WWF Network Position on Carbon Finance

In a recent paper WWF outlines its position on carbon finance, a form of climate finance supporting measurable greenhouse gas emission reductions or removals. WWF’s approach encourages companies to move beyond a narrow focus on their emissions and significantly contribute to global climate action.

Companies should prioritize reducing value-chain emissions while also investing in broader climate action that benefit nature and people. For their Beyond Value Chain Mitigation (BVCM), WWF recommends setting a carbon fee on residual emissions reflecting social and environmental impacts. These funds should support BVCM portfolios, with transparent contribution claims (e.g., “Our support removes X tCO2-eq annually, benefiting Y families”.

WWF supports targeted use of carbon credits to neutralize residual emissions and fund BVCM portfolios, emphasizing separate accounting and reporting of purchased credits. Safeguards must ensure credit quality and prevent double counting. WWF will not engage in trading carbon credits on open markets unless buyers are independently verified and credits are retired upon sale.

Link to document

Many new Species Discovered in the Congo Basin

Over the last decade, 742 new wildlife and plant species have been discovered in the Congo Basin, according to WWF’s New Life in the Congo Basin: A Decade of Species Discoveries (2013–2023) report).
This remarkable collection includes previously unknown plants, invertebrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Among the discoveries are unique orchids, new coffee species, clawed frogs, crocodiles, electric fish, owls, spiders, turtles, and even a monkey species locally known as the “lesula.”

These findings highlight not only the incredible biodiversity of the Congo Basin, but also the urgent need for conservation to safeguard its fragile ecosystems. As the world’s largest carbon sink, the Congo Basin absorbs more carbon than the Amazon and contains the planet’s largest tropical peatland. Spanning six countries, its rain forest sustains food security and livelihoods for Indigenous and local communities while providing critical habitats for endangered species like forest elephants and gorillas.

ICVCM approves three REDD+ methodologies

The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (Integrity Council), an independent body ensuring the quality of carbon credits, has approved three methodologies for issuing high-integrity REDD+ credits. These methodologies are now eligible for the Core Carbon Principles (CCP) label, the ICVCM’s quality standard.

The approved methodologies include:

  • (ART) TREES v2.0, TREES Crediting Level
  • (VCS) VM0048 Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation v1.0
  • (VCS) Jurisdictional and Nested REDD+ (JNR) Framework v4.1

TREES operates at the government level through the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) registry. Verra’s VM0048 sets baselines for project-level forest conservation using jurisdictional data, while the JNR Framework provides comprehensive accounting for entire jurisdictions, allowing to “nest” smaller projects within them.

With issuance expected to begin soon, CCP-labelled REDD+ credits could supply up to 423 million credits in their first crediting period, starting in early 2025.

Link to website www.icvcn.org

Link to website www.climateimpact.com

State of the Voluntary Carbon Market 2024

The Ecosystem Marketplace’s 2023 Carbon Market Review shows that the voluntary carbon market (VCM) contracted for the second consecutive year since its 2021 peak. Transaction volumes fell by 56% from 2022, with buyers paying $6.53 per ton of CO2e—slightly less than in 2022 but higher than pre-2022 levels. Total transaction value dropped by 61% to $723 million. Forestry and Land Use, along with Renewable Energy credits, experienced the largest declines, particularly REDD+ credits, which lost 62% in value and 51% in volume due to intense scrutiny, especially regarding project additionality calculations, governance, and potential greenwashing.

The review shows that buyers responded by seeking credits that ensure emissions removals and additionality, with a preference for Afforestation-Reforestation (ARR) and Improved Forest Management (IFM) projects. The ICVCM’s Core Carbon Principles and VCMI’s Claims Code contributed to restoring buyer confidence in market quality and integrity. However, delays in implementing these initiatives and unclear guidance from the SBTi curbed demand.

The RBI is deeply concerned by these developments, as they significantly undermine efforts to halt tropical deforestation, particularly the loss of primary forests.”

Link to pdf-document

Indonesia and Japan sign Agreement for Carbon Trading

Indonesia and Japan have signed a Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) for carbon trading, announced at COP29 in Baku. Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment and Forestry stated that the MRA is the world’s first bilateral collaboration model under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement. It ensures equity between Indonesia’s and Japan’s carbon credit systems, covering mitigation methodologies, emission reduction calculations, monitoring systems, and carbon credit certification.

Eco-Business, a sustainability intelligence organization, noted that the agreement reflects ASEAN’s growing momentum toward carbon trading, signaling a shift in regional climate strategy. By 2030, offsets from the region could generate up to $10 billion annually. However, Eco-Business cautioned that cross-border trading risks relocating emissions instead of reducing them, potentially enabling high-carbon economies to delay fossil fuel cuts. A robust regulatory framework is critical to ensure carbon trading supports, rather than replaces, efforts to lower emissions at the source.

