The Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) is a global initiative that seeks to incentivize governments to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD), as well as restore forests and protect intact forests (+). ART is a standalone program independent of governments or donor countries. ART’s mission is to serve as a global quality benchmark for jurisdictional REDD+, providing the confidence needed in the integrity of emission reductions and removals from forest protection and restoration to unlock finance at scale for ambitious climate action and to incentivize governments to achieve those results.

ART’s standard for measurement, monitoring, reporting and verification is called TREES Standard. ART claims that this standard is fully aligned with requirements in the Paris Agreement and incorporates market elements that enhance confidence in results. This allowsfor TREES credits to be fungible with credits from other sectors and to attract finance at the scale needed to protect and restore forests globally.

All TREES Credits are serialized and labelled as emission reductions, removals, or High-Forest, Low Deforestation (HFLD) credits. TREES Credits that are authorized by host countries for international transfer and TREES Credits that have Corresponding Adjustments are also labelled in the ART Registry. The ART Registry includes public reports of TREES Credit status, including issuance, retirements and cancellations.

Home – ART Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (artredd.org)

TREES – ART Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (artredd.org)

We are glad to announce that Nanno Kleiterp has agreed to become RBI’s new Ambassador. Nanno has an impressive track record in promoting sustainable development, especially in the field of development banking. Nanno served on the Management Board of the Dutch Development Bank (FMO) for 21 years, first as CFO and from 2008 to 2016 as CEO.

Today Nanno is, among others, Honorary Chair of the European Development Finance Institutions (EDFI), the association of 15 European development banks. He is also Chairman of the Board of Directors of the &Green Fund and Chairman of the Board of ILX, the managing body of the ILX Fund. Nanno is also senior fellow of the World Resources Institute, a global research institute that focuses on critical issues at the intersection of environment and development.

The Tambopata-Bahuaja Biodiversity Reserve Project is RBI’s main Flagship project. It is part of the Ecosphere+ portfolio, implemented by their local project partner, Peruvian NGO AIDER.

Ecosphere+ reports the following impacts of the project (December ’22):

  • Avoided 4.7 million tonnes of CO2, of which almost 50% realized by purchases of RBI members
  • Worked to protect 573,299 hectares of threatened Amazon rainforest
  • Conserved habitat for 30 unique and threatened species, including the giant river otter, jaguar and giant armadillo
  • Created or supported 460 jobs, 30% of which are held by women
  • Developed the COOPASER cooperative, a farmer–driven association that provides technical assistance, infrastructure for post-harvest management, quality control, and a route-to-market for local farmers
  • Supported local enterprises, such as a new female artisans association and the growth of a sustainable Brazil nut economy
  • Contributed EUR 4.8 million to the local economy

The Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) has issued the world’s first High-Forest, Low Deforestation (HFLD) credits to Guyana. Following completion of an independent validation and verification process and approval by the ART Board of Directors, ART has issued 33.47 million TREES credits to Guyana for the five-year period from 2016 to 2020. These serialized credits, listed on ART’s public registry, are available to buyers on theglobal carbon market, including for use by airlines for compliance with the International CivilAviation Organization’s global emission reduction program, CORSIA, as well as for usetoward voluntary corporate climate commitments . 
 
Among the first buyers of Guyana’s credits is the US-owned Hess Corporation which entereda deal with Guyana to purchase 37.5 million REDD+ jurisdictional carbon credits (currentand future issuances) worth $750 million. Hess is a major partner with ExxonMobil andCNOOC of China in Guyana’s offshore project, the “Stabroek Block”. It’s one of the world’slargest oil and gas discoveries near Suriname’s border. This shows that while the transaction is good news for the conservation and sustainable use of Guyana’s rainforest, the integrity of the transaction is questionable from the point of view of overall emission reduction.

ClimatePartner daily works on embedding climate action into corporate activity. They calculate and reduce carbon emissions and offset unabated emissions. The carbon neutral label of ClimatePartner guarantees transparency and credibility. It includes tracking of reduction measures in carbon offset projects, as well as tracking of the amount of CO2 compensated by clients via a specific ID number. As a leading solutions provider for climate action, ClimatePartner combines individual consulting with a cloud-based software that is unique to the market.

Robert Viertelhauzen: “We are proud to join RBI as ClimatePartner and add value to RBI’s mission and vision. We strongly believe that working together, sharing knowledge and creating impact is the only way to climate action.”

