Our planet faces dual crises: rapid climate change and biodiversity loss. We have years, not decades, to address these existential threats to our ways of life. We must use all the tools at our disposal to create a world where people and nature thrive.
This includes a massive investment in decarbonization—as well unlocking the power of nature through Natural Climate Solutions.
The Nature Conservancy advances Natural Climate Solutions through many strategies, including high-quality carbon markets.
The rapidly evolving carbon market has the potential, in combination with other strategies, to meaningfully mitigate the impact of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as provide valuable conservation co-benefits for people and nature.
Carbon markets allow difficult to decarbonize industries to reduce emissions immediately while still working toward deep emissions cuts through the development of carbon-free fuels. Research has shown companies that participate in carbon markets invest more and make more progress in reducing their own carbon pollution than businesses that don’t participate in carbon markets.
We must use all the tools at our disposal to create a world where people and nature thrive.
Carbon markets, like other technologies and tools, continuously improve over time thanks to science and innovation.
In some cases, projects that were developed several years ago and met standards at the time, no longer meet our benchmarks; new developments and breakthroughs in carbon science have shown room for improvement.
With more than 20 years of experience pioneering Natural Climate Solutions and carbon projects around the world, TNC is uniquely positioned to understand this evolution and use our experience to advance best practices.
In Spring 2021, TNC convened a group of carbon experts to review projects we have under development. Since then, we have made significant organizational investments as we strive for excellence in our work with carbon markets.
Our Commitment to High-Quality Carbon Markets
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Oversight
Formed a Global Carbon Markets Team that provides robust oversight over all our carbon markets work.
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Standards
Established a set of standards to guide decisions about when and how to establish carbon projects of the highest quality.
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Carbon Accounting
Developed new approaches to improve how benefits of carbon projects are measured, such as dynamic baselines, which improve carbon accounting in forest carbon projects. Learn more about dynamic baselines.
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Accelerator
Launched a Natural Climate Solutions Accelerator to support a new global portfolio of projects that demonstrate best-in-class science, biodiversity conservation, and inclusion of communities and Indigenous peoples. Our goal is to support projects like the Emerald Edge.
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Industry Influence
Reflecting our interest in market leadership, we want to influence industry standards by engaging with initiatives like the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI) and the Integrity Council for Voluntary Carbon Markets (IC-VCM).
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Vetting Carbon Buyers
We only work with companies that have a credible path to net-zero or a strong track record of climate commitments.
Our Carbon Projects
The Nature Conservancy has been a pioneer and leader in implementing carbon projects for over 20 years, with projects located in several countries. These are just some of the carbon market projects we support around the world.
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Living Carbon
In this series, we’ve curated some of our favorite stories of how nature is providing climate solutions for both people and wildlife. Read about projects in Africa, Canada, Latin America and the U.S.
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Working Woodlands
TNC’s Working Woodlands program leverages the power of privately owned forests by helping landowners improve the way forests on their properties are managed for climate benefit. Learn how Improved Forest Management can enhance forest health and increase the potential for capture and storage.
The Science of Carbon Markets
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Carbon Markets, Illustrated
Even though carbon markets could create much-needed incentives for faster climate action, they are often misunderstood. Read a brief guide to one of the climate solutions we need in order to achieve a low-carbon future faster.
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Natural Climate Solutions
Natural climate solutions are conservation, restoration and improved land management actions that increase carbon storage or avoid greenhouse gas emissions in landscapes and wetlands across the globe. Explore science that shows how nature can provide one-third of the reductions needed to address climate change.
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Dynamic Baselines
This methodology compares the carbon sequestered on lands enrolled in a carbon program to a control group, or synthetic composite, of highly similar forests that are not enrolled in the program. Download an infographic that details how dynamic baselines can be applied in carbon markets.
Our Insights
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The IC-VCM’s Core Carbon Principles Are a Key Step Forward
TNC's response to the Integrity Council for Voluntary Carbon Markets (IC-VCM) Core Carbon Principles (CCPs), a global benchmark for high-integrity carbon credits. Read More
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Scientific Collaboration to Build Trust and Transparency
The Nature Conservancy, TerraCarbon and partners are launching a new scientific collaboration to test and compare REDD+ impact measurement approaches. Read More
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Reforesting the U.S.: Here’s Where We Can Put All Those Trees
New data layers make a reforestation mapping tool even more useful for showing lower-cost, feasible options for restoring forests in the U.S. Read More
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Why We Can’t Afford to Dismiss Carbon Offsetting
With just 10 years to prevent catastrophic climate change, we have a moral imperative to harness the potential of carbon projects. Read More
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Making Carbon Markets Work for Faster Climate Action
As part of ambitious decarbonization plans, offsetting is a near-term solution to closing the emissions gap Read More
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Yes, Trees Are a Viable Climate Solution
We can't reach global climate goals without cutting emissions—but we can't reach them without nature either. Read More
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