Description

With the potential for massive growth in carbon markets in the coming years and ongoing negotiations around developing the Article 6.4 Mechanism, carbon markets have become a potential source of income and threat to livelihoods and rights that Indigenous Peoples (Ips) and Local Communities (LCs) cannot ignore. Insufficient funds and the failure of developed countries to meet their existing financial commitments to governments in the Global South has led many governments to implement jurisdictional projects on rightsholders’ territories and to align their legal frameworks to employ carbon markets as a source of potential funding, such as by nationalizing carbon rights. All this has far-reaching implications for IPs and LCs.

Despite some credible evidence of benefits generated by carbon projects under particular circumstances, both documented and unverified reports to date suggest that in most cases, community participation in offset schemes generate more negative than positive impacts. Similarly, at the jurisdictional level, results-based payments for emission reductions have produced varying benefits for communities, but as countries turn to jurisdictional schemes anchored in market-based approaches and standards, such as those promoted by LEAF through its ART-TREES framework, rightsholders increasingly report being marginalized in terms of their capacities and rights to affect outcomes and decisions pursued by proponents and national governments alike.

To enhance rightsholders’ engagement on these issues and to inform the future of market-based transactions, RRI is piloting an assessment of community experiences in Guatemala and Paraguay. As part of this CIFOR-ICRAF produces a literature review, survey tool, methodology, and guidance note. The project also includes the collection of field data through organizing community consultations and stakeholder interviews in Guatemala and Paraguay.