The federal district court for the District of Massachusetts dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction and failure of service of process a lawsuit brought by a pro se plaintiff who claimed that the defendants had not met their obligations in connection with the plaintiff's project to obtain carbon credits by protecting Bolivian rainforest from deforestation. The plaintiff contended that one defendant violated its contractual obligations to provide "validation and verification" services to assess whether the plaintiff's forest preservation project complied with the Verified Carbon Standard (VC standard). The plaintiff also asserted that the company that established the VC standard had violated contractual obligations, artificially depressed the price of carbon credits, and acted negligently in certifying the first defendant to validate and verify projects. The plaintiff also alleged that a third defendant was negligent for certifying the first defendant as competent. The court found that the plaintiff's emails and telephone calls with the first two defendants' employees and the plaintiff's payment with a check drawn from a Massachusetts bank were insufficient contacts for personal jurisdiction over the first two defendants. The court also dismissed without prejudice the claims without prejudice against the third defendant for failure of service of process. The court allowed the plaintiff time to effect service but noted that the defendant had a potentially meritorious motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction should service be perfected and that the plaintiff might wish to file a new case in another jurisdiction.  The case was closed on December 21, 2017.

Lawsuit alleging that defendants failed to comply with obligations in connection with plaintiff's attempt to obtain carbon credits for forest preservation project in Bolivia.

Aldabe v. Environmental Services, Inc.

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Aldabe v. Environmental Services, Inc. - memorandum

Filed

United States of America

Massachusetts

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

Tradable permits are market-based tools that grant permission for specific activities, frequently used to regulate emissions. These permits can be issued within a trading system to manage environmental impacts.

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

A long-lived, colourless gas, chiefly emitted from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and cement production.

Terrestrial means "of the earth" and relates to the risks to ecological system that includes all living organisms and their interactions within land-based environments, such as forests, grasslands, and deserts.

The activities of industries that transforms raw materials into finished goods through industrial processes.

Aldabe v. Environmental Services, Inc. - memorandum

Policy instrument

Risk

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Finance