SAO PAULO, June 3 - Brazilian prosecutors are seeking to

annul a $180 million carbon offset scheme to support the

conservation of the Amazon ( AMZN ) rainforest that the state of Para

signed last year with a coalition of major corporations and

wealthy governments, according to a complaint filed on Tuesday.

The lawsuit is a powerful blow to the government of Para,

the host of the next global climate summit, known as COP30, as

well as the carbon credit industry as a whole, which had been

trying to reposition itself after years of facing accusations of

abuse and fraud.

The state of Para holds one of the most vulnerable sections

of the Amazon ( AMZN ) rainforest, the world's largest.

In the filing, the prosecutors argued that the state

government had failed to inform and consult the communities that

would be impacted by the deal.

They also said Brazilian law doesn't allow for the pre-sale

of carbon credits, which in this case represent the carbon

locked away in trees that the project says it will keep from

being knocked down.

The state, the prosecutors wrote, aimed to approve its carbon

credit plan "before COP 30, which has generated considerable

pressure on Indigenous peoples and traditional communities in

Para."

Amazon.com Inc ( AMZN ) and at least five other companies

had agreed to purchase the credits through the LEAF Coalition

forest conservation initiative, which the e-commerce

giant helped to found in 2021 with a group of other firms and

governments, including the United States and United Kingdom.

The Para government and Emergent, a non-profit that

coordinates the LEAF Coalition, didn't immediately reply to

requests for comment.

The project was one of the world's first carbon credit

schemes to be called jurisdictional, because they cover whole

states or countries. The new design was meant to address

concerns about private projects partly by making the accounting

of credits easier.

It aimed to sell up to 12 million credits at $15 each

related to the carbon locked away in trees that it would protect

from deforestation.