experience in carbon markets. Samuele Landi, listed as one of two advisers to Blue Carbon, is a convicted criminal in Italy for fraudulent bankruptcy. He is also listed as the consul general for Liberia in the UAE.
Landi, was the founder and CEO of Eutelia, one of Italy’s largest telecommunications companies. In December 2020, he was sentenced to eight years in prison for fraudulent bankruptcy. He was convicted in two separate trials for causing the collapse of a company, reportedly leaving hundreds of people unemployed. Landi, who has been at large since at least 2010, has always proclaimed his innocence. He says that the initial investigation into him was “baseless” and that he is appealing the convictions.
Today, Landi lives as a fugitive. Italy has filed numerous extradition requests for him in the UAE. Rome has issued a warrant for his arrest.
Landi is presented by Blue Carbon as a “technology expert” who is “currently serving as the consul general of Republic of Liberia and is a chief technology officer in multiple IT companies”.
The Guardian contacted Landi through his lawyer. Writing on WhatsApp from a UAE number, when asked about his role at Blue Carbon, he said he “is not authorised to talk on their behalf”.
Blue Carbon said Landi’s role as consul general for Liberia was not linked to the deal between the company and the African state. They said Landi was an independent adviser, not an employee, and had blockchain expertise relevant to carbon markets.
“In light of your inquiries concerning Mr Landi’s legal history, Blue Carbon asserts that comments on his past are beyond the scope of our organisation’s purview. For any inquiries pertaining to Mr Landi’s personal legal matters, we direct you to seek a direct response from him,” they said.
• Additional reporting by Angela Giuffrida and Pjotr Sauer
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