Link to website www.spglobal.com

Link to website www.eco-business.com

RBI advocates the use of ITMOs

In a letter to the Dutch Government dated November 5, 2024, RBI once again urged consideration of bridging the gap between National climate ambitions and actual achievements through the purchase of ITMOs from non-European countries. Particularly tropical forest nations like Suriname, which is already offering ITMOs for sale. While these purchases would not count as formal compensation within The Netherlands’ NDC, they could be politically leveraged to showcase the country’s commitment to maintaining global climate ambitions.

A key benefit of this approach is the positive signal it sends to the voluntary carbon market, supporting companies that voluntarily strive for greater sustainability. The strategy could achieve even greater impact if coupled with initiating a discussion at the EU level on using ITMOs to meet 2050 climate targets in a way that aligns with global climate justice principles.

Tropical Deforestation remained stubbornly high

According to new data from the University of Maryland, accessible through WRI’s Global Forest Watch, the loss of primary forests in 2023 amounted to 3.7 million hectares, an area comparable to that of The Netherlands. Although this marks a 9% decrease from 2022, the rate of loss in 2023 closely mirrored that of 2019 and 2021. The cumulative loss of these forests resulted in the emission of 2.4 gigatonnes (Gt) of carbon dioxide in 2023, equivalent to the total emissions of the EU in 2022.

The disparities among countries were notable. Brazil and Colombia saw significant reductions in primary forest loss between 2022 and 2023, with decreases of 36% and 49% respectively. However, these achievements were offset by steep increases in forest loss in Bolivia, Laos, and Nicaragua, along with more moderate rises in other nations.

Link to latest analysis deforestation trends

RBI welcomes Trees for All as a new member

The REDD+ Business Initiative is proud to announce that Trees for All, a non-profit organization based in Utrecht, Netherlands, has joined our network. Stef Roëll, Managing Director of Trees for All says:  “We joined the REDD+ network because we believe that collaboration between project developers and companies helps to create high value reforestation and forest protection projects with long term benefits for biodiversity, climate and local communities. We are looking forward to share knowledge and insights and welcome new partnerships.”

Trees for All supports reforestation and afforestation projects both in the Netherlands and internationally. The organization serves as a vital bridge, connecting 15,000 individuals and over 2,000 businesses with landscape management and nature conservation organizations. Michel Schuurman, Chair of RBI, expressed his excitement about the partnership: “We are delighted to welcome Trees for All to the RBI network. As a key player in forest restoration, it brings a comprehensive perspective on climate change mitigation and biodiversity loss. Their expertise and commitment will undoubtedly enrich our collective efforts.”

Public event highlights companies’ concerns about the VCM

In a lively debate on October 8th, 18 participants from the private sector and government discussed the impact of the current unrest in the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) following a 2023 Science article exposing flaws in project quality and inflated claims. Negative media coverage has made companies reluctant to purchase REDD+ credits, leading to a shift toward reactive approaches and a halt in proactive communication.

Despite these challenges, all participants reaffirmed the critical role of halting deforestation in mitigating climate change, conserving biodiversity, and protecting forest-dependent livelihoods. Companies emphasized the need for validation of their efforts from NGOs and for government support, suggesting that RBI could play a mobilizing role.

The Science Based Targets initiative’s (SBTi) decision on scope 3 offsets and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) were identified as key to the market’s future. Governments were urged to restore market confidence, as private financing becomes increasingly essential amid ODA cuts. RBI announced it will further explore the future of REDD+ at a conference next year.

UN Agrees on Article 6 Market Rules at COP29 in Baku

At COP29 in Baku, significant progress was achieved on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which aims to increase climate ambition through carbon credit trading between countries (Article 6.2) and between countries and companies (Article 6.4). A major outcome of the conference was the adoption of rules to operationalize bothmechanisms, establishing a UN-led global carbon trading framework. This framework is designed to channel resources to developing nations and standardize methods for implementing carbon reduction projects. The resolution marks a breakthrough afteryears of negotiations..

The newly adopted rules have the potential to significantly enhance the effectiveness of carbon markets under the UNFCCC. However, their success will depend heavily on “proper scrutiny of the standards and approaches used under Article 6.2 and further refinement of several standards under Article 6.4,” as stated the NGO Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). The EDF emphasized also that “critical fixes are needed for Article 6.4 standards to ensure nature-based solutions —and the communities protecting these resources— are not sidelined.”

For further details, see Environmental Defense Fund’s statement and Explainer: COP29 “breakthrough” on UN carbon market decision.

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