Increasing Access to Voluntary Carbon Markets: Enabling Landscape Restoration Projects to Understand the Costs and Benefits

Context & Opportunity

Insufficient funding is a barrier to effective landscape restoration in Europe. With less than a decade until the objectives of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change must be met, new sources of funding need to be unlocked. One such source of funding is the voluntary carbon market and carbon offsetting from the private sector. Fuelled by corporate carbon-neutral pledges, carbon offsetting schemes are increasing in popularity, with voluntary carbon markets for forestry and land use increasing in value by 2.5 times from 2017 to 2019. Within Europe, demand from the private sector for place-based carbon credits (those within a specific country or region) is growing and demand may soon outstrip supply. Similarly, demand for carbon offsets from Nature-based Solutions have increased in recent years. Endangered Landscapes & Seascapes Programme projects may be well positioned to produce high-quality credits (demonstrating additionality in carbon terms as well as positive biodiversity and socioeconomic impacts) and benefit from the increasing demand for these. However, voluntary market certification is complex to navigate and has large upfront costs which may diminish potential returns.

This collaborative project led by UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) working with Fauna & Flora (F&F) and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has developed a set of resources to improve the confidence and capacity of Endangered Landscapes & Seascapes Programme and other restoration projects to navigate carbon standards and voluntary carbon markets. Improving understanding of if and how to access voluntary carbon markets should enable landscape and seascape restoration projects in Europe to unlock further funding through demonstrating their climate change mitigation potential.

Outputs & Achievements

This project has brought together knowledge and lessons learnt to provide clear guidance and build capacity for identifying appropriate pathways for European ecosystem restoration projects aiming to sell carbon credits.

Please view the resources panel to download the developed resources.

 

Project Partners

UNEP-WCMC
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)
Fauna & Flora

Resources

Accessing carbon finance for nature restoration in Europe

Accessing carbon finance for nature restoration in Europe

Guidance document to help those working on ecosystem restoration in Europe to understand and navigate their options when considering whether to engage with voluntary carbon markets to finance their projects. This guidance was developed as part of an Advancing and Applying Knowledge grant led by UNEP-WCMC, Fauna & Flora and the RSPB to help demystify carbon markets.

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Blue carbon market opportunities, challenges and outlook in Europe

Blue carbon market opportunities, challenges and outlook in Europe

This primer aims to provide an overview of existing blue carbon projects worldwide and developing blue carbon standards in Europe. It was produced as part of an Advancing and Applying Knowledge grant led by UNEP-WCMC, Fauna & Flora and the RSPB to help restoration projects navigate carbon markets.

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Case Study: Registering a peat bog rewetting project with a carbon standard, Cairngorms Connect

Case Study: Registering a peat bog rewetting project with a carbon standard, Cairngorms Connect

This case study, produced by an Advancing and Applying Knowledge grant led by UNEP-WCMC, Fauna & Flora and the RSPB, describes the process and decisions involved in setting up a peatland carbon project in the Highlands of Scotland.

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Case Study: Bringing carbon benefits to market, Făgăraș Mountains

Case Study: Bringing carbon benefits to market, Făgăraș Mountains

This case study, produced by an Advancing and Applying Knowledge grant led by UNEP-WCMC, Fauna & Flora and the RSPB, describes the process and decisions involved in setting up a forest carbon project in southern Romania.

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Case Study: Potential pathway to market for a grassland carbon project, Kakheti Steppes

Case Study: Potential pathway to market for a grassland carbon project, Kakheti Steppes

This case study, produced by an Advancing and Applying Knowledge grant led by UNEP-WCMC, Fauna & Flora and the RSPB, describes the opportunities and challenges involved when considering whether to engage in carbon markets for a project working to restore the steppe grasslands in southeast Georgia.

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Carbon Standards Database

Carbon Standards Database

This database presents and categorises the various voluntary carbon market standards available to landscape restoration projects in Europe. It is intended for practitioners interested in exploring financing options through the voluntary carbon market and lays out the requirements and suitability of available carbon standards for generating income from ecosystem restoration activities that sequester carbon or avoid greenhouse gas emissions. For more detailed methods and analysis, please see the accompanying guidance document.

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Guidance for European ecosystem restoration carbon standards database

Guidance for European ecosystem restoration carbon standards database

This document describes the methods to produce the Carbon Standards Database and presents a summary analysis of the findings. It was produced as part of an Advancing and Applying Knowledge grant on Voluntary Carbon Markets carried out by UNEP-WCMC, Fauna & Flora and the RSPB. 

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Demonstrating Additionality Primer

Demonstrating Additionality Primer

This guidance was produced as part of an Advancing and Applying Knowledge grant on Voluntary Carbon Markets carried out by UNEP-WCMC, Fauna & Flora and the RSPB. Carbon finance projects are required to be additional, meaning that the carbon emissions avoided or removed would not have occurred without the project taking place. However, requirements around additionality may vary by type of project, methodology and standard. This guidance aims to help landscape restoration projects navigate additionality requirements and produce high integrity credits which attract high quality buyers. 

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Reputational Risk Primer

Reputational Risk Primer

This guidance was produced as part of an Advancing and Applying Knowledge grant on Voluntary Carbon Markets carried out by UNEP-WCMC, Fauna & Flora and the RSPB. One barrier to landscape restoration projects engaging with voluntary carbon markets is the potential reputational risk associated with selling carbon credits. This primer is intended to increase awareness of some of the major risks that can be associated with engaging in voluntary carbon markets for restoration practitioners. 

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Carbon Finance Decision Tree

Carbon Finance Decision Tree

This decision tree was produced as part of an Advancing and Applying Knowledge grant on Voluntary Carbon Markets carried out by UNEP-WCMC, Fauna & Flora and the RSPB to help guide ecosystem restoration projects through the different stages of engaging with voluntary carbon markets. 

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Webinar: Understanding Voluntary Carbon Markets

Webinar: Understanding Voluntary Carbon Markets

A webinar introducing the Advancing and Applying Knowledge project on Voluntary Carbon Markets carried out by UNEP-WCMC, Fauna & Flora and the RSPB. The webinar describes the challenges and opportunities of engaging in voluntary carbon markets and introduces the various outputs produced by this project. 

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Policy and Legal Primer

Policy and Legal Primer

A policy and legal primer describing the key legal, regulatory and policy considerations for nature-based carbon finance projects.

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Costing tool for carbon finance feasibility analysis

Costing tool for carbon finance feasibility analysis

There are a wide range of potential costs that need to be considered when ecosystem restoration projects are engaging with voluntary carbon markets. This tool aims to help ecosystem restoration projects to carry out a preliminary financial feasibility analysis, to understand whether additional revenue from carbon finance is a viable and necessary option.

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