The paper for download was presented at the World Bank Land Conference, May 2024. The paper initially presents the demand and urgency for high quality carbon credits. Credits derived from projects with ‘co-benefit’ impacts including sustainable development, biodiversity and livelihood components carry a premium price. Co-benefits are additional (positive) impacts across environmental, social and economic categories created by a project, and to ensure high-quality credits and market integrity, co-benefits must be measured, reported and certified. The paper then describes the urgency to link carbon credits to land tenure. To date, tenure security has not been considered a ‘co-benefit’, yet the assurance of land tenure security is widely viewed as a crucial foundation for the effectiveness of forest conservation endeavours. The paper links the two domains of land tenure security and forest carbon markets as potential financing options to increase tenure security and ultimately reduce deforestation.
In spirit of reconciliation, Land Equity International acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea, and community. We pay respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
