How to save the world's forests with carbon credits

The Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) uses carbon credits to provide economic incentives for forest preservation, issuing 185 million credits by the end of 2020 across 77 REDD projects. To meet the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C target, which requires a 77% reduction in deforestation, the author argues for a drastic scale-up of finance from both public and private sectors. The document proposes the Jurisdictional and Nested REDD+ (JNR) framework to integrate project-based actions with government accounting to prevent emission 'leakage' and ensure consistent data across regions.

• The Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) creates a financial incentive for forest preservation by issuing one carbon credit for every tonne of CO2 that would have been released if the forest were cut down. By the end of 2020, 77 projects for "reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation" (REDD) were registered under the VCS, resulting in the issuance of 185 million credits.
• To achieve the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting global warming to below 1.5°C, the IPCC indicates that deforestation must be reduced by 77%. Current efforts are insufficient, as tropical forests are being lost at a rate of one football field every six seconds.
• Scaling the fight against deforestation requires sustained investment from both the public and private sectors. Corporations are encouraged to use the voluntary carbon market to offset remaining internal emissions or emissions in their upstream and downstream chains, while some regulatory markets allow REDD project credits for compliance obligations.
• The Jurisdictional and Nested REDD+ (JNR) framework aims to combine government policy with project-based implementation. This 'nesting' approach aligns project-level emission reductions with government accounting to ensure consistency and mitigate the risk of emissions 'leaking' from one project area to other forests within the same jurisdiction.

APA

Antonioli, D. (2021). How to save the world's forests with carbon credits. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/how-to-save-the-worlds-forests-with-carbon-credits/

Chicago

Antonioli, David. How to save the world's forests with carbon credits. World Economic Forum, 2021. https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/how-to-save-the-worlds-forests-with-carbon-credits/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Antonioli |first1=David |title=How to save the world's forests with carbon credits |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=3 June 2021 |url=https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/how-to-save-the-worlds-forests-with-carbon-credits/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{antonioli2021how, author = {Antonioli, David}, title = {{How to save the world's forests with carbon credits}}, publisher = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2021}, month = jun, url = {https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/how-to-save-the-worlds-forests-with-carbon-credits/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }