Pachama

Does the core business genuinely avoid or reduce emissions, or build climate resilience? Share of revenue that is actually 'green'. Fossil-dependent models score low.

Pachama's technology genuinely improves quality screening in the voluntary carbon market — rejecting over 70% of registry-approved projects — and its Verra DMRV pilot is a meaningful step toward credible MRV, but it remains an enabler of carbon offsetting whose downstream climate impact depends heavily on the contested validity of forest carbon credits broadly.

Credible, science-based targets (SBTi), a real net-zero plan with progress to date, and CDP disclosure — not just a dated press release.

No public evidence of Pachama holding validated SBTi targets, CDP disclosure, or a formal net-zero plan for its own operations; the company advocates these frameworks for its clients but has not publicly committed to them itself, yielding a low score for its own climate accountability.

Operational footprint, labour and social practices, and governance quality across the company's own operations and supply chain.

No confirmed B Corp certification, no public SBTi or CDP filing found for Pachama itself; the company conducted layoffs of ~20 staff in 2024-2025 amid carbon market downturn, and no published supply-chain or labour standards disclosures were located, limiting ESG scoring.

Quality of disclosure, independent third-party verification, and how much hard data backs the company's claims.

Pachama publishes its project evaluation criteria, partners with Verra on a digital MRV pilot, and discloses that fewer than 30% of projects pass its screen — providing meaningful methodology transparency — but lacks independently audited impact reporting for its own portfolio-level outcomes or corporate operations.

Controversies, litigation, pollution, fossil-fuel lobbying, conflict-zone involvement and governance scandals. Higher means cleaner.

A Guardian/SourceMaterial investigation surfaced credible allegations from Pachama's former chief scientist that commercial pressure led to corner-cutting and the sale of at least one questionable project, and an early REDD-Monitor report found Pachama was displaying Gold Standard logos despite that body stating it did not 'work closely' with them — both material integrity flags even if no litigation resulted.