Michel Schuurman, Chair of RBI: “We are delighted that ClimatePartner has joined the RBI network. It is a well known brand in the market with a broad portfolio of projects, including REDD+ projects, which is essential for what we want to achieve.”

Meer informatie: Website ClimatePartner

RBI has published a position paper on what it considers as credible CO2 compensation. The paper explains that voluntary compensation by companies is only credible if it is a supplement to serious measures to achieve emission reduction within the company and its supply chain and not a replacement thereof. It is concluded that the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) offers a valuable instrument to set credible emission reduction targets. We support the view of the SBTi that carbon credits may only to be considered as an option for neutralizing residual emissions beyond the science-based emission reduction targets.

RBI welcomes the input from McKinsey[1] and the Taskforce on Scaling the Voluntary Carbon Market (TSVCM)[2] who call for an ambitious path towards Net-Zero, in which the residual emissions are compensated/neutralized within any given year.  That allows companies to make carbon neutral claims on the way to Net-Zero without being vulnerable to accusations of greenwashing. And it makes the path to net zero much more ambitious and effective from a societal point of view. Especially when the phasing out of the use of avoidance credits is the result of halting deforestation, instead of a goal in itself.

[1] Putting carbon markets to work on the path to net zero
[2] High Ambition Path to Net Zero

According to data from the University of Maryland, primary tropical rainforest loss accounted for 3.75 Mha, an area comparable to the size of ​​the Netherlands (Figure 1). The loss is less than in 2020 due to the decrease in forest fires. However, the cutting down of tropical rainforest remained at the same level. This has resulted in CO2 emissions of 2.5 Gt, which is more than half of Europe’s total emissions (4 Gt in 2019, europarl.europa.eu).

Figure 1. Loss of primary tropical rainforest 2002-2021 (source: globalforestwatch.com).

The countries with the greatest loss of primary rainforest were Brazil (1.6 Mha), Democratic Republic of Congo (0.5 Mha), Bolivia (0.3 Mha), Indonesia (0.2 Mha) and Peru (0.15 Mha) . This is unchanged from 2020.  https://research.wri.org/gfr/forest-pulse

Treevive develops sustainable forest carbon projects with multiple social and environmental benefits. Treevive offers companies and investors quality carbon credits and bankable projects in order to achieve their climate targets, including Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development Goals for lasting impact. Treevive was founded in 2021 as a subsidiary of Form International. Form International has 30 years of expertise in forestry investments and the development of forest landscape projects in tropical regions of Africa, Latin America and Asia.

CEO Liesbeth Gort: “Treevive aims to contribute to the conservation and restoration of tropical forests. We share the mission and vision of RBI and look forward to the co-operation with the partners in this network with their valuable knowledge and experience on REDD+ and their commitment to make REDD+ work”

Michel Schuurman, chairman of the REDD + Business Initiative: “We are delighted that Treevive has joined us. It is an innovative new company aimed at mobilizing substantial technical and financial support for REDD+ projects, which is essential for what we want to achieve.”

More information:  https://treevive.nl/

Greentix is a company that sells Greencards (saving cards) and Greentix (loyalty points, each for 7 kgs of CO2 compensation) to small, medium sized and big businesses, in order for them to give these points to their customers. In this way these companies can show their sustainability-efforts to their customers. With the proceeds Greentix pays NGO’s for planting trees in combination with forest restoration and forest conservation.

CEO Robert Wolff: “Greentix aims to contribute to the conservation and restoration of tropical forests. Like in a mangrove restoration project in Surinam in co-operation with Conservation International. We share the mission and vision of RBI and look forward to the co-operation with the partners in this network with all their valuable knowledge and experience on REDD+.”

Michel Schuurman, chairman of the REDD + Business Initiative: “We are delighted that Greentix has joined us. It is an innovative start up with the potential to generate substantial financial support for REDD+ projects, which is essential for what we want to achieve.”

Meer informatie: www.greentix.org/het-concept/

The meeting of the REDD+ Business Initiative (RBI) on 13 May was successful. About 30 participants discussed the importance of forest conservation for achievingthe climate goals.

They were informed about the background of REDD+, as well asthe REDD+ Business Initiative. Jeffrey Storm (Albelli) explained the motivation of companies to participate in RBI. Johan Kieft, head of the UN REDD+ program in Indonesia, explained his efforts to set up a REDD+ pilot on Kalimantan in which RBI will be involved.

Finally it was concluded that it would be good to organize a similarmeeting again this autumn, primarily aimed at politics.